TEMPLE TERRACE — Brian Hill usually arrives three or four hours before a town hall broadcast, setting up cameras and the equipment that brings the meeting to residents’ screens.
When the meeting ends, another hour or two of packing up awaits.
The city’s digital communications technician was recognized as Temple Terrace’s Employee of the Year at the Oct. 20 City Council meeting, where Mayor Andy Ross introduced the honor.
His wife and children were the first people Hill wanted to tell. His family, he said, was very proud of him.
“They really see the time that I put into doing what I do here,” Hill said.
The recognition caught him by surprise. He had previously been named Employee of the Month, but said he works alongside many great employees.
Hill provides audiovisual, recording, and streaming support across city departments, helping residents follow public meetings and other events. He is the only city employee dedicated to those functions, supporting advisory board meetings, training sessions, and special events.
His connection to Temple Terrace began while he worked for Tampa Bay Community Network, a community access channel hired to handle city broadcasts. Hill was the one sent to do the work. He later started his own business and kept the city as a client.
About three years ago, an opening led him to join the city staff.
Live broadcasts can test even an experienced technician. Hill recalled one meeting with delayed audio that he could not fix without shutting everything down and interrupting the proceedings. He returned the next day to investigate the problem.
Among his favorite assignments is photographing and filming the Fourth of July parade, watching residents come out to celebrate.
“I don’t know what it is, but it always brings a smile to my face,” he said.
Covering the parade also gave him a new hobby. His first parade left him feeling out of shape, prompting him to start running and exercising. Now he’s running 5Ks and preparing for his first 10K race.
At home in Tampa, Hill spends time with his wife and three teenagers, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and working through the problems that come with adolescence.
For all the equipment and preparation his job demands, Hill said the reward is getting information to residents.
“I love being able to bring them the information they desperately need at times,” he said. “It brings me joy just getting that information out there to them.”