
STORY POWER (Wednesday, June 9- 9AM to 4PM)
“Thank you for offering this workshop! It’s something of an “advanced” course for those of us who are familiar with the techniques of media outreach, etc. but want to strengthen our story gathering, writing and speaking skills. Thanks again!” – Jane Lawicki, Rotary International
The most important tool you can have as a communicator is the power to captivate potential audiences with your organization’s story. Learn how to make your story not just another spiel about your organization but rather a powerful tool to captivate the media, potential funders and future members. Powerful storytelling is a necessity whether you are pitching to traditional or online media.
Story Power is back by popular demand and taught by award-winning storyteller Susan O’Halloran. Susan will empower you with the ability to captivate audiences and move them to action. Register Today! Read the rest of this entry »
Making Media Connections is right around the corner and we want to make sure you take advantage of our EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT. Register before April 30 and get 20% off registration and be entered to win your very own FLIP CAM. Sign Up Today! This year our annual conference highlights how nonprofits tell their stories and develop communications strategies in a digital age.
JOIN US! Making Media Connections annual conference “Storytelling and Strategy in the Digital Age” June 9 and 10, 2010
Columbia College Chicago, Film Row Cinema 1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor www.communitymediaworkshop.og/mmc2010
For more information on the various panels and workshops, and to register for the Making Media Connections, go to www.bit.ly/mmc2010 or call 312-369-6400. Read the rest of this entry »
Website Design, Content and Usability – NEW
9 a.m. to noon, Thursday, April 29
With: Emily Lonigro, LimeRed Studio
$95, REGISTER
Ever wonder what makes a killer Website? Or how some sites make sense right away, while others over think or miss the mark completely? What’s the connection among online beauty, brains and brawn? This session will offer quick (and not so quick) fixes to get your site looking and behaving better and more for anyone who has to maintain, redo, or create a nonprofit Website.
Emily Lonigro is a branding and web design specialist who combines insightful marketing strategy with distinctive design execution. Before co-founding The Web Farm with Keidra Chaney, she started LimeRed Studio in 2004 to help small businesses and nonprofits enhance their marketing collateral with stellar design.
Writing To Make The News
9 a.m. to noon, Thursday, March 18
$95 REGISTER
Learn the basics and more: how to write a press release, the difference between a media alert, news release, and pitch letter, and how to produce polished versions of all three. Along the way, Alton Miller, author, press secretary to the late Harold Washington, and Columbia College dean offers insights into effective public relations. Learn:
• Pre-writing and preparation
• Editing to strengthen your writing skills
• How to deliver your messages in the context of an integrated marketing communication campaign
If you struggle to communicate your story ideas to the media, then it’s time to learn new writing techniques. Learn successful techniques to write clearly and concisely in ways that help deliver your messages starting as soon as your next news release.
Trainer: Alton Miller is currently associate dean of the School of Media Arts and a tenured associate professor at Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches public relations writing and political PR. The first half of his PR career (1965-85) was in the performing arts. From 1985-87 he was press secretary to Chicago mayor Harold Washington, and his PR work has continued in politics and arts advocacy, including work as communications director for Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, City Treasurer Miriam Santos, and the Illinois Arts Alliance. He is the author of three nonfiction books, including a memoir, “Harold Washington: The Mayor, The Man.” In 2005 he received his M.F.A. in Writing from Goddard College. His thesis was a political novel, “Chicago Power & Light.“