This past weekend two of my classmates and I got the opportunity to attend the National High School Journalism Convention that took place in Orlando, Florida. Of course, you can't travel to Orlando and not go to one of the parks, so the four of us (Reis, Jen, Mr. Goble, and myself) decided to spend Wednesday at Universal Studios. We went to Harry Potter World, rode rollercoasters, experienced 3D simulations, and of course found ourselves sipping on the popular Butter Beer. This day of fun definitely set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
After spending the day on Thursday practicing some mobile journalism skills, the convention kicked off with a keynote speaker, Andy Staples. He talked to all 6,000 students who attended JEA about the field of journalism and how to make yourself stand out. Some of the things he had to say really stuck with me, but once it got to the question and answer portion, it got a little repetitive so we ended up leaving a little early.
On Friday we had the first of our classes. I got to choose which 50 minute discussions I wanted to attend, so I picked ones that I thought would be the most interesting, relevant, and helpful to me. The first one I went to was about Snapchat, and how it can be used in businesses. While I found this interesting, I'm not sure if I necessarily learned anything completely new. It did, however, spark a lot of ideas of how we can utilize different social media platforms at school. I went to two more classes that were a little dry, but my last class on Friday was probably my favorite one of the whole trip. It was called "Making Photoshop Magic." This class taught me so many really cool tips and tricks for using photoshop more efficiently. I learned how to color correct photos quicker and better, how to cut out difficult shapes easier, and how to make photos higher quality. Whenever the teacher showed us a new technique, everyone in the room gasped. It was incredible how easy some things that I thought were the hardest could be. (If that makes any sense)
Saturday came pretty quickly and we spent the morning listening to Dave Davis talk about controversial video topics. It inspired me to try and find some uncomfortable stories and cover them well. The second class of Dave Davis that we attended was called "Make em Laugh Make em Cry." During this 50 minutes, we viewed some really touching videos along with some hilarious videos that Mr. Davis's students created. It made me realize how important emotion is to a video. In between classes, Jen, Reis and I decided to rent a little paddle boat for 30 minutes and paddle around the little lake by our hotel. It was a lot of fun, and a nice break from the classes. We ended our Saturday with a delicious meal at Planet Hollywood. I have never in my life eaten Mac and Cheese better than Saturday night.
Overall, I had an amazing time and I wish I would have gone on the JEA trips in years past. I learned a lot, had fun, met new people, and gained a new love for broadcast journalism. I never took part in this trip previously, because I didn't think there was any way it could be that fun, and I didn't want to just spend a weekend learning, because I do that during the week. But I proved myself completely wrong. The discussions I attended were engaging and interesting, and when we weren't in a class, we were filming for a music video I'm going to edit this week. We got to walk around the Disney Boardwalk and explore our GIANT hotel. It was so much fun and I'm so glad I went.
Oh yeah - we also won fourth place for Broadcast Story of the year!!!
After spending the day on Thursday practicing some mobile journalism skills, the convention kicked off with a keynote speaker, Andy Staples. He talked to all 6,000 students who attended JEA about the field of journalism and how to make yourself stand out. Some of the things he had to say really stuck with me, but once it got to the question and answer portion, it got a little repetitive so we ended up leaving a little early.
On Friday we had the first of our classes. I got to choose which 50 minute discussions I wanted to attend, so I picked ones that I thought would be the most interesting, relevant, and helpful to me. The first one I went to was about Snapchat, and how it can be used in businesses. While I found this interesting, I'm not sure if I necessarily learned anything completely new. It did, however, spark a lot of ideas of how we can utilize different social media platforms at school. I went to two more classes that were a little dry, but my last class on Friday was probably my favorite one of the whole trip. It was called "Making Photoshop Magic." This class taught me so many really cool tips and tricks for using photoshop more efficiently. I learned how to color correct photos quicker and better, how to cut out difficult shapes easier, and how to make photos higher quality. Whenever the teacher showed us a new technique, everyone in the room gasped. It was incredible how easy some things that I thought were the hardest could be. (If that makes any sense)
Saturday came pretty quickly and we spent the morning listening to Dave Davis talk about controversial video topics. It inspired me to try and find some uncomfortable stories and cover them well. The second class of Dave Davis that we attended was called "Make em Laugh Make em Cry." During this 50 minutes, we viewed some really touching videos along with some hilarious videos that Mr. Davis's students created. It made me realize how important emotion is to a video. In between classes, Jen, Reis and I decided to rent a little paddle boat for 30 minutes and paddle around the little lake by our hotel. It was a lot of fun, and a nice break from the classes. We ended our Saturday with a delicious meal at Planet Hollywood. I have never in my life eaten Mac and Cheese better than Saturday night.
Overall, I had an amazing time and I wish I would have gone on the JEA trips in years past. I learned a lot, had fun, met new people, and gained a new love for broadcast journalism. I never took part in this trip previously, because I didn't think there was any way it could be that fun, and I didn't want to just spend a weekend learning, because I do that during the week. But I proved myself completely wrong. The discussions I attended were engaging and interesting, and when we weren't in a class, we were filming for a music video I'm going to edit this week. We got to walk around the Disney Boardwalk and explore our GIANT hotel. It was so much fun and I'm so glad I went.
Oh yeah - we also won fourth place for Broadcast Story of the year!!!