Doing big things in the Big Apple

New York City – home to Broadway, the tanking Knicks and traffic that would make 501 look like a deserted gravel road.

For a few days this past month, New York City was home to The Chanticleer and hundreds of other student media publications as the city that never sleeps hosted the 2019 Spring National College Media Convention.

From Mar. 6 to Mar. 9, I learned so many things about becoming a better reporter, interviewer, editor and an overall better person. To some, conferences feel like the same old stuff.

“Keynote speakers say the same things every year, they just phrase it differently,” is one of my favorite phrases.

However, this is a conference about media – a topic that is always in the news these days. Conferences that pertain to media, especially journalism, are different every year because the world of journalism is changing so quickly. When I first started as a photographer four years ago at the paper here at CCU, the use of social media was not as big as it is today. Now, myself and the staff at The Chanticleer find ourselves doing everything we can to make sure all of our social media channels are up to date and our website publishes at least one story a day.

These conferences are so beneficial for someone like me, a person that sees himself having a long career in the field of journalism/mass communications.

Plus, it also helps to have these conferences in such historic cities, especially one like New York City.

There was something for everyone at this conference. Sessions ranged from how to be a better sports writer to ways to improve your skills as a business manager. I can gladly say that everyone from The Chanticleer staff that went definitely came back a better journalist and more skilled in their craft, whether is editing, graphic design or advertising sales.

While I only have less than two months here at Coastal Carolina University as the Editor of The Chanticleer, I cannot wait to put what I learned at this conference – and at all the conferences I have attended during my time at CCU – in these last two issues. And I certainly cannot wait to use what I learned at these conferences in my career.

In my spare time, I was able to visit headquarters or corporate offices for places like The New York Times, NBC Universal Studios, Nickelodeon, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. Just walking around and through those buildings was an awe-inspiring experience that I certainly will not forget.