When Mike Wetzel began with the MMSD Communications Department in 1990, 36 years before he would retire, his office was a cable TV station.
At the time, MMSD’s main medium of communicating with the community came exclusively through telephone calls and a districtwide cable channel, where informational videos would play intermittently with infographics on topics like tomorrow’s lunch menu. It was a system which Wetzel, who came from a background in Chicago TV and video production, quickly sought to reform.
“Nobody wants to watch this. The networks are not doing this. This is not how ABC gets viewers,” Wetzel said. “So I suggested we make it look like a real channel.”
Within 10 years of joining MMSD, Wetzel accomplished his goal.
“We started to do several segments a month, from interviews, to shows highlighting topics in the district, to magazine series like ‘Making the Grade,’ which showcased a variety of small stories in different schools, like an Entertainment Tonight for education,” Wetzel said.
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Wetzel’s experience in TV production helped bring consistent, informative programming to MMSD’s cable channel and in turn increased the district’s outreach in the community. He encouraged a standard show length of 28:45 to give time for promos and station breaks, scheduling them for the same day and time so it was easy to catch.
Of course, that was the 1990s.
From analog editing to digital storytelling
Since then, MMSD — and technology — have undergone significant changes, to say the least. Madison’s population has increased by almost 100,000, school buildings have been demolished and rebuilt, 15 superintendents have come and gone, and education as we know it has been reshaped by changing policy and the growing internet.
Specifically, the MMSD Communications Department has been completely revolutionized; gone is the cable station of the past, replaced entirely by social media platforms, websites and digital newsletters.
Through it all, Wetzel has stuck with MMSD, adjusting to the changing times. This year marks Wetzel’s 36th and final year with the district, as he is set to retire this August. He has gone from analog linear editing and videotaping to entirely digital video editing; from structured cable programming and a world where a four-gigabyte drive is the largest portable storage accessible, to a digitally dominated smorgasbord of content where billions of gigabytes of video are accessible at any time with a single Google search.
Though the times have changed greatly, Wetzel’s determination seems unshaken.
“If you know how to make a video, you can play it anywhere. The basics still apply. It's just a different medium,” Wetzel said. “Everything else that's new and interactive with social media is done after it's posted. But making the video, telling the story, is still the same.”
Looking ahead to retirement
So what’s next for Wetzel, post-retirement?
“I don’t know. My plan is to just take a year off and see what I figure out,” he said. “I don't have a reason I'm retiring. It's just time. I want a change. And that's the best reason to retire.”
Through this change, Wetzel’s colleagues are reflecting on the impact he will leave.
“Mike has been a constant through decades of change at MMSD,” MMSD Marketing and Brand Manager Amy Knight said. “Over the 10 years we've worked together, he's adapted to every evolving need with his trademark dry wit, professionalism and can-do attitude. His creativity and steady presence have made a lasting impact on our district, and he will be greatly missed."
Wetzel did leave open the possibility of continuing his work in video production, but on his own terms.
“I think I’ve reached that level of experience where I could, if I wanted, go into any industry and just make a video, and be like, ‘I know what I'm doing, this is not hard. I've done everything already.’”
A legacy set in concrete
However, with his typical dry wit, Wetzel’s final statement on his time in the district had nothing to do with his media work.
“My legacy is in the auditorium,” Wetzel said.
He recalled a moment when the auditorium was first getting its wheelchair accessible seats, and a construction crew was jackhammering the concrete to level the floor.
“I said ‘why don't you just pour a slab on top to make it level, instead of jackhammering the floor?’ If you go down there now, you'll see there's still those four slabs in the auditorium,” Wetzel said, smirking.
“I saved them so much money and time — that's my legacy. That'll last. It's in concrete there. My most everlasting thing has nothing to do with video,” Wetzel said, laughing.
As Wetzel nears retirement, one thing is certain — whether or not that is Mike’s greatest impact on the district, despite the avalanche of change he has faced in his decades with MMSD, his legacy in the communications department is as concrete as those slabs.
