Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Virtual Career Skype Tour: Talking with Kristan Cunningham



This week we kick started our Virtual Career Skype Tour with the very own HGTV star, Kristan Cunningham. Kristan is the former host of Design on a Dime and is now working on a new show that will air on the OWN Network.

Our call started with a brief introduction, where Kristan outlined her educational background and work experiences. The remainder of the call was dedicated to student-led interviews, which covered a variety of questions from what skills and preparation are necessary for a career in interior design to what are the challenges and perks of your job. Before the call, my students researched the different expectations for careers in the arts field and compiled questions that related specifically to the field of interior design.

Throughout the call, students also had assigned Skype jobs. Because this was our first call of the school year with this particular group, I chose to keep my jobs simple and to a minimum so that students can focus on our guest speaker. The three main jobs were super stars, question keepers, and blog writers. The super stars were in charge of answering the call and interviewing our guest speaker while the question keepers kept track of the questions being asked and noted any additional questions that came up during the call. The remaining students were blog writers and took notes on key points that could be mentioned on a blog post about this event.

Our call was a success thanks to Kristan's insight and honest perspective on working in the field of interior design and television. She offered some great advice for students who are interested in this career path. We were glad she took the time to talk to us and were thrilled about being featured in the local news!

Have a look at the interview below.



Here is a video of our media coverage.

2 comments:

  1. WooHoo! How exciting for you and your students to Skype with Kristan. I always loved watching her on Design on a Dime and was amazed at how she could transform a room with such a small budget. Good luck with the rest of your Virtual Career Skype Tour. I can't wait to read about your other guests.

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  2. Thanks, Paula! It was a very exciting call! I am a huge fan of Kristan and it was nice to talk to her and listen to her insights and stories.

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