Do you wonder what it takes to create compelling video content that engages your social media audience and keeps them coming back for more? Master Sergeant Nicholas Kurtz, lead video skills instructor at the Defense Information School, understands very well the importance of social media’s reach and the need for “snackable” video content to tell the story in today’s media environment.

“‘Snackable’ content is media designed to be easy for a viewer to consume and share,” said Kurtz. It’s shorter and optimized for smaller screens to be as engaging as possible and to encourage viewers to share the video with others.

As for why, Kurtz said, “Many large government agencies are still operating from a legacy ‘broadcast’ mindset, unwilling to adapt to the realities and endless possibilities of social media.”

Kurtz has joined the featured speaker lineup of Government Video Expo, scheduled for Nov. 27–29 in Washington. In the session “‘Snackable’ Video Content: Engaging Viewers Through Social Media” he will share his knowledge of the need for short, attention-grabbing videos and how to forge an ongoing connection with your audience and community through “snackable” bites of visual content.

“If you feel like you’re stuck producing the same kind of videos that aren’t really moving the needle, you can definitely get some inspiration from this session,” Kurtz said.

Facebook and other social media algorithms prioritize video content over other types of posts, and live video is even more effective for ensuring engagement on those platforms. “By simply pulling out a phone and going live, the notification that your organization is currently streaming goes out to every follower you have who's online at that time,” Kurtz explained.

“Print and radio certainly have their place in the communication landscape, but video can augment and complement both, while standing on its own as well,” he continued. “A lot of radio shows are simulcasting with live video on social media and television. More and more, print journalism is incorporating video content to enhance coverage and give the audience another way to interact with and comprehend the information.”

MSgt. Kurtz has served as a video skills instructor at the Defense Information School’s Broadcast Operations and Maintenance Department since July, 2015. His career includes positions at civilian radio stations and the American Forces Network.

Kurtz says Sept. 11, 2001, was his first “real” day on the job as an airman at Aviano Air Base in Italy. Shortly after he received his dorm key, the second plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City, and he was tasked with “relaying information about school closings and how to adjust to increased security postures on base,” Kurtz remembers. He credits his own DINFOS training and ‘a couple years’ experience in civilian radio” with enabling him to not “let my team or the listening members of my new community down” during that critical event.

“That was the day I knew I’d be doing this job as long as they’d let me,” Kurtz remembered. “Seventeen years later, I’m still in uniform, and I’ve come full circle. I now get to teach at DINFOS and share the lessons of that day and my love for this job with the next generation of service members joining the public affairs career field.”

Flash forward to 2018, and Kurtz said his mission is “to train and sustain professional communicators for the Department of Defense and its partners.” He said, “The U.S. military, like any organization, has internal and external communication needs. In fact, we’re required by law to document and communicate the actions of our Armed Forces. The Defense Information School provides world-class training to the people responsible for making sure those communication needs are met for the DoD.”

Kurtz encourages producers to get creative with ideas and tools and to overcome risk aversion, which is natural when trying new things. “Not every video needs to be the talking head shot of your leader in their office; and you don’t need to wait for a big budget approval to go through before you can begin using video to your advantage. Most of us have all the tools we need right in our mobile devices.” After all, he added, “Now we live in an age where just about anyone is able to live-broadcast full HD video to a global audience.”

He cited the DINFOS Cares campaign as an example of how to create this type of snackable, engaging content. “Under the hashtag #DINFOSCares, we highlight some of the cool things that go on outside of the classroom … Short videos show that our instructors and staff are making positive impacts in their community, and that we’re just regular people who happen to wear a military uniform. Not every video you put out needs a ton of planning behind it. Real moments of genuine human interaction have a big impact on your audience.”

Key Takeaways

Who?Defense Information School Lead Instructor for Video Skills MSgt. Nicholas Kurtz will deliver a presentation on “‘Snackable Video’ Content: Engaging Viewers Through Social Media” at the2018 Government Video Expo.

Why?MSgt. Kurtz will discuss different ways to incorporate short, creative, engaging videos into your strategic communication plan. To inspire attendees, he will share examples from how the Department of Defense and other federal agencies do this effectively.

Now What?Sign upto meet and learn from Kurtz and other top speakers from “PBS NewsHour,” DC Visionaries, BundlAR, Creative Media Matters and more.

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—Over the course of its history, the United States military has been responsible for innovations that have found their way into civilian life.

Students of the Defense Information School’s Broadcast Radio and TV Systems Maintenance Course raise an antenna during a field exercise at Ft. Meade, Md.

Those innovations require much technical training. In the case of broadcast engineers and technicians, a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who performs that duty gets training that makes them valuable once they hang the uniform up for good. Former military people make good employees because they have demonstrated discipline, ability to solve problems, attention to detail and flexibility. To survive and thrive in a radio station environment, one needs all of those traits.

For military engineers in broadcast, training begins at the Defense Information School at Ft. Meade, Md. There, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines assigned to American Forces Radio and Television networks and outlets hone their professional skills in a 71-day resident course involving IT, audio, video and RF called the Broadcast Radio and Television System Maintenance Course.

The course builds knowledge and skills necessary to support multimedia production and broadcast missions of the Department of Defense and the Defense Media Activity. Graduates must demonstrate proficiency in operating and maintaining transmission systems, constructing and maintaining a multimedia local area network, installing software, and maintaining radio studios and a satellite downlink system.

Students at individual instruction carrels.

DINFOS also teaches a basic television equipment maintenance course for Army soldiers. Don’t let the name fool you. The 124-day course teaches fundamentals of electronics, instruction and training on direct and alternating current principles, solid-state fundamentals, including transistor amplifier theory, digital principles and basic soldering techniques. Students then apply these basic electronic concepts to the maintenance and repair of broadcast television and radio equipment.

To pass the course, the graduate must be able to use audiovisual equipment to monitor, troubleshoot and repair computers, television cameras, videotape recorders, audio systems, broadcast studios, automated audio and visual equipment, as well as transmission systems. Additionally, graduates will be able to set-up and maintain video teleconferencing systems. This course is designed for entry-level service members.

Those courses are taught by the DINFOS broadcast operations and maintenance department. Instructors are active duty military and civilian people.

Jonathan Ehrhart is a civilian instructor who also taught in the BOMD while on active duty in the Army and was a maintainer himself.

Students deploying a satellite downlink at the Defense Information School’s field training site at Ft. Meade, Md.

“As I’ve explained when asked what is it you [maintenance people] actually do, is that all the stuff that you use to do your job, we fix it. We make sure you can do your job.”

Ehrhart says the courses don’t just rely on classroom work. All of the skills learned are tested in a field training exercise where equipment is deployed under field conditions.

“We’re going to set this equipment up from scratch, operate it, and if need be, troubleshoot it.”

Graduates get to work on equipment they will find at AFRTS networks such as IP-based consoles. They get a heavy dose of RF theory and hands on practice.

“We start at the very basics of electromagnetic spectrum and what an RF wave is, and how you create one.”

That includes AM, FM, TV, satellite and microwave propagation with hands on transmitter experience.

Ehrhart says there’s another reason why the courses have so much hands on experience. “One of the keys to being a maintainer is, if you don’t know how it works, you don’t know how to fix it. Because how do you know if it’s broken or functioning properly?”

Graduates of these courses are eligible to be certified by the Society of Broadcast Engineers at the Certified Broadcast Technologist (CBT) level and can receive 15 college credits at the associate and baccalaureate undergraduate level.

Ehrhart keeps in touch with former military maintainers. He says their job outlook, while OK, could be better.

One of the radio studios at the Defense Information School. They’re the same as those found at American Forces Radio and TV networks around the world.

“Our students have the benefit of having a variety of skills; that makes them valuable to any organization, not just a radio station or television station.”

He says some of his fellow graduates have encountered managers who did not want to hire engineers and maintainers full time.

“They don’t want to hire us full time and pay us because [the equipment] is working, why am I paying you? It’s a Catch-22. Your equipment is working because you have maintainers that keep it working.”

A good resource for stations looking to hire veterans is the Army’s Soldier For Life transition program, which has a web page for employment questions and opportunities: https://soldierforlife.army.mil/employment.

Paul Kaminski, CBT, has been a Radio World contributor and columnist since 1997. He’s retired from the United States Army; a 1971 graduate of the Defense Information School and an AFRTS Alumnus (Armed Forces Desert Network). Follow him on Twitter @msrpk_com or on Facebook at PKaminski2468.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication Radio World.