Making Media Connections 2009

“Every story has a human element, but human interest stories are always the best way for readers to understand a problem because you put a face on it,” Southtown Star columnist Phil Kadner says. “Usually the best way to pitch it is the human element.”

Kadner, winner of multiple Lisagor awards for exemplary journalism from the Chicago Headline Club, a 2002 Studs Terkel Community Media Award and a presenter at this year’s Making Media Connections conference, says that even after more than 20 years of columns he still is surprised by how amazing people are at addressing dilemmas once they know where to go and who to reach out to: “If they’re given access to the right resources they can solve problems. People mobilize to the cause and can be very creative that way.”

Kadner’s advice for pitching stories is to keep it simple to start with. Focus on what’s the problem and how it impacts people. Facts can help demonstrate the importance of those individual stories, though.

“Also, if you can document a problem, that’s really important, because that substantiates it,” Kadner said. “Otherwise it’s just rumor and hearsay.” It’s worth taking the extra time to find both the story and the background information: “The people who give me the most good information to start with have the best chance of making my column.”

Meet Phil — and other columnists and journalists, social media experts, and peers — June 10-11!

–Interview and report by Workshop intern Christopher Brinckerhoff

Mariko Drouin of Chicago Metropolitan Area Education for Young Children has to lead a marketing workshop at their upcoming conference, and as folks who’ve come through our workshops often do, she checked in to get a little more information from us on how to polish her presentation.

Mariko Drouin has her organization on Facebook, Twitter, and more

She and I got to chatting about last year’s Making Media Connections, which Mariko attended, and she shared some of what she did as a result of what she learned last year. I asked her to write it up so we could show off her awesome skills:

Making Media Connections was extremely inspiring. I went back to the office and in a matter of months wrote a social media strategy, launched a Facebook fan page and online community, purchased a flip video for testimonials, and implemented Twitter at our annual conference! [GM note: great conference use of twitter, "whoever lost their blackberry, come down to the coat check to pick it up" albeit somewhat problematic, right? unless they have a laptop or a blackberry buddy, too] These tools have been very helpful to generate new customers and strengthen the relationship with existing ones. The conference helped me discover the power behind social media tools and was a great place to share ideas and connect with others who are challenged with the same nonprofit marketing issues.

Thanks, Mariko.