Workshops are a great way to receive hands-on information from panelists and is a space for dialogue and growth.
NABJ is known to have amazing workshops for all journalists to learn from and this year’s convention did not disappoint.
Before we start, I’d like to give an honorary mention to two workshops: Innovation Bubble: Step Up Your Mobile Journalism Game (August 2nd) & Innovative Mobile Tolls To Step Your Mobile Journalism Game Up (August3rd). The gadgets from these workshops will make you an even BETTER MMJ!
Here is my list of my top 5 workshops at NABJ ’18!
#5 Innovation Bubble: Launching Your Own Media Company
If you were ever thinking about creating your own media company, then this was the workshop for you!
As a journalist and aspiring entrepreneur, this workshop had my name written all over it.
The panelists discussed the importance of knowing terms before you launch your media company such as Hybrid vs. LLC vs. Fiscal Sponsor.
The workshop shared how resources, funding, and partnerships you find is just as important as the the content you are distributing to keep the media company afloat.
To read more about the workshop, check out day 2!
#4 The Black Press: Always Advocates for Change
This workshop was inspirational; I believe any journalist in the room could attest to that.
I loved the testimonies shared by Philadelphia Sunday Sun Writer Denise Clay and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Staff Writer Charles Hallman on what they experienced as journalists.
Clay and Hallman are writers for Black media publications within their cities. Their passion as Black journalists to tell the stories of their communities was empowering.
#3 Social Media in the Newsroom
Sometimes at the conference, there will be more than one workshop you want to attend and you have to sacrifice going to some to attend one—this was one of them!
I didn’t attend this workshop but the tips I received from social media was so valuable I HAD to put it on my list of top 5 workshops at NABJ ’18.
Tips such as creating content with Canva and using hashtags and gifs to interact with your audience was helpful!
Check out the hashtag #NABJSocialMedia and see what I’m talking about!
#2 Google Tools Workshop
It is a search engine we all use but with the right tools, we can enhance our use of Google even more!
Resources like Google News Initiative and Google News Lab are tools to teach journalists the skills they need to thrive in the digital age.
Journalists can use Google Scholar to find sources for their stories and they can use Reverse Image Search to find the source of an image before publishing.
Another helpful tip is the use of modifiers during a Google search. For example, if you want to do an advanced search of someone on the internet, use ‘site:’ or ‘filetype:’ next to the person or item’s name.
You can type the name of the site like ‘.gov’ or ‘.edu’ after the ‘site:’ modifier. Or you can type the name of the file like ‘xls’ or ‘pdf’ after the ‘filetype:’ modifier.
Examples:
Kim Jong Un site: .gov
2018 budget filetype: pdf
You can use these examples as a reference whenever you want an advanced search on Google!
#1 Turn Your Content Into Cash
Now the moment we've all been waiting for.
My #1 workshop of NABJ ’18 is the Turn Your Content Into Cash workshop!
How amazing is it to make money from what you love doing and by being yourself?! This workshop gave you the tools to do just that!
Blogging, podcasts, YouTube videos are some ways you can turn your content into cash.
Once you put yourself out there, you can offer consultations, webinars, and courses to your audience and generate revenue from your content.
For more about what I learned during the workshop, read day 2!
NABJ ’18 is over but the knowledge journalists gained from the workshops will live on forever.
Here are more blog posts on my time during NABJ ’18:
Thank you for reading!
