by Malika Andrews |
He’s the man behind the “5,000 miles to the Bluff” move-in signs and one of the people to bring back Anchors Away. He got puppies to come to campus during finals week and started the dorm decoration contest. Before Joe Kuffner, there was no University of Portland Instagram, no fashion look-book photos and no one to document flash mob performances by the UP choir downtown.
Kuffner has worked in UP’s Marketing and Communications department since 2009. His official title is associate director of news and content, but he’s come to be known as UP’s multimedia storytelling guru.
Now he’s taking his storytelling in a new direction. Friday is his last day on The Bluff.
“I always sort of wanted to pursue journalism and the video production and photo production side of things,” Kuffner, a 2001 alumnus, said. “I’ve worked kind of on the other side for a long time, marketing and PR, and I just kind of felt like now was the time.”
Time for him to go back to school. Kuffner is enrolling in the University of Oregon’s master’s program in Multimedia Journalism in downtown Portland. He’s excited about new career possibilities.
“Going to a traditional media outlet is definitely a possibility,” Kuffner said. “I see myself fitting in somewhere people need stories to be told whether that be in writing or video, at a traditional news outlet, doing freelance stuff or at a place like Buzzfeed. I’m not limiting myself to hardcore journalism.”
Kuffner first honed his journalism skills during his years as a UP student when he worked for The Beacon as a reporter and editor.
While for working for Marketing, Kuffner has served as a liaison for current Beacon reporters and editors, helping to set up interviews, providing photographs and pitching story ideas. Recently, Beacon adviser Nancy Copic invited Kuffner to do a social media workshop as part of Beacon Boot Camp staff training at the beginning of the year.
“Whenever I advise students about how to use social media strategically, I advise them to emulate Joe’s work because he is masterful,” Copic said. “I don’t think you can overestimate his role in raising the UP profile and also, within the community itself, how he has used social media to build community among students, staff and alumni.”
Over the past year, Marketing videographer and photographer Adam Guggenheim, has become the ying to Kuffner’s yang. The duo has taken University of Portland social media by storm with Kuffner as the mastermind and Guggenheim artistically bringing his visions to life.
“(Joe) will usually conceptualize some crazy social media video idea like roommates drawing each other from memory and I find myself just grabbing the camera and going with him,” Guggenheim said. “It’s crazy. You find yourself in awkward positions as the photographer and Joe is telling you to put the camera in the students’ faces, but they always have fun and the result is always funny.”
Kuffner also runs Social Media for Colleges, a blog that reports on trends in the way colleges and universities use social media. It has drawn a following among marketing professionals in higher education nationwide.
“He is a treasure,” Copic said. “He is Marketing’s secret sauce. I think they are really going to miss him.” Malika Andrews is the sports editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @Malika_Andrews.
