johnsoedercmnh
John Soeder CMNH
I’ve worn various hats over the course of my career, from marketer to journalist. The through line on my resume is, in a word, engagement. My specialty is creating engaging content that builds audiences, aligns with strategic objectives and yields quantifiable results. Here are some examples of my work....
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BLOG
I launched Cleveland State University’s ENGAGED Tumblr blog, which I curated from 2012 to 2016. It has more than 127,000 page views and 66,000 unique users. Below are three pieces I created for the blog.
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BLOG:
Mayflies 101
Michael Tevesz, Ph.D., of Cleveland State University shares everything you need to know about the little buggers that have invaded the shores of Lake Erie.
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BLOG:
New Course Explores Science of Brewing
Before you roll out the barrel, you have to convert starch to maltose, add some hops, bring to a boil, let it cool and then ferment with Saccharomyces cerevisiae to convert sugar to ethanol and carbon dioxide.
But you knew that. No? Well, you would if you took “The Science of Brewing,” a new course at Cleveland State University.
“This is not a basic ‘how to brew’ class,” said instructor Aaron Morford (seen at left with CSU Department of Chemistry Chair David Ball, Ph.D., at Hofbrauhaus Cleveland). “Instead, we dive a little deeper and focus on the science behind the steps in making beer. It’s a complex and fascinating process. Understanding the science at a molecular level will hopefully make us all better brewers. Besides, it makes for great conversation over the next pint.”
It’s a popular subject, too. When CSU announced it would offer “The Science of Brewing” this semester, enrollment filled up within 48 hours.
Morford and Dr. Ball are working with several local breweries, including Great Lakes Brewing Company, Hofbrauhaus Cleveland, Market Garden Brewery and Cellar Rats Brewery, on potential internships for students as well as other partnership opportunities.
The course could help train job candidates for the booming microbrewery industry, particularly in CSU’s backyard, Dr. Ball said.
“The brewing industry is taking off in Northeast Ohio,” he said. “We have a chance to work with these new companies to provide industry-specific skills for their new workers. It’s an exciting opportunity to be involved with local businesses.”
Zach Douglas, a fourth-year CSU student who is majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry, is taking “The Science of Brewing” to learn how he might apply his chemistry studies to something practical – i.e., making beer. He doesn’t plan to become a professional brewer (actually, he’s leaning more toward a career in health care or industrial chemistry), although he may try his hand at home-brewing soon.
“Most beer drinkers don’t realize how complex beer is, especially microbrewed beer,” Douglas said. “The littlest things – like salt levels or letting the yeast ferment too long – can have a huge impact on how a batch of beer turns out. Brewing really requires a lot of attention to detail.”
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BLOG:
Soap Bubbles Trip the Light Fantastic
It’s a soap foam selfie!
Andy Resnick, Ph.D., of Cleveland State University made this remarkable photograph of soap bubbles (magnified 4x) using an imaging technique known as reflection differential interference contrast.
It splits the illuminating light into two overlapping beams. The amount of separation of the beams is very slight — below the resolution limit of the lens.
“The interference of the two reflected beams results in image brightness being proportional to the surface slope,” said Dr. Resnick, assistant professor of physics at CSU.
Dark lines (“singularities”) appear where the surface slope matches the beam separation.
He used a device called a de Senarmont compensator to map the surface slope onto color, resulting in the multicolored appearance of curved surfaces.
Fine adjustment of the beam separation results in the broadest range of colors.
Dr. Resnick’s photo has been featured in Physics Today and in Optics & Photonics News.
Now if only we could get this classic Don Ho song out of our heads:
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VIDEO
I created the “Flying Circus of Physics” video series and “Featured Researcher” video series, which have generated hundreds of thousands of views and built audiences for Cleveland State University.
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“Flying Circus of Physics”
I developed and launched Cleveland State University’s popular “Flying Circus of Physics” video series. In each episode, Professor Jearl Walker presides over an entertaining and educational demonstration of a scientific principle. Now in its fourth season, the series has received more than 118,000 video views across CSU’s social media platforms, caught the attention of Crain’s Cleveland Business and Discovery Channel and won an ADDY Award in the “Branded Content & Entertainment” category.
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“Featured Researcher”
I created the “Featured Researcher” video series for Cleveland State University’s Office of Research, highlighting research across various fields, from engineering to history to urban studies. In this installment, Professor Dan Simon discusses a groundbreaking prosthesis. For each video in the first three seasons of this ongoing series, I coordinated the script, shot the footage, composed and recorded the music and edited the finished piece.
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PROGRAMMING
At Cleveland State University, I have contributed extensively to the organization, promotion and management of successful major events, including TEDxClevelandStateUniversity, CSU’s 50th anniversary celebration and the Arts & Humanities Alive! (AHA!) Festival.
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PROGRAMMING:
TEDxClevelandStateUniversity
I was a co-organizer of the 2016 edition of TEDxClevelandStateUniversity, which included a TEDxTalk by Roberta Muehlheim (above), assistant curator of vertebrate zoology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. I curated and co-produced TEDx Talks (including a presentation by Pulitzer Prize winner Connie Schultz) for the event, which packed CSU’s Waetjen Auditorium and garnered thousands of online views.
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PROGRAMMING:
CSU 50th Anniversary
I developed and executed #CLEstate50, a content marketing campaign that delivered 8.3 million impressions and promoted Cleveland State University’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2014, which drew 5,000+ people.
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AHA! Festival
I was a co-organizer of the 2017 and 2018 Arts & Humanities Alive! (AHA!) Festival, a partnership between CSU and Playhouse Square. Each installment brought more than 3,000 people to the CSU campus and to Playhouse Square for performances and presentations by luminaries from the worlds of literature, music, theater and dance. My responsibilities included everything from event planning to marketing/promotion to event management.
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MEDIA
My lifelong passion for science even crept into my work at The Plain Dealer, where I was the pop music critic for more than a decade. In the story below, I took a “scientific” look at the Jonas Brothers phenomenon. Needless to say, this piece generated significant engagement -- particularly among young female readers!
A Scientific Inquiry into the Awesomeness of the Jonas Brothers
By John Soeder
Published August 22, 2008, in The Plain Dealer
OBJECTIVE
We set out to test the widely held theory that the Jonas Brothers – Kevin, Joe and Nick, aka the JoBros or the JBs – are totally awesome, through a review of the literature and meta-analysis.
METHODOLOGY
Various authoritative periodicals were consulted, including CosmoGirl! Extra and Tiger Beat. For the purposes of this study, only data relevant to the JoBros were examined – i.e., we skipped all those "Summer Beauty Tips" articles (although we couldn't resist a quick peek at "5 Scary Lies! How Girls Get Duped").
RESULTS
The overall awesomeness of the Jonas Brothers can be traced to several key factors, including the infectious nature of their sonic output, their self-evident easiness on the human visual sensory system and the two-way, self-perpetuating exchange of affection between them and their fan base. These factors are addressed in more detail in the following sections.
MUSICALITY
Even before the Jonas Brothers released their third album, "A Little Bit Longer," earlier this month, they had established themselves as "the hugest music sensation to hit the scene in decades," according to Chang. (1)
"Their music is wholesome enough for kids to sing along to, feel-good enough for adults to find irresistibly catchy and still cool enough to top your iPod's most-played list," Chang determined.
These findings have been echoed by other experts. Kevin, Joe and Nick are "fantastalistic" musicians who "rock the stage" and "write amazing lyrics," according to Jessica, Kelly, Gretchyn, Molly, Casey, et al. (2) "There's no doubt about it, the Jonas Brothers rock!" Rachelle declared. (3)
The JBs even rock harder than the heavy-metal group Slipknot, Victoria has boldly asserted, (4) although her revolutionary hypothesis (scrawled in black marker on posterboard decorated with hand-drawn stars) has not been validated independently. Additional research in this particular area is needed.
GOOD LOOKS
The aesthetically pleasing appearance of the Jonas Brothers, collectively and individually, and the general hormonal mayhem that their attractive physical attributes generate in fans (particularly those of the opposite sex) have contributed to the group's popularity in ways that cannot be overstated. That Kevin, Joe and Nick are cute is the unanimous verdict of researchers; the only subject of debate is precisely how cute this fraternal triad is.
The Jonas Brothers qualify as "uniquely crush-worthy," according to Kelly. (5) In the same report, Casey found the JoBros to be "just plain hot," noting: "They all have amazing style. It's rock and roll and preppy at the same time. Oh, and they look so good in their tight skinny jeans!" (6)
Jenna and Jacyln had direct contact with Kevin, Joe and Nick and found them to be "insanely cute." (7)
Research published in the prestigious journal J-14 (Just for Teens) determined that the Jonas Brothers are the "hottest group," with a clear thermodynamic edge over Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco. Joe was deemed "hottest guy." (8)
By way of summing up these sentiments nicely, We Love Jonas Brothers posed the no-brainer question: "Who wouldn't want to be the girl of their dreams?" (9)
FAN-BASE DYNAMICS
The unique relationship between the Jonas Brothers and their admirers further contributes to the hysteria-inducing unit's awesome aura. Researchers have detected a deep concern for their fans on the part of the JoBros, creating an emotional pull perceived as sincere by those in varying orbits of enchantment around this three-star system.
A rigorous analysis conducted by We Love Jonas Brothers summarized the situation thusly: "The Jonas Brothers love their fans." (10)
"We saw how super-sweet they really are to fans!" a team of experts from Twist reported after witnessing firsthand a JoBros meet-and-greet at Disney World. (11)
When they're onstage, Kevin, Joe and Nick routinely make eye contact with concertgoers, although internal tension bordering on jealousy has arisen when any given Jonas eyes a female aficionado who turns out to be holding up a sign for a different Jonas, according to a groundbreaking Tiger Beat item. (12)
"The Jonas Brothers really are devoted to their fans," Tiger Beat declared. (13) This finding was supported with compelling evidence: a photo of Nick backstage as he accepted a heart-shaped balloon from a young lady in Mexico. Despite the lame nature of the gift, Nick gamely wore an expression of incalculable gratitude.
ADDITIONAL DETERMINANTS
Besides the factors outlined above, several other considerations are worth taking into account in any comprehensive assessment of the JoBros' appeal.
Their fame certainly was subject to no deleterious effects as a result of their recent appearance in "Camp Rock." In the aftermath of the Disney Channel movie, "the Jonas Brothers' success can only multiply," Teen stated, noting: "The flick has everything it needs to be a hit: great music, cool dance moves, a heart-warming story and, most importantly, Kevin, Joe and Nick." (14)
The movie was declared "a definite can't-miss" in the pages of J-14, which predicted "Camp Rock" would become "the biggest phenomenon since 'High School Musical.' " (15) An item in Twist went so far as to hint that the "HSM3"cast might be envious of their "Camp Rock" counterparts, because the Jonas Brothers and "Camp Rock" co-star Demi Lovato (also the opening act on the JoBros' Burning Up Tour) are exceedingly tight. (16)
A strong work ethic has been another ingredient in the JBs' success. "They've been on the road since October, when they opened for Miley Cyrus on the 'Best of Both Worlds' tour, then immediately jumped onto their own headlining gig," according to the experts at Teen. (17) "In the past year, the JBs have slept at home for just a week total!" CosmoGirl! Extra revealed. (18)
The Jonas Brothers even have managed to make a virtue of their pratfalls. An eye-opening study in We Love Jonas Brothers confirmed: "They're human, too." (19) In particular, Joe's alarmingly frequent onstage tumbles have become a source of endearment for untold numbers of admirers. "Joe makes clumsy look good and falling in public the new cool thing to do," Kelly stated. (20)
CONCLUSION
The Jonas Brothers are awesome. Totally.
REFERENCES
1. Chang, Rachel. "Band of Brothers." CosmoGirl! Extra. Ed. Susan Schulz. Summer 2008; 32-34, 43.
2. Jessica, Kelly, Gretchyn, Molly, Casey, et al. "Why You Love the Jonas Brothers." CosmoGirl! Extra. Ed. Susan Schulz. Summer 2008; 12.
3. Rachelle. "Editor's Letter." We Love Jonas Brothers. Ed. Rachelle. 2008; 3.
4. Victoria, et al. "You [HEART] the Jonas Brothers." Teen. Ed. Jane Fort. Summer 2008; 50.
5. Jessica, Kelly, Gretchyn, Molly, Casey, et al. "Why You Love the Jonas Brothers." CosmoGirl! Extra. Ed. Susan Schulz. Summer 2008; 12.
6. Jessica, Kelly, Gretchyn, Molly, Casey, et al. "Why You Love the Jonas Brothers." CosmoGirl! Extra. Ed. Susan Schulz. Summer 2008; 12.
7. Jenna, Jaclyn. "I Met My Fave Celeb!" Tiger Beat. Ed. Leesa Coble. July 2008; 23.
8. "Your Hot List." J-14. Ed. Janet Giovanelli. July 2008; 106-107.
9. "10 Unforgettable Moments." We Love Jonas Brothers. Ed. Rachelle. 2008; 46-47.
10. "Why We Love the Jonas Brothers." We Love Jonas Brothers. Ed. Rachelle. 2008; 62.
11. "JB Hangs With Fans at the DC Games." Twist. Ed. Molly McDermot. July 2008; 6.
12. "All-Access Jonas." Tiger Beat. Ed. Leesa Coble. July 2008; 24-27.
13. "Jonas Beat." Tiger Beat. Ed. Leesa Coble. July 2008; 4.
14. "Boys of Summer." Teen. Ed. Jane Fort. Summer 2008; 40-42, 111.
15. "The J-14 Don't Miss List." J-14. Ed. Janet Giovanelli. July 2008; 74-75.
16. "Is the HSM3 Cast Jealous of Camp Rock?" Twist. Ed. Molly McDermot. July 2008; 48.
17. "Boys of Summer." Teen. Ed. Jane Fort. Summer 2008; 40-42, 111.
18. "On the Road." CosmoGirl! Extra. Ed. Susan Schulz. Summer 2008; 44-45.
19. "Why We Love the Jonas Brothers." We Love Jonas Brothers. Ed. Rachelle. 2008; 62.
20. Jessica, Kelly, Gretchyn, Molly, Casey, et al. "Why You Love the Jonas Brothers." CosmoGirl! Extra. Ed. Susan Schulz. Summer 2008; 12.
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MISCELLANY
I composed, performed and recorded “Chesley Bonestell Scene,” a song that plays over the end credits of Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future, an award-winning new documentary film about the father of modern space art. It has screened from coast to coast, including showings at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., the Cleveland Cinematheque and Comic-Con in San Diego, where it was named Best Documentary Film.
You can hear the song and read more about my contribution to the film here.
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