Getting to know you: Robert Clark
Name? Robert B. Clark
What is your job? Manager of Digital Video Services in ATUS
What does your department do? "Video Services handles video and media production needs for pretty much the entire campus. At some time or another, I've worked with academics, administrators, the alumni, the foundation, athletics, and even a few off-campus people like the State of Washington, Whatcom Community College or other local non-profits. We're sort of the central media location for the university."
What is your day-to-day like? "It's very random. The phone just happens to ring or somebody just happens to come by and I work with them. But in the mix, I also do a lot of video productions. I do design work for new projects the university is undertaking. I do advising for media aspects of what the university is working on, and purchasing... just a variety of things, you know? Administrative type stuff like billing and maintaining order in the office and the order of all the different projects and that sort of thing."
Where are you originally from? "I grew up in Los Angeles and lived there until I was around 24 or so. Then I moved to the Northwest after that."
How long have you worked here? "I just hit my ninth anniversary. My ninth anniversary was around Sept. 15."
What's your favorite memory of Western? "I've had a real fun time working with my student workers. I've been here long enough to where some of the ones that I've hired I hired as freshmen and they spent their entire four years or five years working for me and then I got to see them graduate. And so, going through that cycle a couple times with different students has been wonderful. Getting to see them grow, getting to see them graduate, and even connecting with them after they graduate to hear about how they, I don't know, having families and jobs and lives and that sort of thing. And so, those are the happy memories."
Do you have any hobbies? "I'm an avid photographer. I take a lot of photography, both just on the spur of the moment as well as posed sort of stuff. I'm really interested in building models. I build model train sets. If you're doing it to a specific design — such as my little railroad that I'm building now, [which] is built sort of like Bellingham — you use local rock and local wood and local sand and you try to create some recognizable features like Sehome Hill, for example, or places like that. I also take video for fun too, so I take my work as my hobby as well, so I'm pretty happy about that."
Do you have any pets? A cat named Kipper. "My sister ended up moving from Oregon to Nevada and she gave me her cat but she, the cat, and I have really bonded. [She's a] short-hair, black-and-white-tuxedo cat."
Are you working on any projects? "The train in my office, I'm still working on. That's obviously a fun home project. I build it in sections and bring it home when each of the sections are done. I've been working on it for three years. So, it's taken me a while to get where it is now."
What's something you want to do or accomplish in the next five years? "In 2015, I turn 50. And some time around that, I want to go around the world by train, because I love traveling by train. I've gone across the United States several times, gone across Canada. Been all throughout England, but I haven't been on the European or Asian continents yet, so basically what I want to do is travel as much as possible by train around the world. It would take about, I don't know, a month? And it would be a really neat trip. I am really looking forward to doing that."
What's your favorite vacation you've been on? "I've gone to England a couple times. I love the United Kingdom. I've gone all over the place in Scotland, Whales, England itself. My favorite vacations are the ones I don't plan. Where I go to a specific location and essentially let serendipity guide me. And I find people or places or little eateries or stuff like that or photo opportunities where they just sort of happen."
Have you received any awards or recognition? Communicator Award of Excellence,
2007 Oregon Heritage Excellence Award
Best drinking fountain on campus? "Oh, that's an easy one. Over in Carver Gym, by the main office, there's a water fountain that's just the perfect temperature and force. It's in the little hallway that goes to the bleachers. I spend a lot of time in Carver Gym because of commencement. We do six ceremonies a year and some of them are really hot. And so, knowing where good water fountains are is a real major deal."
Tell me a joke. "There's this really old lady and she's really feisty. And she's talking to her daughter and basically saying, 'My dear, I'm as sound as this table!'" *knocks on table* "'Who's there?'"
