Bick Treut

biographical information

Assistant Professor--Communication at Raritan Valley Community College, North Branch, NJ. Courses include:

Introduction to Communication Theory
Introduction to Mass Communications
Interpersonal Communication
Writing for the Media
Digital Portfolio Development
Public Speaking

· Pursuing PhD in Psychology with emphasis on Media Effects, Capella University

Bick was appointed to the full-time faculty of Raritan Valley Community College in April 2006. He began teaching as an adjunct instructor in 2002 after a client, Bruce Mossman from chip maker Intel, suggested he consider teaching over consulting. “This way you can feed minds instead of bottom lines,” he said. It was remarkable advice.

After working with computer manufacturers and their advertising agencies for over 20 years, Bick closed his consulting practice in 2005. He was soon hired by the Hunterdon County Democrat in Flemington, N.J. as a full-time reporter covering political, education and feature beats. The job dove-tailed with his adjunct schedule at RV. At the Democrat, Bick produced first-person pieces for Hunterdon Life, the paper’s monthly magazine supplement.

The Hunterdon Life Columns

Here are Adobe Acrobat files of Bick’s monthly Hunterdon Life magazine columns:

Toward a Better Valentine’s Day: Some people call me “Mr. Romance” and some don’t (February 2008).

Grumps Can Vex, But Not Vanquish: How to deal with grumpy people of all kinds (January 2008).

Getting into the Christmas Zone: Love and anticipation affect our perception of time (December 2007).

Commuters Become Creatures of Darkness: Put away the sunglasses; you won’t be following the sun until spring (November 2007).

Hunterdon’s Other County Fair: The Home and Business Expo needs another name (October 2007).

A Professor Goes Back to School: Many paths lead to RVCC and many extend beyond it (September 2007).

How I Became the Sultan of Swat: Houseflies need to be dealt with extreme prejudice (August 2007).

Vacationing in Hunterdon: Five things to do if you’re stuck at home (July 2007).

Summer Barbecue Anxiety: A cookout is an array of variables, any one of which can blow up in your face (June 2007).

The Accidental Landscaper: The dark side of lawn care (May 2007).

Relics of Childhood at the PEZ Museum (Cover Story): Re-live your childhood for $4 (April 2007).

Hunterdon Tempos—The Fast and the Slow: Ever notice that when you’re around some people you get wound up? (March 2007).

Squirrels in the Attic, Bats in the John: Wildlife in all the wrong places (February 2007).

Old Homes are Hard to Heat: Surviving in the great indoors (January 2007).

More Time and Less Money Means Real Gifts: Learning to avoid the Christmas shopping scramble (December 2006).

A Host’s Countdown to T-Day: Less than successful strategies for hosting Thanksgiving (November 2006).

The Worst Part of Autumn is the Fall: Leaf management plans that don’t work (October 2006).

My Brothers Made Me Do It: A phony donation to the Jerry Lewis Telethon (September 2006).

Sticker Schlock: The search for the perfect white oval vacation sticker leads home (August 2006).

Pennsylvania Drivers: The scourge of Hunterdon’s roads (July 2006).

Give Me a Noisy Father’s Day, Please: Men like noisy engines because they keep people away (June 2006).

Driving a Celebrity Clunker: People want to know about my 1989 Dodge Colt (May 2006).

Showers, Flowers, and Sneezing—It Must be April: Get ready for some ka-choos (April 2006).

Ups and Downs of Home Repair: Fixing something around the house used to be called a “chore” (March 2006)

Puppy Love: Dogs cost a lot these days (February 2006).

Brain Freeze: Anxiety over pending snow storms (January 2006).

Gloria in Grenoble: Getting into the Christmas spirit during a business trip to France (December 2005).

How a High School Football Game Killed My Chicken: The neighbor’s dog eats “Dirty Chicken” (November 2005).

The Fear Factor: Scary episodes from my youth (October 2005).

The Spelunking Kid: A trip to Lost River Caverns (September 2005).

Between the Lawn and Lambertville: Should I mow the lawn or take a drive down to Lambertville? (August 2005).

Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor of Communications at Raritan Valley Community College, North Branch, N.J. Courses include communication theory, mass communication, interpersonal communication, writing for the media, digital portfolio development, and public speaking. Bick is also active in the development of Raritan Valley’s ICE (Interactive Communications & Entertainment) initiative, the inter-disciplinary study of communication, video production, audio production, and game development—all with an eye toward content development for the web. Outcomes include the development of a video production certificate program and AS in digital media/film.

Chronology

Bick’s bliss is in the classroom with college students where they learn about communication theory, intrapersonal, interpersonal and mediated (print, radio, tv, web) communications.

• Fall 2002 to Present: Introduction to Communication Theory, RVCC: Designed innovative lesson plan. Focus is on the psychology of human communication including intra-personal, interpersonal, small group, and mass communication. Emphasis on one-on-one interaction and guidance (including numerous Internship opportunities) with students and fostering inter-student communication. Arranged numerous guest lectures (see below).

• Fall 2003 to Present: Introduction to Mass Communications, RVCC : With watershed events occurring “real time” during this course (e.g., concentration of media ownership rulings at FCC, marketing of disruptive technologies, legal action relative to music and film downloading over the Internet), constructed current-events driven lesson plan. Frequent use of articles from New York Times, Broadcasting & Cable Magazine, Forbes, Wired, and Bill Moyer's NOW (PBS) to supplement textbooks. Focus is on the convergence of media and their ownership and resultant agenda-setting, news bias, and First Amendment ramifications. Arranged numerous guest lectures and a field trip (see above).

• 2002: Public Speaking, Warren County Community College : Re-designed lesson plans to emphasize performance-related aspects of the craft. Highly rated by students for teaching effectiveness and by college for student retention. Incorporated “method” performance principles (i.e., Stanislavski, et. al.) into course material and instruction. Stressed peer interaction and evaluation.

· Spring 2006: Speech, RVCC: Focus on performance aspects of public speaking. Used fantastic lesson plans designed by Tom Valasek. Taught two inspiring sections—we had a whole lot of fun!

· Summer 2006: Interpersonal Communications, RVCC: Course focused on communication between people (non-mediated). Emphasis is on effective communication techniques, evolving relationships, conflict resolution, self-disclosure and uncertainty reduction.

Committed to introducing students to industry professionals via in-class guest lectures, field trips, and internship opportunities, including:

In Class Visits/Fieldtrips

• EVP Global Strategy at Grey Worldwide Advertising

• Station Manager, WDVR-FM

• Editor in Chief, Courier-News

• Managing Editor, Doubleday Books

• Senior Editor, NYU Press

• Chief Legal Counsel, Times-Mirror and Agency.com

Internship Opportunities & Support

• Nassau Broadcasting

• Philadelphia Inquirer

• Courier-News

• Local radio stations

For Fall 2004, Bick organized and hosted Raritan Valley Community College's “Careers in Communications” Forum with Student Career Development organization. Program featured prominent luminaries in the publishing, advertising, and media industries.

Consulting and Technology Industry Experience

Before moving into academia, Bick had founded a small (but influential) consultancy called TRG ( www.t-r-g.com ). The Clinton, N.J.-based firm drove significant change at major multinational firms including:

• IBM (e Business advertising campaign, software, services, PCs; work closely with Ogilvy & Mather on message development and assessment)

• Grey Advertising (Campaign development for BellSouth)

• Intel (Development of marketing strategies, messaging and services to support launch of new processors).

At TRG, Bick and his partner Mark Hermann innovated the “market research via investigative journalism” approach. Based on client requirements, they designed and conducted major marketing studies mostly involving large numbers of in-depth one-on-one interviews. They wrote lengthy reports and delivered presentations featuring cogent recommendations under tight deadlines.

Chronology

• 1989-2005: Formed Technologies Research Group, Inc . Successful marketing consultancy serving major technologies manufacturers and their advertising agencies. $500K average annual sales.

• 1985-8: Formed telecommunications and computer industry specialty at Data Group, Inc . Planned and staffed technologies research specialization at this major quantitative market research firm.

• 1984-5: Bell Communications Research Inc., Staff Manager-WRS/Competitive Readiness Research. Developed and executed major marketing studies to guide post-Divestiture Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). Worked closely with all RBOC CEOs and Boards of Directors. Frequent presentations to upper and middle management.

• 1981-4: New Jersey Bell , Bell Atlantic NSI, Analyst- Marketing and Statistical Research District . Hired to design, conduct, and present marketing studies aimed at understanding market impacts of various Bell System Divestiture scenarios on a proprietary basis prior to their selection or announcement. Also conducted advertising effectiveness and marketing studies.

Over the years, Bick wrote several technology-related articles including:

Portable Computing Magazine: Seven Year Test Results: The Tandy 102 Reduces Levels of Portable Computer Anxiety and Violence

Telephony Magazine: Service with a Smile (or How the Telcos Need to Re-adopt "Spirit of Service")

Telephony Magazine: CT2 Casts Cloud Over US Payphone Market

Telephony Magazine: A Skeptic's View of Videotex

Newspaper Industry Experience

After shutting down TRG, Bick went to work at the Hunterdon County Democrat – a charm of a local newspaper (and one of the few remaining truly local newspapers in the U.S.). There, he worked with some outstanding young reporters under the guidance of editors Jay Langley, Rick Epstein and T.P. Wright. At the news weekly, Bick covered towns (like Franklin Township, Califon), schools (including Hunterdon Central High School) and wrote features (like the giant hamburgers they sell at Clinton Station Diner).

For a little over a year, Bick worked at the paper on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesday mornings, and taught at RVCC Wednesday through Friday afternoons. Bick still hold a special fondness for everyone in the newsroom down on Minneakoning Road!

Education

Bick’s formal education focused on the technical, performance, and theoretical aspects of mass communications.

B.S. in Mass Communications (Radio/TV Production), Emerson College , Boston , Massachusetts (1979) . Four years on-air radio personality (WERS-FM) and news reporter (News at Noon , WECB-TV). Academic focus on the technical and performance sides of the industry.
M.A. in Communications, Ohio University , Athens , (1981) . Tuition-free scholarship. Focus on broadcast programming and audience analysis. Graduate instructor in Radio/TV production. Developed research-based (analysis of Arbitron and Neilsen ratings data) programming schedule for new TV licensee in Columbus , Ohio .
Currently pursuing PhD in Psychology, Capella University, Minneapolis, Minn.

Skills

• Excellent writer. Accustomed to tight deadlines.

• Excellent interviewing and presentation skills. Heavy interviewing among consumers and business IT organizations. Frequently present to CEOs and senior management at major IT firms and their advertising agencies.

• Four years of on-air broadcasting experience. Continue radio broadcasting as on-air volunteer (Bick@Nite) at WDVR-FM (Sargentsville , NJ).

• Highly proficient in qualitative and quantitative market research techniques.

• Early adopter of new technologies and through consulting work very familiar with current future generations of computer products and services.

• Highly proficient in small business management.