The new media agency, 99 West Media, is a new and active part of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The JMC department values the hands on opportunities for students. The Morris and Mitchell agency allows for Ad/PR majors to gain some hands on experience, just as the Optimist is a way for journalism majors to gain experience. The brand new 99 West Media agency is a way for multimedia majors to have this same opportunity.
The name “99 West Media” was created for the agency because 99 is the approximate latitudinal coordinate for the city of Abilene.
This new agency was made possible through a recent donation given by Elise Mitchell, president and CEO of Mitchell Communications Group, to the JMC department. The donation was given into order to meet several needs of the department. 99 West Media is just one of those.
The agency was given their first opportunity by Frontier Texas. It will advertise Frontier Texas’ new exhibit.
Lucius Patenaude, project manager for the Frontier Texas campaign, said, “The agency is preparing several versions of the commercial that will be aired locally in both movie theaters and on TV. “
As of right now Lucius Patenaude, junior multimedia major from Phrae, Thailand, and Marcus Bowen, senior electronic media major from North Richland Hills, are the only paid students on staff. However, any multimedia student who wishes to be apart of this agency can contact Cade White, co-advisor for the 99 West Media agency.
In addition to the Frontier Texas campaign, 99 West Media has also created a short documentary about the JMC department’s “Pay It Forward” initiative and has produced television commercials for Pura Vida Salon & Spa.
Bowen said, “ I am very excited to be a part of laying the foundation of this new organization and I expect to see great work produced by the group in the future.”
In addition to this new agency, the JMC department currently plans to renovate some of the building space in the Don Morris Center to provide 99 West Media the sufficient space needed to complete future projects. As well the renovations the agency intends purchase of new equipment to accommodate their needs to make more projects possible.
White said, “It’s early, but this group has a lot of promise and we expect it to grow and become a viable student media entity that provides students with valuable hands on experience.”
