Welcome
I am Amber Hanneken, and this is my site.
I’m a former-journalist and not at all sad about that. Now I work for “the other side” in marketing. I’m a copywriter, or “brand journalist” if you want to get fancy, for a la mode in Oklahoma City. It’s a ton of fun and I couldn’t ask for a more awesome group of people to work with.
I often get the question, “so what exactly does a copywriter do?” Well, in general, copywriters are the people who write the content of ads, press releases and other sorts of marketing pieces put out by companies and organizations. I personally do the writing for a lot of e-mail campaigns, the company website, print and online ads, articles, social media, and anything else that comes up. Basically if it needs to be put into words, I’m there.
Immediately before this position, I worked for Hugo Daily News in Hugo, Oklahoma as reporter and assistant editor.
I graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri in Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in print and digital news. I have a range of interests and have done my fair share of editing, design, blogging and photography along with reporting and writing.
Through my MU education, I worked with the Columbia Missourian in various journalism forms. I was on the the enterprise beat during my reporting coursework, which allowed me to explore a variety of news topics. My internship with Rural Missouri in the summer of 2008 brought me into magazine journalism where I learned how to design my own layouts in InDesign and improved my photography skills along with my written work. I later worked with MyMissourian, an off-shoot of the Columbia Missourian, where I facilitated citizen journalism. I looked for people in the community with stories to tell and information to share and helped them to post their experiences on the website.
Background
I grew up in the small ranch town of Kamuela, Hawaii where my parents own their own business and still reside. My graduating class was a total of 16 students. I was a book and school nerd from the start. I constantly involved myself in clubs throughout high school like yearbook, student council, National Honor Society, drama and travel club. I also participated in tennis, soccer and cross-country running. Living in a place that is warm and temperate can really allow a girl to expand.
I was lucky enough to travel all around the country while growing up. I have been all over the United States, East Coast to West Coast and everything in between, as well as visiting Canada. In the summer of 2005, after my high school graduation and before starting at MU, I took a trip to Europe with my classmates. We visited England, France, Switzerland and Italy and I had an amazing time. I took in a lot of knowledge about history and culture while there.
I hold small town values from my upbringing in paradise. My parents have always been extremely supportive and caring. In the islands people tend to take it slow, but I craved a more challenging and motivating residence. The ocean became less inviting and more restricting. So I said goodbye, and headed for Mizzou with dreams of journalism.
This Site
This website serves as both my portfolio and personal space. It holds my blog, which primarily discusses something I find myself entrenched in daily — Internet and geek culture. It’s home to many of my published works, personal projects and my resume of experience.