Tuesday, June 19, 2007

BIG NEWS!

On May 31, 2007, I got hired as the Associate Editor for Powder magazine. It's always been my dream to be a full-time, on staff editor at Powder and I did it at age 24.

My first day was June 11, and although I'm super overwhelmed and busy, I'm still in disbelief.

I have tried to improve this blog, but I have been too busy as of late to update it. It's definitely a work in progress and eventually would like to build my own website for inquiries.

Nevertheless, great news!

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Johnny Stifter
Associate Editor
Powder Magazine
509.999.8536
john.stifter@primedia.com
johnnystifter@gmail.com
www.johnstifter.blogspot.com


CAREER SUMMARY

Inspired to make aware, motivate, and expose, writing expands perspective and understanding of others, cultures, and self through sincerity and passion—the only way. Experience in self-marketing, research, diverse subject topics, customer relations, photography, and playing in the mountains and beyond enlarged by scope and ability. The winter season of 2006/2007 acts as the first full year as a freelance writer.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE


POWDER MAGAZINE 2007-Current

Associate Editor - Hired on May 31, 2007, as Associate Editor. One of my three editors. I edit the back sections of the magazine--namely, Backcountry, Stash, Voice, and Straightline. I directly correspond with contributors and top-edit their stories. I also produce my own work on a daily basis writing several different stories for the mag due to a relatively small staff. Also interact daily with P.R. and Marketing representatives in the ski industry.


POWDER MAGAZINE 2005-2007

Correspondent – Following a three-month unpaid internship at Powder HQ in San Juan Capistrano, CA, I began my career as a freelance correspondent in digital—powder.com—and print—Powder magazine. My writing for Powder has spanned various topics—profiles, reviews, Q & A’s, investigative, research, and event coverage.

• Over 100 posts on powder.com including photos
• Two stories in print for 2005-2006 production season
• 10 stories in print for 2006-2007 season

THE HONDA SKI TOUR, MOUNTAIN SPORTS INTERNATIONAL Winter 2007

Staff Writer – Present at all four stops of the inaugural, elite, four-stop Honda Ski Tour from January-March 2007 covering ski, music, party, and art events.

• Editor of The Honda Ski Tour Daily, a two-sided cardstock daily pamphlet with a ski side and music side with a 400-word story on each side and accompanying schedule of events and other needed information. Edited layout and worked with Adobe pdf and Filemaker Pro. Three Honda Ski Tour Daily’s per each of the four stops.
• Event blog writer. About 10 blogs for each stop from event coverage, to interviews, to the scene.
• Press release writer of both ski and music events. Distribution to about 8,000 media outlets.
• Worked for and closely with Keith Carlsen, former editor of Powder magazine and current director of Mountain Sports International (MSI).

STAND STRONG AGAIN FOUNDATION 2007

Director – Stand Strong Again Foundation benefits action-sports athletes (snow, skate, moto) that suffer Spinal Cord Injuries (SCIs) through recreation. An official 501-c3 non-profit foundation.

• Solicit donations and corporations to sponsor or donate to the cause.
• Present at various events providing awareness.
• Organizing special charity events.
• Directly involved with entire scope of foundation from emails to athlete involvement to research to quality of live initiatives.

ESPN, WINTER X GAMES 2005-2007

Winter X Games Ski and Snowboard Researcher – Hired in 2005 for WX 2006 as the Ski Researcher and in 2007 as the Snowboard Researcher. Hired for three-month intervals.

• Interviewed every Slopestyle and Halfpipe athlete for Winter X profile/bio used for live ABC/ESPN broadcasts and public announcers.
• Wrote three stories a week for xdailyupdate.com, an ESPN site only for production.
• Interviewed judges, event organizers, TV talent, and expert industry peoples for stories.
• On-site in Aspen, CO, for Winter X writing scripts for SportsCenter and XCenter with sport vernacular.
• Factchecked, researched, and factchecked again for production graphics, production stories, and on-air TV talent.

FREELANCE EXPERIENCE 2005-Current

• Expn.com, contributor
• The Ski Journal, contributor, and 4,000-word feature
• Snowboarder magazine, online contributor at snowboardermag.com
• Outside Bozeman, former intern, contributor
• Assigned stories for winter 2007 for Backcountry magazine, Skeeze magazine, Outside magazine, and Sun Valley magazine.


EDUCATION

B.A., English Literature, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. December 2006. Cumulative GPA: 3.1
International Student Exchange, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. December 2006


ACTIVITIES

• Outdoor enthusiast: skiing, snowboarding, biking, kayaking, hiking, mountaineering
• Community Service (over 120 hours), volunteer firefighter


REFERENCES

• Derek Taylor, Editor, Powder magazine, 970-209-1644, derek@powder.com
• Matt Hansen, Senior Editor, Powder magazine, 970-846-7766, matt@powder.com
• Deb McKinnis, Research Manager, ESPN Winter and Summer X Games, 501-868-1005, Debbie.McKinnis@espn.com
• Keith Carlsen, Director, Mountain Sports International, Salt Lake City, UT, 949-636-4686, keith@mtsports.com
• Matt Sterbenz and Joe Stumpf, Founders, 4FRNT Skis and Stand Strong Again Foundation, Salt Lake City UT, 530-448-1752, matt@4frnt.com joe@4frnt.com
• Katie Eldridge, Owner, Panic Button Media, Park City, UT, 435-640-2554, keldridge@panicbuttonmedia.com
• Tom Czech, Manager, Chalet Sports, Bozeman, MT, 406-587-4595
• Dr. Dean Williamson, English Professor, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, dwilliamsonmt@msn.com