People Power (A Baptism by Fire segment)

wwBaptism by Fire] Three things about Shawn McAfee and Brian Ledwell of UW Oshkosh's Media Services: 1. They look nothing like this photo. 2. They are magicians, just like Penn and Teller, if Penn and Teller were a graphic artist and a multimedia developer. 3. They make everything visual more beautiful. Hence, the pretty photo of themselves.

I'll be referring to Brian and Shawn a lot so you might as well get to know them. If you look at their University bios, you'll find this:

Brian Ledwell Multi Media Developer
Brian graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Idaho.

Shawn McAfee
Coordinator of the Instructional Resources Center
Shawn graduated with a Masters Degree in Graphic Design from UW Milwaukee.

Compare their bios to my heavily edited one. So what gives? The simple answer: They don't like to toot their own horns. These folks and the others in the University Media Services do amazing work because, frankly, that's what they do. And they do it with little fanfare.
Brian designed the COLS Special Reports Web site and the pretty title cards that come with each highlight. I've watched him do "paint" a picture on a computer. Stunning handiwork. He is also solely responsible for my faculty Web site. I asked for something that embodies the peace and harmony that I exude so subtly.

Shawn, who is also an adjunct instructor in the art department, was my art director for the War: Through Their Eyes project. It's too soon to talk about what we went through on that project. Just know by the end of the project I gained 14 pounds, relentlessly e-mailed students at 3 a.m. with a cheery "See you in 7 hours!" and lost the ability to speak intelligibly. Shawn often had to call upon the Grace Under Pressure Translator.

Now I've dragged her into the latest Super-Secret all-consuming multimedia faculty-student collaboration. Great, another 14 pounds...