Four members of The Et Cetera attended the National College Media Convention in New Orleans recently. During the four day trip, Clair Williamson, Shakinia Mackey, Braxton Piatt and I went from workshop to workshop to learn new techniques to apply to future newspaper issues. 

Clair shared her favorite moment in the “Being a leader in your newsroom” workshop. “I enjoyed that workshop because I felt like the speaker was knowledgeable and available fully to us for questions, both during and after. I learned a lot about what other newsrooms were dealing with, and that the struggles I’m having aren’t unique to The Et Cetera; other people are facing them, too.”

This pre-convention workshop was informative. Not only did the speaker hit all of the targets for how to improve as a newsroom, but also as to how to be a leader. The speaker discussed strict Artificial Intelligence policies, which I completely agree with. The part I really enjoyed was where she told us to tell her our issues in the newsroom, even if the situation was a bit difficult. She responded with the best answer possible.

Meanwhile, Braxton attended the “Improving Sports Writing Skills” workshop. Braxton said he wants to improve on sports reporting and that this pre-convention workshop was a great fit. He highlighted the importance of what he learned,  saying: “He gave us some tips. One stuck out. ‘Find the story within the game, and make it more than a recap. It is important to get students to care about the sports,’ which brought up the second point. ‘Find the most emotional moments in the game, meanwhile, leading into the action.’” 

Braxton intends to use these new techniques in future stories, which will take time to perfect. At the end, the speaker emphasized making the story easy to imagine: “Describe each play to the smallest detail as possible. It’s important the reader is able to visualize the play rather than just reading it.”

During the next few days, each Eastfield member attended five workshops and one keynote per day. Although there was so much happening in a short span of time, there were some favorite moments of the convention. 

Braxton’s favorite workshop was the “Sports Photojournalism” with Kevin Kleine. “This workshop had very good points that I will aim to use for any future games from now on! Trying to take a good photo and make it dramatic, or even creative, by creating freeze action. I will be able to capture the emotion of the moment,” he said with excitement.

For Shakinia, she adored “The Making of a Documentary. You can do it, too.” She loved this session in particular because it was aligned with her career goals.  

Although it was a little bit stressful, I had so much fun in some workshops, such as   “Creativity/Imagination/Showmanship — Dream Big & Win Big!” and “Redesign: Beyond the fonts, colors and grids.” I am an imaginative person and, by being a graphic designer, I was able to learn how to break limitations in the program I use, and hope to take my graphics to a whole new level.  

In addition to dozens of daily workshops, the convention also offered a daily keynote speaker. On day one, Kathy Anderson, a renowned and skilled photographer, shared career highlights such as how she covered Hurricane Katrina. She also took reference pictures for the iconic Columbia Pictures Torch Lady, which appears at the opening of movies. On day two, George F. Baker III, a muralist and illustrator, shared how he engages with everyone’s inner child through art, and has worked with brands such as ESPN and Nike. The last keynote speaker was Jerry Mitchell, a reporter who investigated the murder of three civil rights activists. His reporting led to the cases being reopened years later, ending with Klansmen being convicted for their crimes.

Clair shared her favorite keynote speaker was Jerry Mitchell saying, “He had great experience and I enjoyed that he was able to share the process of chasing down a story, the challenges he faces doing so, and the rewards he felt once he got his story out there.” She added, “As a reporter, it was very motivating but, even as just an observer, it was interesting and inspiring.” 

Shakinia agreed, sharing: “Not only is he a genuinely nice guy, but he cares for everyone and wants justice. It was very clear when he was dedicated in catching the murderer of the three civil rights activists, and even with how many challenges and people trying to stop him, he managed to go through and was able to achieve his goal — to get those murderers in prison.”

In addition to attending workshops, The Et Cetera brought home a total of 11 Pinnacle Awards.