Enjoy this delightful tour of our Online Media Guide by our New Media Associate Marissa Wasseluk. To subscribe to our online media guide, visit www.chicagomediaguide.org or find out more on our Media Guide page where you can also download sample pages of our print guide as well as our 2012 Media Event Quick Contact Sheet.

Workshop Media Guide Researcher Deanndra Bunch talks about her process to ensure the media guide data is up-to-date and accurate. Visit our website to subscribe to Chicago’s most comprehensive media guide today.

Media Guide FAQ #2 – Why do I need the media guide? from Community Media Workshop on Vimeo.

Guest post by Marissa Wasseluk

Video creation and video strategy are two topics covered at the Making Media Connections conference. Here you can discuss your options for successful, simple, inexpensive video creation!

Statistics show that less than 10% of visitors to your website read everything you have to say. However, 65% of website visitors will watch a video to completion. That being said I’m going to shut up now and let you press play on the video below for further information:

Maybe I’m a little biased because I’ve been producing videos for over a decade now, but I feel like video is one of the best mediums for advocacy. In my experience, visually telling a story – showing your audience your mission, rather than just telling them  - helps create a connection that could be easily lost with a long, strongly worded paragraph. Also, general audiences these days have short attention spans (kudos to you if you read this far, btw). The average time spent on a site with text is 60 seconds. A visitor to a site with a video will spend an average of six minutes on that site.

You may think creating a video is costly and time-consuming. I’m not going to lie to you – sometimes it is. As with most well-constructed, creative work, good videos take time – and time is money. But, there are simple and quick ways to use video effectively. If you have the right tools and the right strategy in place, you can create videos to let general audiences know who you are, show supporters how you’re doing and how their donations are used, and remain on the minds of audiences everywhere – for little money and time.

Read more tips on nonprofit communication on the Nonprofit Communicator blog!

Ask Marissa and more communications professionals your video questions at the Making Media Connections conference!

We asked previous attendees of the Making Media Connections Conference what their favorite part of the conference was, and got some interesting answers! In the video below, watch Ernest Sanders, New Communities Program Manager and Director of Communications for The Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC), had to say about his experience networking with other nonprofit communicators at the conference.

This year, join Ernest as he speaks about how you can connect with community news portals to help get out your message.

Click here to register for the Making Media Connections conference, and make your own MMC moment!

We asked previous attendees of the Making Media Connections Conference what their favorite part of the conference was, and got some interesting answers! See what Marissa Wasseluk, New Media Associate at the Workshop, had to say about her “social media experience” at last year’s conference in the video below!

Ready to make some memories of your own? Hurry and sign up for the conference now! The Early Bird Rate is effective until Saturday only!

Still curious about what’s new at this year’s conference? For more information on MMC 2011, click here!

JUF editor Aaron Cohen offers several tips for successful pitching. Pitch Aaron by email at aaroncohen@juf.org or by calling him at the office at 312-346-6700.

Looking for more contacts to pitch? Check out our new Online Media guide for FREE!

Posted on Newstips by Curtis Black
Tomorrow…
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–

I, too, am America.

–Langston Hughes

DREAM Act students from the Immigrant Youth Justice League, sons and daughters of Chicago, speaking out at the Daley Plaza on March 10, “crossing the border of fear.”

Ken Davis is joined by WLS-AM reporter, John Dempsey, ABC 7 News reporter Paul Meincke, and Thom Clark, President, Community Media Workshop. The panel discusses merits of reducing the size of the Chicago City Council and the prospects for political change in the upcoming municipal election.

This program was produced by Chicago Access Network TV.