Alumni Panel makes a big splash at Winthrop

Being that this was my first Mass Comm week experience here at Winthrop University, I must say that I was thoroughly impressed with the enthusiasm that was portrayed by the faculty, staff and students during all of the festivities.

I attended the Alumni Panel. The panel consisted of Alan Garmendia, a 2005 Winthrop graduate who is an overnight photographer at ABC News 4 in Charleston, Shannon Greene, a 2001 Winthrop grad who is the online editor of The Rock Hill Herald, & Katie Medlock Price who is a 2007 Winthrop graduate who is an account manager at PM Digital.

Each of the panel members gave a little background about their start here at Winthrop. Katie says that she knew that Winthrop is where she wanted to be ever since she was in the eighth grade.

Shannon said that she came to Winthrop basically because this is the institution her mother attended. She also said that while at Winthrop she took a year off to work in Louisiana. Graciously, one of her professors allowed her to use her job as an internship.

"As an online editor, I write, edit, and come up with new ideas, " Shannon mentioned.

Alan on the other hand says that his initial interest was sports. He came to Winthrop and became a broadcast major. After he graduated, Alan went back to Charleston, his hometown, to find work.

"It's a good media market," Alan stated.

Although working in the media world you are constantly wearing multiple hats and no particular workday is the same as another, the panel was asked to vaguely sum what a typical workday is like for them. Shannon mentioned that she gets up at 6:30 A.M. The first thing she does is open up numerous competitors websites to see if they have posted any new content overnight.

"I have to make sure I am on top of everything," Shannon said about being an online editor.

Shannon also talked briefly about how she monitors the comments the public makes on the site constantly, which can be inappropriate and vulgar.

Alan says a typical day for him is meeting up with a producer and an assignment editor.

"We have a morning meeting and take a look at what needs to be covered and what is happening during the day," Alan says.

Alan also stated that if there is a breaking news story that he needs to cover, everything immediately goes out of the window. He drops everything because at the particular moment, that event needs the most attention.

Katie says her typical day involves seeing everything from start to finish. Katie says she does Graphic Design work; she has her work printed and she gets it out there to the public. She works for a non-profit organization so she says that she has to get really "creative" when presenting information to the public.

The panel then asked questions that the audience asked. One of the most important questions that were asked was, "How do you balance family life with your job?" That is a major concern many journalism majors have coming into this field because they know how demanding the job is.

"Its not impossible to have a social life. You have to make time," Alan says.

"It is very hard. I am constantly checking my email. Its not easy at all," Shannon says about balancing both marriage and her career.

And in closing their discussion, the panel was asked to give one important tip to the audience when it comes to being a journalist.

"You have to have drive and passion," Alan said.

"Be prepared to do anything," Shannon says.

"Be flexible and be resourceful," Katie said.

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Six ways to become a powerful microblogger

Microblogging is an art. Microblogging is a lifestyle. You have to love it, you have to live it, and you have to breathe it. Here are a few helpful hints to keep in mind when you are microblogging. 
1) Be informative: Whether you are using Twitter, Facebook, or Friendfeed when sharing news with your audience, remember to be provoking and detailed in your posts. The more details, the better!
2) Stay relevant: Post about stories that will likely spark tons of interest with your audience. Make sure to post things they can possibly relate to or possibly peak curiosity.
3) Be instructive: Find a way to not only post news, but be helpful to your readers. Show your audience "how to" do certain things or find about certain topics.
4) Include links: Posting links in your stories can help the reader find more interesting sources that can further their understanding. Occasionally, the character limit isn't enough to fully understand the whole story.
5) Reflect your personality: Although they can't see you, that doesn't mean that the reader can't get to know who you really are. Your words are the only thing they have to get to know the real you, so you have to make them all count.
6) Build relationships: Microblogging creates tons of questions with your readers. If you are available, answer those questions. You may never know who you are truly speaking to on the other side of that screen. That other person could have the potentialities of opening up doors for you.

Cited: Briggs, Mark. Journalism Next. Washington: CQ Press, 2010. Print.

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