Communications · Multimedia · Generative AI

I make ideas
heard, seen,
and remembered.

Craig Lawrence Kapilow smiling in a navy suit, patterned tie, and glasses

I'm Craig Lawrence Kapilow, a communications specialist and multimedia creator turning complex ideas into clear stories, useful training, and original AI-powered media.

WebsiteAudio.com presentsWelcome sound is on
ORIGINAL AUDIO INTRO
A Black human ear receiving luminous gold and cyan soundwavesVisualizing the signal
30+ years of
ideas in motion

WEBSITEAUDIO.COM

MESSAGE-ON-HOLD ◆ WEBSITE AUDIO ◆ STORYTELLING ◆ AI VIDEO ◆ ORIGINAL MUSIC ◆ TRAINING ◆ COMMUNITY IMPACT ◆

Desktop Publishing · Advising · Sales

Every page had a purpose.
Every student had a voice.

01SUNY New Paltz

Desktop Publishing (DTP) & College Newspapers

As an undergraduate, Craig mastered emerging Desktop Publishing techniques and applied them to RHSA, FAHARI, and The North Star, producing college newspapers through an innovative, evolving workflow.

DTP was transforming publishing by moving page composition from manual paste-up and submission into computer-based layout. Aldus PageMaker, introduced in 1985, became a defining tool of that revolution—bringing writing, typography, photographs, and page design together on screen for laser-printed production.

DTP foundationReporting · Editing · Typography · Page layout · Production
02Concurrent undergraduate role

New Paltz High School Yearbook Advisor

While pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies at SUNY New Paltz, Craig Lawrence Kapilow was employed professionally by the New Paltz Central School District as the high school Yearbook Advisor, mentoring students who produced the 1987 and 1988 editions of the Huguenot yearbook.

During that period, he advised students through two complete annual publications, helping them shape themes, organize coverage, combine writing and photography, manage layouts and deadlines, and turn each school year into a permanent record.

03After graduation

Taylor Publishing Company Yearbook Sales Representative

Directly after graduating from SUNY New Paltz, Craig received a job offer from Taylor Publishing Company, then the leader in school yearbooks and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. He represented the company across Somerset, Morris, Union, Passaic, and Hudson counties in New Jersey, serving high school and middle school yearbook programs.

The work brought together communication, consultative sales, student training, publication planning, marketing, and production—an early foundation for the multimedia and technical consulting career that followed.

DTP · Desktop PublishingRHSA · FAHARI · The North StarYearbook Advisor · 1987 & 1988 editionsTwo annual yearbooks · 1987 and 1988Five-county territoryStudent mentoringPublication sales
Craig Kapilow featured in the Fall 1992 Taylor Report article Selling The Book That Sells Itself
Taylor Publishing Company · Fall 1992Featured in The Taylor Report

Representative school portfolio

Five New Jersey counties

Across Somerset, Union, Passaic, Morris, and Hudson counties, Craig helped school yearbook staffs transition from manually submitted pages to emerging desktop-publishing workflows. The work combined technology introduction, hands-on training, publication guidance, and consultative service during a major change in yearbook production.

  • Somerset
  • Union
  • Passaic
  • Morris
  • Hudson
  • Eastside High SchoolPaterson · Principal Joe Clark's school, portrayed in Lean on Me
  • Morristown High SchoolMorristown
  • Somerville High SchoolSomerville
  • Mountain Lakes High SchoolMountain Lakes
  • Boonton High SchoolBoonton
  • Plainfield High SchoolPlainfield
  • South Plainfield High SchoolSouth Plainfield
  • James J. Ferris High SchoolJersey City
  • Henry Snyder High SchoolJersey City
A happy professional listening to Message On Hold beside a compact business telephone and glowing soundwaves
1993–1998

Holdcom / On Hold Productions

Telephone audio pioneer

Turning dead air
into opportunity.

Before website audio, Craig Lawrence Kapilow helped businesses discover the marketing power already waiting inside the telephone.

As Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Holdcom / On Hold Productions in Glen Rock, New Jersey, Craig helped pioneer Message On Hold and IVR marketing. Innovative modem-based systems transformed silence into useful, entertaining time for healthcare providers, hospitality companies, and businesses across many industries.

He led annual sales growth of 30%, maintained service-contract renewals above 96%, structured and negotiated blue-chip contracts, directed the telemarketing division, wrote sales scripts, and prepared forecasts and projections.

Craig also developed the company's early website with streaming audio— connecting his telephone-audio experience to the next generation of multimedia marketing.

30% annual sales growth96%+ renewalsHealthcare + hospitalityMessage On Hold + IVR
From the archive
Original WebsiteAudio.com welcome jingleTurn up the sound

“This baby can't speak…yet! Neither can your website!”

The original musical welcome that gave an early website its voice.
The Website Audio story
News 12 New Jersey Business · Full interviewArchive interview · 10:03

Early web-audio innovator

Streaming before streaming
was standard.

Long before audio became an expected part of the online experience, Craig Lawrence Kapilow was helping businesses understand how sound could give a website a voice.

This complete archival News 12 New Jersey Business interview identifies Craig with Website Audio and captures an early chapter of the commercial web. Delivering audio to website visitors, often through dial-up connections, demanded practical problem-solving and the willingness to move before the technology became routine.

The original homepage and campaign artwork document how Website Audio explained an unfamiliar idea in plain language: websites could speak, connect, and market through sound.

The original “Welcome to Website Audio” jingle brings that idea to life. Its memorable campaign line—“This baby can't speak…yet! Neither can your website!”—made a new technology easy to understand and hard to forget.

Today, web audio is ordinary. At the time, the idea was not.

WebsiteAudio.comStreaming audioEarly commercial web

A Sullivan County legacy

The Catskills were never
just a market. They were home.

Craig Lawrence Kapilow founded and owned the original Catskills.com, building an early digital doorway to Sullivan County, New York.

He later transferred the site to the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce so the domain could continue serving the region's businesses and communities. Today, Catskills.com is the Chamber's official home.

Craig also established an extensive Chamber business database on Catskills.com, making more than 600 local business listings searchable on the web. At a time when online regional directories were still new, the project gave visitors a practical way to discover Sullivan County businesses, services, and destinations from one digital gateway.

He also built websites for Chamber members and created enhanced business listings with company profiles, email links, and website links. Businesses could be found by name, contact, town, or category, while members without an existing website could receive a professionally designed online presence through Catskills.com.

That commitment continues through Craig's active involvement with the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum in Ellenville and multimedia storytelling that helps preserve—and renew—the region's hospitality legacy.

Archived Catskills.com page promoting more than 600 searchable Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce business listings
Early regional web development600+ listings

A Searchable Gateway to Sullivan County

Craig built an extensive online Chamber database that helped people search for local businesses and introduced Sullivan County commerce to a growing web audience.

Original Catskills on the Internet Web Development Services graphic
Chamber member servicesWeb development

Building Websites for Local Businesses

Craig helped Sullivan County Chamber members move onto the early commercial web with practical, affordable website design and online promotion.

  • Enhanced listings with 100-word company profiles and direct email and website links
  • Directory searches by business name, contact name, town, and business category
  • One-page websites with photographs, graphics, company information, and email access
  • Expanded websites with custom domains, directory placement, and promotional banner visibility
AI-created visual storytelling0:27

A Catskills Resort Summer Reimagined with AI

Craig created this nostalgic multimedia montage using AI-assisted imagery and motion to evoke the swimming pools, leisure, and social energy that defined the Catskills resort experience.

A creative interpretation inspired by Catskills resort history, not documentary footage.

AI video + cultural storytelling0:47

Borscht Belt Revival: An AI-Animated Celebration

Craig used Generative AI and video-production tools to transform Borscht Belt history, humor, festivals, and museum renewal into a colorful animated celebration of Catskills culture.

AI-generated imagery is used as a creative interpretation of cultural memory and revival.

Current cultural storytelling0:47

The Borscht Belt Revival

An original multimedia tribute connecting Catskills history, the museum, and renewed cultural interest in the region.

Archival storytelling0:27

Remembering the Homowack Lodge

A short visual archive preserving scenes from one of the Catskills' storied resort properties.

Founder · Custom GPT creator

BLACKHISTORY365AI.COM

AI built with
cultural purpose.

Craig Lawrence Kapilow founded and owns BlackHistory365AI.com and created Black History 365 AI, a custom GPT designed to center Afrocentric history, challenge historical erasure, and serve students, educators, families, and cultural institutions year-round.

Website publicly available · ChatGPT sign-in required only for the custom GPT

Black History 365 AI website showcase featuring Afrocentric truth, videos, and educational learning
New websiteBlackHistory365AI.com

Afrocentric truth. Every day.

Watch, listen, and learn through a new multimedia experience built to center Black voices, challenge historical myths, and make evidence-based learning available throughout the year.

Explore BlackHistory365AI.com ↗
Featured video1:06

Where Truth Meets Technology

Afrocentric Black history, 365 days a year. Not revisionist history—restored history.

01

Launched March 29, 2025

Black History 365 AI

An Afrocentric educational GPT created to deliver historically grounded context and confront distorted or whitewashed narratives.

02

Purpose-built intelligence

Custom GPT development

Craig creates focused GPTs for health-information organization, accounting workflows, communications, education, and other practical needs.

03

From concept to working tool

Strategy · Instructions · Knowledge · Testing

Community education

Free AI Training for Community Organizations

Craig offers an accessible introduction to Artificial Intelligence for ages 11 and older. Community centers and youth organizations can inquire about bringing this practical workshop to their members.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence free training flyer for ages 11 and older, presented by Craig Lawrence KapilowRequest a community workshop ↗

Selected work

Stories with
a signal.

Creative projects where technology serves the message, not the other way around.

Craig Lawrence Kapilow in a professional video studio surrounded by television cameras, a teleprompter, and a green screenBehind the scenes
Studio production knowledgeCamera · Chroma key · Teleprompter

Understanding What Happens Behind the Camera

Craig brings practical familiarity with professional video-production environments, including multi-camera studio setups, teleprompters, green-screen and chroma-key workflows, staging, and the coordination required to move a production from concept to finished communication.

That production awareness strengthens his work in video planning, visual storytelling, editing, multimedia direction, and the thoughtful use of both traditional and AI-assisted creative tools.

Green screenChroma keyMulti-camera studioTeleprompterVideo planningVisual storytelling
01AI MUSIC + VIDEO

Ready for the Launch

An original music-and-video montage showcasing more than 15 years of POS and restaurant technology experience.

02HISTORY + STORYTELLING

Tell the Truth, Tell It Right

A gospel-soul project honoring Dr. Nell Irvin Painter and the documented history of Sojourner Truth.

03COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN

Campaign for Sojourner Truth

International outreach extending to Africa, sustained local engagement, and multimedia advocacy built around historical truth and public memory.

Nearly 5,000 Facebook followers

Visit the campaign ↗
04BRAND AUDIO

Music That Moves a Message

Original festival music and promotional video created to carry culture, community, and a clear event message.

The person behind the work

Strategy in the head.
Story in the heart.
Grit in the work.

For more than three decades, I've worked where communication, technology, training, and multimedia meet.

My professional foundation began in student publishing. From 1986 through 1988, while earning my Communication Studies degree at SUNY New Paltz, I worked as the New Paltz High School Yearbook Advisor and guided publication of the 1987 and 1988 annual yearbooks. I then joined Taylor Publishing Company after graduation to serve school yearbook programs across five New Jersey counties. My formal media education also includes Radio and Television study at Northampton Community College, where I produced Video Waves 1317: Northampton WOW! as a capstone project showcasing the college's programs. I later learned HTML and JavaScript in the 1990s and applied those early web skills to website development and streaming audio. My background also spans pioneering Message On Hold and IVR marketing, digital marketing, photography, video production, social media, technical consulting, POS systems, quality assurance, and Generative AI. I founded and own BlackHistory365AI.com, created its custom GPT, and build specialized GPTs for practical needs. The common thread is simple: understand the real problem, make the message clear, and create something people can use.

Based in Pennsylvania with deep roots in New York's Sullivan County Catskills, I bring technical discipline, creative instincts, and old-school hospitality to modern work. I founded the original Catskills.com, later transferred it to the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce, and remain active with the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum in Ellenville.

View my LinkedIn ↗

Skills across the eras

From print and early code
to intelligent tools.

More than three decades of learning, adapting, and putting technology to practical use.

1986–1990sPublishing foundation

Yearbook Advising & Consultative Sales

Guided student staffs through complete annual publications, then represented Taylor Publishing Company across five New Jersey counties while helping schools move from manual page submission to desktop publishing.

Yearbook advisingStudent mentoringPublication planningDesktop publishingPhotographyConsultative salesDeadline management
1990sEarly web foundation

HTML, JavaScript & Streaming Audio

Learned HTML and JavaScript during the commercial web’s formative years, then used those skills to build websites and help give the early web a voice.

HTMLJavaScriptWeb developmentStreaming audioDigital publishing
2011–2026Restaurant technology

POS Systems & Technical Enablement

Fifteen years supporting complex restaurant technology, from menu programming and enterprise configuration to training and pre-launch quality.

POS configurationMenu programmingEnterprise systemsQA / UATTrainingRoot-cause analysis
TODAYModern creative technology

Generative AI & Custom GPTs

Combines deep communications experience with current AI tools to create practical systems, original media, and focused learning experiences.

Generative AICustom GPTsPrompt designAI videoAI musicWorkflow improvement
ALWAYSThe constant

Communication That Connects

Technology changes. The work remains grounded in clear messages, useful instruction, strong stories, and respect for the audience.

Communications strategyMultimediaPhotographyVideographyStudio videoGreen screenSocial mediaCommunity engagement

What I bring

Creative range.
Practical results.

01

AI multimedia production

Video concepts, original music, visuals, and campaign-ready creative.

02

Communications strategy

Clear messaging, social content, and stories built for real audiences.

03

Training and enablement

Practical instruction that makes complex technology understandable.

04

Quality and workflow

QA, root-cause analysis, documentation, and process improvement.

New projects and opportunities

Let's talk.
Let's make it move.