Joseph Caviston, Carbondale Area Class of 2004, has been named as this year’s commencement speaker for the ceremony on June 2, 2023. Joseph’s career path has never followed a straight line. He has worked to blend his passions for education and the music industry into a uniquely multifaceted career.
Born and raised in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, son of Joseph Caviston and Michele (Wagner) Caviston, Joseph graduated from Carbondale Area High School in 2004 before attending East Stroudsburg University, where he majored in Media Communications and minored in English Journalism. During his time on campus, Joseph became heavily involved in various activities, including serving as the Editor in Chief of the Stroud Courier, the University’s newspaper.
While attending college, Caviston began working in the music industry and became very interested in the burgeoning technology of social media. He was able to successfully combine these two passions by promoting countless concerts and managing a band that toured the country and was offered contracts by multiple record labels. These endeavors caught the attention of investors and the day after graduating college, Caviston (and partners), opened a music venue called Eleanor Rigby’s. For two years the venue became a fixture for national touring artists and won multiple awards. Utilizing only social media advertising, the venue ranked in the top 10 for ticket sales in the state of Pennsylvania. Two years of running a music venue was enough for Caviston and when an exit opportunity by an investor presented itself, he sold his share of the venue.
In 2011, Caviston took a marketing position with Solar Innovations, a custom glass fenestration company, located in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. At Solar Innovations he was able to hone his traditional marketing skills, experiment with new forms of digital advertising and sharpen his eye for the development of creative assets.
Caviston accepted a position with Central Penn College in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area to head up their digital marketing efforts in 2015 and found his love for higher education. Over the past 7 years he has risen through the ranks of the college and was recently promoted to the Associate Director of Communications. During his time with Central Penn College, he has earned the “Above and Beyond” Staff Excellence Award — the highest honor given to a staff member at the college — twice. He has also earned the “Team Spirit Award” three times, and completed the President’s Leadership Academy in 2021, along with being named “Staff Member of the Quarter” multiple times. His team’s work has been recognized with multiple national and regional awards of excellence.
Caviston has remained passionate about music and through his entrepreneurial endeavors, he has worked for the likes of the Vans Warped Tour, Victory Records and Atlantic Records. In 2013, Joseph launched the Electric City Music Conference in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which draws hundreds of musicians and music industry professionals from across the globe to perform for thousands of fans every September. He is also the driving force behind the Steamtown Music Awards, a Grammy-like ceremony that honors NEPA’s musicians and industry professionals. Caviston provides consulting services to music venues and entertainment businesses across the country. His latest business venture sees Caviston as one half of the successful DJ group, Screaming Infidelities. The duo’s performances are currently selling out venues up and down the East Coast.
Caviston was recently elected to the East Stroudsburg University Alumni Board of Directors, where he serves as the chair of the Communications Committee.
Joseph currently lives in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania with his wife Amanda and their son, Joey Caviston IV, and their dog Cora. Although he is now a Central Pennsylvania resident, Carbondale is never far from his heart.
