resume
the details
Overview
-Web Design - Concept, Storyboard, Graphic Illustration, Graphic Export, Graphic Implementation
-Web Development - Merge code with graphics, set up browser driven colors, fonts, styles, optimize Web pages, organize, name, folders
-Project Management - Oversee, Communicate, Organize, Archive, Report
-Video/Audio - Write, Setup, Coach, Test, Capture, Edit, Export
-Multimedia - Concept, Storyboard, Code, Export, Optimize, Implement
-Alternative Energy - ethanol, wind, solar, methane, bio-fuels
-Energy Procurement
-Customer Service
-Public Relation, Organization & Outreach
-Financial Records/Forecasts
Skills
Programming
-HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, RSS/XML, Actionscript 2.0/3.0, PHP, mySQL
Internet Applications
-Survey Monkey
-Constant Contact
-Mochila
-Joomla
-Google - Webmaster Tools, Analytics, Adwords, Adsense, Trends, Documents, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Maps
-CMS- Clickability, BitStudios
-Developed custom CMS solutions for small companies needing to change minimal content
Internet Practice
-Web 2.0 consulting and implementation
-SEO / SEM / SEA
-Usability consulting and implementation
-Folder archiving and organizing
-Naming Conventions
-Setup and installation of social bookmarking and networking services
-Graphic Design
-Revenue Programs - Promoting company information through dynamically driven directories
Backend Server
-Domain Search, Registration, Setup, Forwarding, Transferring - 1and1, GoDaddy, BlackSun, Network Solutions
Video and Audio
-Canon XL2
-Light Set
-Chroma Key Light Ring & Chroma Flex Material
-Pod-casting
-DVD authoring
IT
-Setting up Hardware: Video, Lights, ChromaFlex, TV, Phone, Camera, Mac, PC
-Networking Macs and PCs Wireless and Wired
-IT consulting and solution guru
Computer Software
-Safari, Firefox, Explorer, Chrome, Opera
-Mac OS X, Win XP, Vista, Linux
Development Software
-Adobe - Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Ultra, Fireworks, Premiere Pro, LiveCycle
-Final Cut Pro
-Logic Studio, Audacity, Sound Forge
-Microsoft Office - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access - understanding of how to integrate Excel documents into PowerPoints and Word documents, as well as integrating Adobe produced content.
-Quickbooks
PR
-Developed design and copy for company presentations, brochures, and informational material
-Community PR for Question and Answer sessions
-Community Outreach for promotion of bio-fuels
Awards
-Best Serious Game Award - (please email for more info -- a new approach to safe decisions while out having fun)
School
UW-Whitewater - Multimedia Digital Arts/Communication BA & Music BA - GPA 3.77 - Dec. '07
Information that you wouldn't want to know normally, but would look at if you were my friend on Facebook.
-Favorite Game: Half-Life 2
-Favorite Music: Electronica/Pop
-Favorite Drink: Coffee (black)
-Favorite Food: Olive Garden breadsticks with alfredo sauce
-Favorite Artist: Kaskade
-Favorite set of tools to create awesome online content: iMac 24" 3.06Ghz with Adobe CS4 Master Collection
-Favorite Travel: Staying with my host family in Japan
-Favorite Websites: cnn.com, huffingtonpost.com, wired.com, yahoo.com
TAPmedia in the Biz Journal Article - I was on the front page
Perhaps growing up the son of a television station executive explains Mike Schuch Jr.'s side projects that have become part of the family business.
Schuch, whose father, Mike Schuch Sr., ran WVTV-TV (Channel 18) and WCGV-TV (Channel 24) in Milwaukee for many years, followed his father into broadcasting. Schuch Jr. held a series of television and radio sales positions and finally served as local sales manager at Madison NBC affiliate WMTV-TV (Channel 15).
But the younger Schuch had a creative and entrepreneurial itch to advance businesses' use of not only traditional media but also the Internet for marketing.
"Even when I was working in media, it was sort of my hobby coming up with promotions and new ways to use the Internet to help businesses," Mike Jr. said.
Mike joined his father's business, TAP Media, in 2002, and brought with him his ideas for online marketing and combining those with television and radio advertising.
TAP Media sells Web applications it calls "Store & Play" that store, schedule and stream video on a business Web site. The firm also developed what it calls "Walkout Video" on which a retailer or other business runs a videotaped greeting - which can be taped at TAP Media's small studio - in which they appear to walk onto a prospective customer's computer screen.
Aside from its Web services, TAP Media is a full-service advertising agency, creating and placing advertising in all forms of media. The firm's largest Milwaukee-area client is Appliance World, a three-store appliance retailer.
Shared ownership
Mike Sr., 65, and Mike Jr., 42, each own 50 percent of the five-employee Sussex company, but Mike Jr. has run day-to-day operations since 2003.
Mike Sr. started the business in January 1999 after finishing a three-year stint running a TV station in Tampa, Fla., and yearning to return to Wisconsin. The initial concept for what he called Television Advertising Partners (TAP) was consulting with local TV stations on improving their advertising sales.
The Internet focus started when Mike Jr. joined and brought with him "Ask the Experts," a feature TAP Media sold to TV and radio stations for use on their Web sites. Web site visitors could connect, for example, to a local physician who paid to be the local expert on health care.
TAP Media had 50 stations in its "Ask the Expert" network when it sold the business in 2003 for an undisclosed amount to Broadcast Interactive Media of Madison. TAP Media still receives residual payments for the service, Mike Jr. said.
Mike Jr. has recruited clients locally and nationally for the Store & Play and Walkout Video products. For business development, he has relied on both old-fashioned networking and his firm's online marketing through Google ad words and search optimization. He won the Appliance World account on a cold call.
By networking at conventions, Mike Jr. said he parlayed his firm's ad agency relationship with Malkin's Carpets in Menomonee Falls, a Mohawk flooring dealer, to work for Mohawk Flooring, Calhoun, Ga., and Abbey Carpet & Floor, Bonita Springs, Fla. Abbey Carpet dealers can hire TAP Media to custom-produce a Walkout Video for their Web sites, and about three dozen have done so this year.
Barbara Wells, Abbey Carpet's advertising director, credits TAP Media with learning about each retailer's business and how best to employ the Walkout Video on their Web sites.
"They're very proactive - they have a lot of great ideas," Wells said of TAP Media.
TAP Media's latest idea, which will launch in 2009, involves selling local television stations a service to their advertisers who want to bolster their Web sites. TAP Media will, for about $2,500 per advertiser, help them develop their Web sites.
TAP is partnering with Carl Schulhof, a one-time sales manager at WISN-TV (Channel 12) in Milwaukee who's now in Santa Barbara, Calif., to sell the service.
The Schuchs believe the timing is right because TV stations nationwide will be seeking new revenue sources due to the down economy and the end of political advertising after the November election season. They're looking to diversify their own revenue stream, which Mike Jr. said is in the $2 million to $3 million range annually.
Mike Sr. mainly plays a consultant role these days, which often involves evaluating his son's latest idea and suggesting when to take it to the action stage.
Mike said he values his father's guidance and will continue to rely on it.
"I have a file of ideas I haven't used yet," Mike Jr. said.
LESSONS LEARNED By Mike Schuch Jr.
What has been your toughest business decision? "Deciding to sell a large portion of our business to a then startup company for membership interest."
What's been your best business decision? "The sale of our convergent programs to Broadcast Interactive Media, as they have grown to be one of the largest providers of online services to media companies nationwide - serving 160 radio and television stations."
What is the biggest risk you've taken so far? "Purchasing a large office for future growth."
What was your biggest mistake? "Not delegating as often as I should."
Persistent Link to the article
Awards and School
Awards
-Best Serious Game Award - UW-Whitewater (a new approach to safe decisions while out having fun -- ask for link)
School
UW-Whitewater - Multimedia Digital Arts/Communication BA & Music BA - GPA 3.77 - Dec. '07
