Debra deFriesse, Director: Corporate Services, Multi-Media
Debra (Debbie) deFriesse first joined CJSeto Support Services, LLC in September of 2005 working as a Temp, and worked her way up the corporate ladder to her current position as Director, Corporate Services.
Ms. deFriesse graduated from Western Connecticut State University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. She took some time off from school and later went back in the fall of 2002 enrolling at Full Sail Real World Education. Full Sail has a program specializing in the Entertainment Industry teaching every aspect of film from the beginnings such as writing a script, building a set, production of the piece through post production and editing. In November of 2003, she graduated with an Associates Degree in Film.
After only a few months of showing her administration abilities and hearing about her experiences and abilities of working in the entertainment industry, CJS offered Ms. deFriesse a full time position with the company in January of 2005. She was given data entry tasks as well as going out in the field working on several different projects at a time. Later that year she was given her first project to head up. Using her background from the Film Industry, she created a series of Job Performance Aids (JPAs) on how to properly test out particular Security Systems. She storyboarded, directed the location shots and helped edit the final videos.
January of 2006 brought a huge task to Ms. deFriesse. She was promoted as Project Manager to work a large project for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). She organized and set up several teams over the course of five months to inventory products and chemicals at several LADWP facilities for a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) management project. She oversaw all teams, data entry, data cleaning and MSDS searches. This project helped lead to several more over the next couple of years. Later that year Ms. deFriesse switched over to more IT tasks. She programmed an online web-based training program for Vandenberg Air Force Base. She updates broken links and is the help desk support for user problems.
September 2007 brought another promotion to Ms. deFriesse. She became the Contracts Specialist. She keeps track of contracts; makes sure deadlines are met, and keeps up with and submits monthly or quarterly progress reports as necessary.
In September 2009, as CJS was going through a rapid growth period, Ms. deFriesse was promoted to Director: Corporate Services to assume all human resources, benefits, security, and payroll responsibilities. She is the primary point of contact with employees related to corporate support issues. She routinely travels to visit with our out of state employees , making sure they and the customers are happy.
Ms. deFriesse volunteers for a wonderful non-profit organization called Snowball Express. This organization supports children and spouses of our fallen heroes since 9/11. Last December, they brought together about 1500 children and spouses from around the world to share stories, remember their heroes and know they are not alone. The event consisted of two evenings of dinner and entertainment, a day at Universal Studios, a day at Disneyland and a day filled of fun activities and a gratitude walk. Ms. deFriesse spent many hours helping to compile family data and organize information into a database. She sat in with the Command Center many times during the event helping to make name tags, pull information requested for flights and hotel information for families, travel directions and assist with any help needed. She went along to Universal Studios and help organize the volunteers helping for the day, give them t-shirts and assign them to a family requesting help. She experienced what is called a “Snowball Moment” when she went to one of the families room to help the mother who had fallen ill prepare a bunch of items to be shipped home. She helped the children dress and get things organized for the mother allowing her to rest and have less to worry about.
Ms. deFriesse also freelances for the ESPN X-Games twice a year. She is the Production Assistant for the Incoming Department. She is in charge of two persons known as “loggers.” She makes sure they are capturing the times of athlete starts, crashes, scenic shots, finishes and any spectacular shot an editor might want to use for an edit. She also steps in when they need a break and will grab food when necessary. An important part of her job is to watch the live shows and keep a tally count of shown sponsor advertisements. If advertisements are missed, she lets the graphics crew know so they can make up for the miss during the next show. Ms. deFriesse has also pulled shots for ABC and Sports Center to use on air.
