Spreading Her Wings

If “Red Bull gives you wings,麦蒂·泽林格的工作就是向你展示这些翅膀能把你带到世界的哪个角落.

Zeringue ’02, a communications and sociology double major while at Trinity, is now head of International Communications, Red Bull Media Network for the Red Bull Media House in Salzburg, Austria. There, 她监管着一个庞大的媒体网络，播放着从外太空边缘进行的不怕死的潜水, live music festivals across the globe, aeronautical time trials, and extreme sports such as mountain bike racing.

泽林格从她位于德克萨斯州北部的家中远程工作，每月往返欧洲一次，她领导着一个由传播专业人士组成的网络，在全球170多个国家创作和发布新闻. The role, which Zeringue assumed earlier in 2017, follows ten years of her success at Red Bull North America.

“I aim to be ‘the connector,’” Zeringue says. “我们的观众可能遍布全球数百个市场, 但我一直在寻找能把所有观众联系起来的产品.”

而一些消费者可能只是认为红牛是“带有滑稽卡通广告的能量饮料”和“红牛给你翅膀”的标语, the company has become a media powerhouse, too, Zeringue says. 红牛媒体馆一直是创造和播放极限运动的先驱, adventure, music, and lifestyle content for more than a decade.

“We’re broadcasting a lifestyle,” Zeringue notes. “People know the Red Bull drink, 但我们要在生活的各个方面“激活”心灵和身体.”

So, as Zeringue notes, people across the world might speak different languages, like different musical styles, or even have different media consumption habits, 但无论文化如何，红牛的媒体品牌都旨在打造一种共同的基调.

“看着山地自行车手把山推倒——这在全世界都有市场,” says Zeringue, referencing the Red Bull Rampage, 这是一年一度的“自由骑行”山地自行车活动，数十名骑自行车的人在维珍的悬崖上骑行, Utah. “这份工作不仅仅是制作内容，而是将内容带入生活.”

保持内容的新鲜感也意味着泽林格需要把握住现代观众的脉搏，因为他们越来越难以打动.

“从某种意义上说，现代媒体消费者被‘宠坏了’，所有的内容都是向他们提供的, when and where they want it,” Zeringue says. “So we need to meet their expectations.”

在红牛的十年里，泽林格已经养成了满足这些崇高标准的习惯. While at Red Bull North America, 她在创建和管理媒体发行方面发挥了重要作用 Red Bull Stratos leap, 2012年，奥地利太空潜水员菲利克斯·鲍姆加特纳(Felix Baumgartner)在距离地球24英里的地方完成了一次飞跃——就在太空的边缘. Baumgartner, 他的坠落是一种全球现象，YouTube上同时有900万观众观看, reached speeds of more than 800 mph before parachuting to safety. The broadcast of the leap earned Zeringue an Emmy award. 泰坦尼克号的骤降帮助鲍姆加特纳创造了多项跳伞世界纪录, 该赛事的巨大收视率帮助泽林格和红牛为YouTube和其他视频托管网站开创了一个新时代:直播内容流媒体.

“Those nine million concurrent views? Still an online viewership record,” Zeringue says. “And that was a ‘breaking-the-system’ moment for online media, 因为人们看到在线观看现场直播是可能的.”

Zeringue正在为她未来在新位置上打破纪录的机会做准备, she says she’s always drawing from her Trinity experience.

“I’m in a marketing career, 所以在澳门金沙线上赌博官网学习如何写作可能是我在那里开发的最强大的工具,” Zeringue notes.

对于一个以直播挑战死亡的壮举为职业的人来说, 泽林格说，从已故的迈克尔·基尔(Michael Kearl)在澳门金沙线上赌博官网(Trinity)的社会学课程“死亡与临终”(Death and Dying)中学到的教训，多年来一直伴随着她.

“That’s a class that, at first, I thought, ‘this will have no application in the real world,’” Zeringue says. 但在课堂上，我了解到每种文化对待死亡的方式都不同. And at the end of the day, 我们如何对待死亡也在很大程度上说明了我们如何对待自己的生命.”

“So,” Zeringue continues, “What this means for my job, is that when you’re going to market to somebody, you have to understand the society they are a product of. 这种心态帮助我将每天工作中遇到的不同文化和国籍的人联系起来.泽林格随后在南加州大学(University of Southern California)获得战略公共关系硕士学位.

泽林格鼓励未来的学生以类似的方式在澳门金沙线上赌博官网的课堂上“冒险”.

“That’s what’s really cool about a liberal arts education,” she says, “When you have the opportunity to take classes like that, 他们最终会帮助你将这些经验应用到你的工作中, you can really use that degree to make things happen.”

虽然泽林格近期不打算参加任何跳伞或摩托车越野赛——这让她的丈夫松了一口气, Chris, 2010年毕业于澳门金沙线上赌博官网医疗管理学院，现任盖恩斯维尔北德克萨斯医疗中心临时首席执行官, 德克萨斯州——她确实把自己媒体生涯的“巅峰”视为家族遗产的自然组成部分.

“My family has a long history of aviation,” Zeringue notes. “My grandfather built his own [WWII-era fighter] P-51 Mustang, and unfortunately crashed it; my mother learned how to fly solo in a glider when she was 16, and she’s now an airplane mechanic; my father is an airplane mechanic; and my brother-in-law is one of the top mechanics for Southwest Airlines.”

继续他的职业生涯，从澳门金沙线上赌博官网的天际线校园到萨尔茨堡的阿尔卑斯山脚下, 泽林格说，她很高兴让所有观众看到红牛的高海拔, high-octane exhibitions a view from the top, too.

“Once you’ve gotten a taste of flying and freedom, and feel that you can see the whole world, it sticks with you forever,” Zeringue says. “So, 对我来说，能够分享我们的一些红牛运动员对航空的热爱, that’s what ‘gives me wings.’”