Former Allegany College of Maryland student, Jonathan Harper, stands in the new office building for Rainmaker Music Management in Cumberland, MD.
SOCIAL MEDIA CREATOR FINDS DREAM JOB IN HOMETOWN
No Need for Nashville or New York
CUMBERLAND, Md. (July 5, 2023) – Jonathan Harper never dreamed that he could be doing
the kind of work he loves from his hometown of Cumberland, Md. When the Multimedia
Technology major graduated from Allegany College of Maryland in 2022, he immediately
started looking for high-profile social media jobs in bigger areas such as Pittsburgh
and even as far as Colorado.
“I wasn’t even looking in our area,” Harper confessed. “You hear your whole life that you have to leave to get a job.”
Luckily, he soon found out that wasn’t the case.
Harper now works as a social media content creator for Rainmaker Music Management, an entertainment management company based in Tampa, Fla. Rainmaker is responsible for handling such internationally known bluegrass music acts as Del McCoury and the Traveling McCourys, the Gibson Brothers, Sierra Hull and Sam Bush (among others) and coordinates the yearly DelFest Music Festival in Allegany County. Rainmaker recently opened a satellite office in Downtown Cumberland and chose Harper as its first official “local hire.”
From the offices located at 60 Pershing Street, Harper performs his daily tasks of overseeing artists’ social media accounts, handling digital marketing, editing video clips and managing the trendy space.
Harper first became aware of Rainmaker when he returned to ACM after graduating to obtain the College’s new Social Media Marketing certificate. He and his classmates visited 60 Pershing as part of an experiential learning opportunity where Harper impressed Rainmaker execs who offered him a paid internship.
Through his studies at ACM, Harper’s internship turned into a permanent position with the company. ACM has officially partnered with Rainmaker to offer the Downtown Cumberland space to its Social Media Marketing students as a learning lab to fine-tune the marketing skills needed in the entertainment industry.
In his short time with Rainmaker, Harper has learned the importance of storytelling and human engagement through social media.
“Every post has to tell a story,” said Harper, who is also a musician. “People need a reason to care.”
He also knows he would have had to move to Nashville or New York City to secure this type of job in entertainment. He is grateful to be doing what he loves – all from his hometown.
“My goal is to be happy and have a job that makes me happy,” Harper said, sitting at his computer, surrounded by high-tech monitors and framed festival posters. “This is a great start.”
To learn more about ACM’s Social Media Marketing Certificate, visit https://www.allegany.edu/social-media-marketing/.
