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Johnson’s career at Hamline began immediately after he graduated from Hamline in 1987 with a degree
in business administration. In those early days, he says, he started out fixing and installing computers at a time when the university was “just getting into PCs.”

“I remember having 14 Apple IIEs and 14 Zeniths,” Johnson said, a far cry from the multitude of computers on campus today.

Johnson later moved into the position he now holds, director of media services, in which he spends his time coordinating and moving equipment all across campus. A typical day generally consists of just getting to classrooms to ensure that they are set up, keeping track of all the equipment needed for the day, and making sure the equipment also gets taken down so that it can later be used elsewhere.
Johnson also manages large campus events, setting up equipment and working on the sound for things like the End of the Year Party and commencement.

Johnson doesn’t hesitate to name “the students and the actual calendar year” as the best parts of his job.
The university’s continuous change and turnover keeps the job interesting, Johnson says, because it ensures that no two days are alike.

By the end of April, of course, Johnson admits that he is more than ready for the students to get off campus, but by the time the end of July rolls around, he says, “I can’t wait for them to come back.”

Some of what makes Johnson’s job interesting is also what makes it difficult at times. The most frustrating part of it, he says, is the last-minute requests. At times, he has had to ask others in his department to borrow a laptop for a class, because all of the other equipment has already been booked. At other times, events simply don’t go as planned, which is frustrating, Johnson says, though it sometimes can’t be helped.

Outside of his work, Johnson has other interests he spends time pursuing. He loves music; he used to be in a band and loves to listen to Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Bob Marley, and the Foo Fighters. He’s also an ardent basketball fan. He runs the clock for Hamline’s basketball games sometimes and has tickets for the Timberwolves.

Johnson’s job doesn’t always allow for a lot of free time, though.

“It’s almost a seven-days-a-week job,” he said. Classes start at 8 a.m., night classes don’t end until 9:30 p.m., and there are often weekend events that need to be attended to.

The work week has been particularly busy of late, with finals coming up. And the PowerPoint requests just don’t stop coming.

In the fall of 2001, Johnson says, there were 165 requests for PowerPoint setups. This fall, there have been 720 so far č certainly more than enough to keep him busy.

Johnson says he would like to stay at Hamline and finish out his career here.

“It’s a good place to work,” Johnson says.

He’ll certainly have more than enough to keep him on his toes for the rest of this week, anyway, as he schedules out the projectors and computers and DVD players and everything else needed for the final weeks of fall semester. All in a day’s work.