My one-year reign as Producer is finally coming to an end, and we’re looking for a replacement! We’re looking for a highly motivated, organized and creative person who can manage tasks and staff for online content. The Producer works with WPGU 107.1 FM and buzz Magazine to produce online content in a variety of ways. No experience is needed, but some prior knowledge of online journalism, radio and/or multimedia helps.

Because this is a student manager position at Illini Media, the applicant must be a student graduating no earlier than May 2010. Applicants don’t necessarily need to be here over the summer, but we would strongly prefer to hire someone who plans on being here for one entire year.

Applications are available at the Illini Media Help Desk at 512 E. Green St. weekdays from 9-5:30. They are due Friday, February 27.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to e-mail me at producer@the217.com.

If you have an eye for photography and have good organizational and managerial skills, we want you to apply for the position of Photo Editor!

The Photo Editor must be a current student at the University of Illinois. All majors are welcome. We’re looking for someone who can manage a small staff of photographers, delegate photo assignments for different stories, find images as needed and manage the input and uploading of photos and images both in print and online.

Some experience is preferred, but we will train the right person.

If you’re interested in the job, please e-mail Tommy Trafton at buzz@readbuzz.com by Tuesday, February 24th. Be sure to include why you’re interested in the job!

You may have noticed some changes to the WPGU page this week (or maybe you haven’t) so I’m here to guide you through them.

1. A compacted livestream. No more picking your player (it’s so confusing!), just press play and out comes the radio … from your computer. It’s truly the way of the future.

2. Search artist or album index, right in the live playlist. That Cure remix that just played totally reminds you of remixes, which reminds you of mashing things together, which reminds you of Girl Talk. So search for it.

3. Recent music forum posts are right there on the side. So you’re looking through the playlist, listening to a local band play on PGU, and BAM! there’s a forum post about that band. It’s all right there.

4. Audio archive box. Now you can see all the recent audio files that have gone up without have to search for them. Listen to an interview with Death Cab for Cutie or an in-studio performance that you may have missed. You need a break from reading, after all.

Go forth and enjoy the new WPGU page. I think you might like it.

Dudes,

It’s a rough world out there. We want to help.

the217.com is looking to expand the amount of people running around who enjoy and have a working knowledge of the Internet and all its wonders. In other words, we want you to work here if you really really like our site and think you could do glorious things for it.

The internship is unpaid (except for payment per completed project, such as writing stories or making videos), and lasts four weeks, beginning right after winter break. Every intern who completes the program will be offered aid in another job placement throughout the company, and will also have a leg up on management positions available in the spring of 2009 on the217.com.

If you’re interested and would like more information, please e-mail me at producer@the217.com, and I will send a formal job description and application. Please do not send resumes until you send your completed application. Because time is limited and we are looking for people with strong writing skills, your written application is extremely important. We will only offer interviews to applicants who have impressive written applications.

This is a fantastic opportunity in media, online publishing, video, photo, writing and more! You will learn many important skills for the scary media world out there, and you will see completed work both on this site and potentially in buzz Magazine.

Inquire now!

We all know that the economy is not looking good, but the publishing industry is deeply affected by this crisis. Magazines are folding left and right, and the ones that are still afloat (for now) are having to lay off thousands of employees across the country.

Simply put, it’s a miserable time for magazines, and it’s not going to get any better unless we all give them some business.

So here’s a simple solution: buy your friends and loved ones magazine subscriptions for Christmas (or Hannukah, or any wintertime holiday you choose to celebrate). Magazines are cheap, especially now. Places like Spin Magazine are offering two full years of issues for close to 15 dollars. Others can run as cheap as 10 dollars for a year. The best part about magazines is that there’s one for every person. There’s a magazine for nearly every interest.

Go to subscriptionsforchristmas.tumblr.com to learn more, and give the gift that actually keeps on giving … that people will actually want (unlike the jelly of the month club).

We’ve got some great jobs available soon, as well as some blogging positions. If you’re a current U of I student and you want to get some great experience in media, consider applying for one of these jobs! If you’d like to apply for any of these positions, send me an e-mail at producer@the217.com with your name, phone number, and the position that you’re interested in.

•Presentation Editor: This person is responsible for how the site looks: those rotating centerpieces on the front page, the art attached to an article, and the layout of the sections. If you’re organized, have an artistic eye and can write headlines, this might be a good job for you! Photoshop experience is a big plus. This job will start in January 2009.

•Assistant Producer for Calendar: This person is very important to our site: we have the most comprehensive calendar in Champaign-Urbana, and it requires a dedicated producer to make sure all the listings get in and are correct. If you’re extremely detail-oriented and a people person, this is a great job for you! This job will start in January 2009.

•Bloggers: We’re looking for two types of bloggers right now: those who want to contribute to our daily current events blog, The Lowdown, and bloggers who want to create their own unique product by starting a blog hosted on our site. If you like to write and you want people to read what you have to say every day, this is a great outlet for you! These positions are available immediately.

I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries about writing blogs lately for the site, and it’s great! But we’re pretty stuffed in the blog department right now. For the summer (until mid-August), we are only accepting blog applications for the following categories:

Food + Drink
Stage
Arts
LGBT

If you’re interested in blogging in any of these areas, email me at producer@the217.com. If you’d like to write in another area, please hold off until mid-August (I’ll post another entry when we’re looking for more people).

Thanks everyone!

Probably the biggest event to hit Champaign-Urbana, Ebertfest is the must-see local event of the year. Every year, Roger Ebert himself picks out select movies to show at the Virginia Theater, and people from all corners of the movie industry come to watch these films and participate in discussions. The tickets are only $8 for students and $10 for general public, with a festival pass costing around $100 for 5 days of movies.

We’re going to be providing extensive coverage of the festival all weekend, with buzz and Daily Illini writers coming together to provide the best possible content on the events and the films. They’ll be sharing their experiences, thoughts and insights into the choices and the actual events occurring around each movie, so keep your eyes peeled for very frequent updates to the Movies + TV section.

We’re all really excited about this event and we hope you are too!

Thank you to everyone who voted, came out, performed, presented, whatever! The LMA’s were a smashing success, and definitely the most fun I’ve had in a while. If you missed any of the action, you can head over to the LMA page where Matt Fender wrote a live blog, and live photos and videos were uploaded. There’s one video from each performer, so you can see your favorite set all over again.

I even got a chance to check out Elsinore’s set next door at Memphis on Main, and people were having a great time there too. Elsinore, was as always, fantastic.

Both events going on next door to each other, both packed, both with great people and great music, just shows how good this local music scene really is. Thanks to all the people who make it what it is — the musicians, the fans, the industry, everyone! You guys help to make these towns special.

As for us here at the217, we’re going to be focusing a lot more on the local music scene in upcoming weeks, as we always strive to do. We’ll be featuring a band of the week on WPGU, in which we highlight a local artist all week long every week! There’s going to be more to come so stick with us!