Reflections on CMA NYC ’13

After a solid three-weeks’ reflection on everything I learned at CMA NYC ’13 last weekend, I feel like I now know which pieces I will truly take away from this convention and use in my career and life (because they still stand out to me after this long post-convention break). Here’s a lovely bullet list of my life lessons from CMA NYC ’13:

• Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions. The worst that can happen is someone gets upset, and you can’t let every time someone gets upset get in the way, otherwise you’re a pretty ineffective journalist. (Tough Interviews? You Can Do It!)
• Take risks and jump into the unknown. Who knows? You may just end up with your dream job. (Want to Land a Cool Gig Overseas?)
• There are many social media tools to help you gain followers or likes, but you can’t just tweet about whatever and expect them to follow you. Find your niche. (Free Tools to Increase Your Following on Twitter and Facebook)
• Facebook is for emotional posts and questions, and Twitter is for action. Tailor your posts for each. (Free Tools to Increase Your Following on Twitter and Facebook)
• Think about your audience when you’re writing and anticipate certain types of feedback for controversial posts. If there is a huge negative backlash, it is best not to respond. (The Changing Role of Your Audience)
• Refine your social media policy once every semester or so. (The Changing Role of Your Audience)
• Learn to say ‘yes’ and roll with the punches in the newsroom. (Using Improv Comedy to Make Your Staff a Better Team)
• Your blog is your calling card. As with “Free Tools to Increase Your Following on Twitter and Facebook,” find your niche and do original reporting on it. Doing this will distinguish you from your competition. (This Is How We Roll! Rock & Roll Reporting in a Digital World)
• Don’t make excuses. Learn to code. You can learn HTML in a day, and it will help you get jobs. So do it. (Coding Doesn’t Suck: It’s Awesome)

So after this very long period of reflection, I would like to say that CMA NYC ’13 was a fantastic convention and one that any aspiring journalist should certainly attend in the future. It has helped me learn and prepare myself for the real world of journalism, and I appreciate having the opportunity to take part in this incredible experience.

- Mary Kate Brogan

Goodbye for now, New York

By Alison Ryncarz

Goodbyes are bittersweet, especially when you’re leaving a city you’ve completely fallen in love with. The rainy morning was appropriate for my sad goodbye to New York City as we took a cab at 6:45am to begin our trek home.

I am very pleased with my experience at the CMA Conference. I learned a great deal on topics ranging from successful blogging to how to be a great Editor-in-Chief. I was also happy with the networking opportunities that came about; having my business cards at the ready was probably one of the smartest ideas in being proactive about my future.

Though there were a few seminars that I felt didn’t leave an impression on me, I think I gained some important knowledge from each session. I had set my expectations pretty high coming to the conference, so a little letdown was inevitable, but for the most part I was very pleased with what I learned.

Being in the city and having time to explore was another highlight of this trip. Getting to walk around Times Square with my classmates and meeting up with an alumna in Greenwich allowed me to get a feel for the city I’ll be spending my summer in.

I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to take part in this conference; I will apply what I learned this weekend to improving The Edge and myself as EIC.

CMA supplies more questions than answers

By Jonathan Black

I successfully made it through the 2013 College Media Association Convention (CMA) in New York City. Though I am feeling wiser and carrying home a binder full of tidbits you provided, you haven’t lessened my anxiety by any means.

This convention has made me so much more aware of the power and importance of networking. By far, the most helpful moments did not come from the convention but from talking to the journalists who have established themselves in New York City. I was lucky enough to have two chances in doing so.

Alison, Mary Kate and I, along with students form WSOE, met with Elon University alum who are now working in New York City. Both Alison and I spent ample time talking to Andie Diemer, the former editor-in-chief at “The Pendulum” and now a photo assistant at “SELF Magazine.”

Professor Janna Anderson set up my other meeting with Phillip Crook, a copywriter at Ralph Lauren and a freelance journalist. Both Crook and Diemer proved to be fantastic people to talk about the industry, though they do completely different things with their degrees.

Overall, the CMA Convention left me with more questions than answers. Hopefully, it is just another step in a long and prosperous career.

I head home now sleep deprived and stressed but so very happy.

Open heart surgery: Critiquing ‘The Pendulum’

By Jonathan Black

Nothing filled me with more dread than the critique of “The Pendulum.”  I feared it would be a mean-spirited adviser plucking away at all of our faults and the experience would only be comparing to watching yourself undergo major surgery.

In reality, it was pretty painless.

I met with Gary Metzker, Media Adviser for California State University and former designer for the “Los Angeles Times,” to go over the last two issues of “The Pendulum.”

He had three consistent critiques of the paper. The first was the placement of photos and graphs on our pages. He believes that they should be moved to the top of the article, either beneath the headline or in the middle of the text.

The second was our lack of white space. Though he did describe himself as, “A fan of white space.”  The last of the main critiques was the table of contents. He said that there should be a photo to draw the eye in, because there current state is too haphazard with multiple font sizes.

Besides noticing a couple photos and graphics that had not been captioned he seemed pretty content with our publication.

As for the front page, a hot button issue at the moment, he was a fan.

I successfully survived surgery.

Follow the leader

Report by Jonathan Black

“I’m Gonna be a Good Leader” was the last session I attended at the College Media Association but the first taught by students, three from Truman State University.

I was a bit crestfallen to see it was being run by students, thinking I wouldn’t get anything out of it, but their presentation was by no means boring. They reviewed different styles of leadership and had their subsequent editor-in-chief review examples of when she used each type.

This was the session I took the least out of journalistically, not because of the presentation, but due to the question and answer that occurred after it. It started as a presentation about leadership and turned into a ranting session from students in the audience about their frustrating advisers or editors-in-chief.

What the session did provide for me was a sense of thankfulness that Colin Donohue is The Pendulum’s adviser. I hope I’m speaking for The Pendulum staff when I say this; we are so thankful for Colin’s support and guidance.

Editors should aim to be coaches, not fixers

Coaching Writers So You Can Edit Less

Sacha DeVroomen Bellman – 2:30-3:20 p.m.

While some editors may be used to completely rewriting stories, Sacha DeVroomen Bellman says editors should work more towards being coaches and mentors so that they can encourage reporters to improve and also save themselves time during the editing process that they could use to write stories themselves. DeVroomen Bellman, adviser at The Miami Student of University of Miami, said that instead of being a fixer who simply gets the story to print while undercutting the writer and taking control, editors should coach writers, sharing control, asking questions and listening, building the writer’s confidence and focusing on a writer’s strengths.

She suggested that editors try to talk to reporters after a big interview and after the first draft to see how things are going. By talking to reporters after interviews and asking them to talk about the interview without looking at their notes, an editor can help the reporter determine the main topic of the story.

This is a skill that I think The Pendulum could definitely apply. These techniques will help make sure that copy editors and section editors aren’t having too heavy a hand, enough that the paper alienates reporters, while also making their jobs much easier.

- Mary Kate Brogan

Buchanan: ‘Newspapers are hiring coders who can write and writers who can code’

<code> doesn’t suck: It’s awesome

Larry Buchanan – 1:30-2:20 p.m. Monday

Illustrator and designer Larry Buchanan’s overview of which types of code to learn (which basically said to learn all of them if you can, but start off with HTML and CSS) gave a good introduction to what services people can use to gain skills in coding. Buchanan emphasized that students should set aside time to learn code if not they’re taking classes in it, and he said to take paid classes so that students will stop making excuses. He all but guaranteed that journalists who know how to code will get jobs in the field.

In-person programs he recommended to learn programming include General Assembly, SkillShare, Starter League and Dev Bootcamp, and online programs like Treehouse, Code Academy, Code School, Tuts Plus and the Bastards Book of Ruby were beneficial as well. Buchanan also suggested getting a GitHub profile because it is basically Facebook for programmers and allows you to save versions of code through its site. Stack Overflow is a great resource if you’re really stuck on a problem with your code, and Buchanan’s biggest tip was to go to a hackathon, even if you’re intimidated, especially if you’re intimidated.

Because so many people asked questions, the main problem with this session was that Buchanan had planned a demo and was not able to demonstrate what he’d learned before the session was over. While I understand that some of the questions that were asked had a place in the discussion, one of the audience members seemed to be a bit over-the-top in challenging what Buchanan said about the necessity of learning this skill, which visibly irritated some of the other audience members who really wanted to see the demonstration (i.e. the people on either side of me).

- Mary Kate Brogan