When alumnus Alec Rome returned to Central to help with OC Broadcasting, he was greeted by a world of difference from the setup he had worked with as a student.
“We had one camera and one laptop and an audio board,” Rome recalled.
Today, OC Broadcasting boasts multiple cameras, switchers and a replay system.
To Rome, coming back was a no-brainer. He wanted to see the program’s growth firsthand, but also help it continue to grow, “You need more students that are willing to volunteer the time but also get excited about this new experience where you can gain really legitimate experience. It’s not just student journalism or student broadcasting,” he said.
“He really just has this great focus for doing great things because he knows how great this institution is being an alumni, and he wants to provide those opportunities for students and show students the amazing things they can do with their talents and skills as well,” US History teacher and OC Broadcasting sponsor Benjamin Boeckman said.
Rome first became involved with media his freshman year when he joined The Register on a whim. By his sophomore year, he expanded his horizons, signing up for a broadcasting class at the Career Center. Within a week, he volunteered to help broadcast Central’s opening football game against Burke. Over the next three years, he broadcast over 100 different events.
He was able to transfer the writing and reporting skills he learned on The Register to Eagle Updates, a news update show he did for Central. The video packages Rome edited became a familiar sight in many classrooms after morning announcements, transforming him into a bit of a local celebrity.
“That was pretty wild to be able to go from just kind of floating along in a way and I would be, like, relatively unknown person to know everybody sees my face, on their whiteboard, their smart boards in the morning on their projectors,” he said.
Rome attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he majored in broadcast production and interned at HuskerOnline, a website reporting on Nebraska athletics.
Rome recognized early on that he didn’t want to devote his career solely to sports broadcasting. “I’m a multifaceted person,” he said. “In college, I was finding new interests, new things that intrigued me about the world and media in general.”
During his break from sports broadcasting, Rome co-founded a college poker club with his friends in what would become one of the most foundational moves of his career.
“It was a change for us to just play around and have fun and do things for the benefit of just growing the community and not really for my own career, per se. And I think that’s just kind of what has always led me to success, is just doing things that I want to do, and I want to do for fun, and it’s not about gaining something,” Rome said.
The club started live-streaming its tournaments as it grew, giving Rome the opportunity to practice his photography and videography. Through the club, Rome was able to get into contact with professionals in the poker industry, including a staff hire who invited him to photograph the World Series of Poker.
Rome is now a video editor and videographer with the World Poker Tour, a series of internationally televised poker tournaments. Because most of his work is remote, he’s able to give back freely to the community, like he does with Central.
“We try to do the best we can of coaching up whoever’s announcing to do the best job they can and reporting on the game. It’s real stuff. And so obviously having been through the entire experience and having had more experience in college and as a professional, I really wanted to help get back to the place that gave me a lot,” Rome said.
“Alec can do it all. He knows how to run a camera, knows how to adjust colors, knows framing shots. When it comes to the technological side of frame rates and inputs and things like that, he has a tone of those skills as well,” Boeckman said. “And when it comes to the talking side, he’s really good on a mic. He knows how to do a really good analysis.”
“He’s very hardworking. I’ve seen him be one of the first people to show up on days that he can, and he’s going to be one of the last people to leave, too,” junior and OC Broadcasting member Charli Tobin said.
Rome encourages media students to transform their interests into meaningful endeavors. He also emphasizes the importance of networking. While the process is difficult, it ultimately pays massive dividends.
“It shouldn’t feel like a chore or feel like something that you’re just simply trying to invest to get a return. You should just try to find people that work in media or work in broadcasting and simply become friends with them because you want to be friends with them,” Rome said.
