Month: September 2016

Software. Digital Media. IT Architecture. Digital Workflow. Project management.

These are just some of the areas of expertise David Garland brings to his new position as Director of Business Development for Chesapeake Systems.

A senior IT executive who has worked for organizations such as Bertelsmann, A&E Television Network and FTI Consulting, David brings a wealth of media and technology experience to his position, which became effective Sept. 19.

In this business development role, Chesapeake Systems was seeking someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, and David has a proven track record in this area. In addition to co-inventing patents for several multimedia and content distribution systems, David cofounded his own consulting business, Digital Dawn, LLC,  in 2009 focusing on media and entertainment clients.

David’s expertise and connections will be invaluable to Chesapeake Systems as we work to grow and strengthen our industry presence as experts in producing shared storage, media management and workflow automation systems for numerous industries.

David will be working primarily out of New York, one of the largest media production hubs in the U.S.

“I think Chesa has done an amazing job with growing slowly and carefully and putting together a culture that allows them to scale,” David said. “I’m excited to work for a company that gets the job done and does it well.”

He said he enjoys both the consulting aspect and the “people side” of the business.

“The Internet has disrupted the media enormously and it’s created all sorts of opportunities and also all sorts of pitfalls for companies, and helping to navigate them through that is really fun,” he said.

A husband and father, David enjoys a variety of interests such as jogging, bicycling, playing the guitar, making wine and brewing beer. He also enjoys cultivating his love of languages, trying his hand at Spanish, French and German in addition to English.

As we continue to grow our company, we are very much looking to David to leverage his networking skills and proficiency in media and technology to highlight the value of working with the experts at Chesapeake Systems.

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Wil Smith was not a typical Bowdoin College student. He matriculated to the Maine school at the age of 28 after first enlisting in the U.S. Navy and serving in the first Gulf War.

That wasn’t the only thing that set him apart.

In an emotional audio interview recorded through an independently funded organization known as StoryCorps, Smith recounted how he secretly came to the school as a single parent and told nobody of his infant daughter, Olivia. He spoke of how he would take his daughter with him to his night job at Staples as he tried to provide for them both. Eventually, the school community did find out about his secret, and formed a support group for Smith and Olivia.

As he spoke with his now adult daughter in the interview, Smith became noticeably emotional as he recounted his graduation in 2000.

“My graduation day from Bowdoin is a day I’ll never forget,” said Smith, who walked across stage with his diploma in one hand and Olivia in the other. “All of my classmates, they stood up and gave me the only standing ovation.”

Smith, who graduated from law school and went on to serve as associate dean of multicultural student programs at Bowdoin, told his daughter, “I draw my strength from you. I always have.”

Smith died in 2015 at the age of 46 after battling colon cancer.

While nobody knew at the time of the StoryCorps recording what Smith’s future would hold, because this interview between father and daughter was recorded and preserved, it will be a special piece of history that both she and anyone who hears it will be able to treasure.

Since its inception more than a dozen years ago, StoryCorps has captured more than 100,000 such conversations from Americans of all walks of life. Like StoryCorps, many of our clients at Chesapeake Systems also capture and store important content every day, whether it be powerful news stories, video interviews, performances, speeches, game day highlights, etc.

In 2015, StoryCorps’ founder and executive director Dave Isay, a former radio journalist, won the TED prize and used the million-dollar prize to create a StoryCorps mobile application. Users of the free app record 11-12 minute interviews and then upload them to the Library of Congress.

Over Thanksgiving of 2015, StoryCorps invited students across the country to record an interview with an elder through the “Great Thanksgiving Listen” project. You can read (or listen) to more about the project in this NPR interview with Diane Rehm.

At Chesapeake Systems, my colleagues and I are very connected to this notion of preservation. We work with organizations all over the commercial spectrum, in non-commercial areas and with various types of interest groups representing a broad extreme of perspectives, attitudes, opinions and agendas. In the same way that StoryCorps captures everyday experiences and shines a very brilliant light on the humanity behind them, we at Chesapeake Systems want to help our clients with the tools that will enable them to record their own slices of reality from various perspectives.

We’re still very much at the beginning of the Internet era, and things are not only going to change in the 21st Century, they are going to change drastically. As quickly as technology changes, we have to pay close attention to not only saving our content, but how we preserve it. The file formats we use today can easily become obsolete in a decade, putting them into what’s known as the digital dark age.

We want to help our clients understand the historical significance of the content they create every day and its potential educational impact down the line. Whether they are conducting a humanitarian interview such as StoryCorps, writing an online article about law enforcement and the black community, or recording an amazing sports feat, all of it will help to give people 100 years from now a glimpse into our early 21st Century lives. Even our most banal videos may prove to be of value beyond what we’re capable of understanding today.

To learn more about how Chesapeake Systems can help your organization with preservation, call 410-752-7729.

If there’s any place that’s all about community, it’s Chesapeake Systems’ customer Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, LA. For more than 20 years, Healing Place Church has strived to fulfill its mission to be “a healing place for a hurting world.”

That mission was tested this summer when south Louisiana saw an unprecedented amount of rainfall Aug. 8-14 that dumped an estimated 6.9 trillion gallons of water on the community. Homes and businesses were flooded and more than 20,000 people had to be rescued. According to USA Today, 13 lives were lost, the area endured an estimated $110 million in agricultural losses and 40,000 homes were damaged.

Even though the church’s “Dream Center” in the heart of Baton Rouge sustained flooding damage, volunteers came together to transform the site into a distribution center filled with clothing and supplies. Overall, Healing Placed Church served 28,000 meals to displaced families as well as staffing distribution centers to help people meet their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.

To see videos of how Healing Place Church has helped make a difference, click here.

Chesapeake System stands in solidarity with our client during this particularly challenging time.

I have visited a Healing Place Church and have seen firsthand the dedication they have to serving not only their own community, but the community at large. The level of enthusiasm and energy they put forth is just inspiring, and something I know south Louisiana can really benefit from during the rebuilding process. Though the flood waters have subsided, great challenges and work remain for this community, and much support is needed. To consider donating to assist with disaster relief, please visit Healing Place Church’s website.