If you couldn’t attend our annual Making Media Connections 2010 conference in June, you missed some fantastic workshops and speakers covering everything from social media policy to fundraising to getting your story on TV. But don’t worry–you can still see the conference highlights on CAN TV.

Here are just a few of the dates, times and channels Making Media Connections will air.

Making Media Connections Conference: Deanna Zandt, MMC2010 Keynote, Author and Social Media Technologist
Friday, July 23rd, 8:00 AM, Channel 19
Wednesday, July 28th, 12:00 PM, Channel 21

Making Media Connections Conference: Tony Martinez, MMC2010 Keynote, Former News Director, Telemundo
Friday, July 23rd, 9:00 AM, Channel 19
Wednesday, July 28th, 1:00 PM, Channel 21

You can also check the CAN TV website for future air dates and times. So get cozy, flip on the TV, and learn from the experts about how to tell your story in the digital age.

I had the pleasure of kicking off my new job with Community Media Workshop by attending the entire Making Media Connections conference. In my new role as Workshop VP, there’s no doubt that I observed the conference through a different lens than in years past. The conference marked my first day of work so I was truly an observer, with few preconceived notions. I hadn’t been embroiled in months of planning and knew nothing of the struggles to pull the event off so seamlessly. I saw no chinks in the armor, no tarnish in the shine that was MMC10. From my perspective, the conference was refreshing–a break from the hectic move back to Chicago and a chance to visit with old friends and colleagues. I simply got to show up, listen and learn.

And I wish I had done that one of the many times I attended over the years! Rather than just attending one session or moderating a panel or dropping in for lunch, making it to the whole show left a bigger mark. It left me feeling energized and mulling over how we, as nonprofit communicators and leaders, can seize the Great Recession and the changing media landscape as a new opportunity to tell our stories.

Despite Twitter and Tribune bankruptcy, slashed budgets and iPhone apps, there is one thing that has not changed: the importance of telling a good story, one that resonates with people and makes them sit up and listen. Over and over, presenters and panelists and participants came back to this basic rule. Even as former Sun-Times reporter Ray Hanania had the audience in stitches over his own confessed confusion and exhaustion with all the hats he now wears, he also reminded attendees, “You need to write good stories…That’s where the key is.”

Who’s A Journalist Now? Ray Hanania Keynote Speech (Part Four) from Community Media Workshop on Vimeo.

Or Deanna Zandt, social media guru and avid Tweeter/blogger/writer, who said during her keynote that the reason so many people became interested in her new book “Share This!” was because she used Twitter and online tools to “tell a story” about her personal process and struggles to bring the book to fruition. A story that people found interesting, funny and compelling.

That’s what this is all about–human connection. You could be the most clever tweeter or the most prolific blogger, but without the story, those tools aren’t helping your organizations engage audiences. And so it goes–the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Sure, some of the tactics we use to get those stories told have changed, but us nonprofit folks are smart, we adapt! And that’s what resonated with me after the Making Media Connections conference: what people want to hear, what reporters want to write, what makes someone scroll to the bottom–it hasn’t changed. We just have to change the way we get those stories in front of our audiences. We have to use more tools, be more nimble, work harder to stay on top of an ever-changing industry.

And the Workshop, whether it’s at the Conference or through our annual trainings, is here to help nonprofits identify those tools, adapt their strategies, and tell those stories.

So I think we can all breathe a little easier. The news world may seem upside down, but the fundamentals remain the same. Sure, we all have a lot to learn and practice, and we have to be more creative and persistent than ever. But nonprofits are good at adapting and doing more with less. So, kick back, sign up for Twitter and put a human face on the hard work you’re doing every day. We want to hear your story.

Our Making Media Connections conference is only 10 days away and there is still time for you to register! In fact, let me tell you why you need to register today!

Where else can you sit in on panels of expert communicators all aimed at making you an effective storyteller for your work?  Here’s where you can keep up to date with changes in the ever expanding and changing media landscape!

For less than a fraction of the cost of similar conferences, you’ll be able to choose from a wide array of panels. What ever it is that you’d like to learn more about -we have it!

The modest fee for this year’s conference also includes delicious breakfast and lunch and gourmet snacks from Chicago’s premier, eco-friendly and environmentally responsible catering company- Tasty Catering! Read the rest of this entry »

Participants from last year’s making Media Connections Conference share their experiences making connections, meeting experts, finding the right consultants and pitching the right journalists to get their story out. Check out more videos here

There’s a saying around here at Community Media Workshop, “When YOU succeed, WE succeed” and it can’t make us any more happier when we see participants of our training and annual conference shine.

Sounding a bit idealistic? Well… maybe, but for many of our participants, getting results is a very real thing – especially if you attend our annual conference. Read the rest of this entry »

We thought you’d like to know the newest and biggest update in the changing media landscape. The Chicago Tribune made sweeping layoffs to its newsroom staff yesterday that some have called “devastating,” and 53 Tribune staff members were let go yesterday, reducing their count by over 10%.

Mike Miner of The Chicago Reader wrote about it yesterday, and included this list of 47 out of the 53 people laid off. Read his post here.

Mary L. Dedinsky, Web Editor, Metro
Russell Working, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Oak Brook Bureau
Susan Diesenhouse, Real Estate Feature Writer
Josephine Napolitano, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Tinley Park Bureau
Eric Benderoff, Technology Reporter, Financial News
David Trotman-Wilkins, Staff Photographer
Candice Cusic, Staff Photographer
John Smierciak, Staff Photographer
Charles Cherney, Staff Photographer
William Grady, Deputy Bureau Chief, Schaumburg Bureau
Beth Botts, Garden Writer, House & Homes
Robert K. Elder, Reporter, Live
Lou Carlozo, Reporter, Smart
Brenda Butler, Assistant Editor, Chicago Tribune Magazine
Lilah Lohr, Assistant Books Editor
Jessica Reaves, Reporter, Chicago Tribune Magazine
Tom Hundley, Reporter, Chicago Tribune Magazine
Susan Kuczka, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Vernon Hills Bureau
Storer Rowley, National Editor
James P. Miller, Corporate Strategy and Manufacturing Reporter, Financial News
Carolyn Starks, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Crystal Lake Bureau
Melissa Isaacson, Specialist Reporter, Sports
Alan Artner, Art Critic, A&E
Bob Sakamoto, High School Sports Reporter
Suzanne Cosgrove, Assistant Editor, House & Homes
Elaine Matsushita, Editor, House & Homes
John Mullin, Reporter, Sports
Terry Bannon, Illinois Basketball/Football Reporter, Sports
Joshua Boak, Business Reporter
Patrick Reardon, Reporter, Live!
Geoff Black, Photo Editor, Features
Bradley Piper, Senior Producer, Editorial Multimedia
Kristin Morris, Assistant Design Editor, Sports
Thomas Carkeek, Associate Subject Editor, Sports
Bonnie Trafelet, Staff Photographer
Timothy J. Horneman, Assistant Subject Editor, Metro
Bob Vanderberg, Assistant High School Sports Editor
Ed Cavanaugh, Assistant Copy Editor, Sports
Richard Rothschild, Assistant Copy Editor, Sports
Keith Swinden, Picture Editor, Sports
Robert Ohap, Assistant Subject Editor, News Editing
Dimitry Tetin, Assistant Subject Editor, Presentation
Marty Fischer, Assistant Subject Editor, Metro Copy Desk
Lucy Hoy, Assistant Subject Editor, Metro Copy Desk
Min Pak, Imaging Technician
Thomas Van Dyke, Staff Photographer
William L. Avorio, Multi-Media Imaging Technician

What is interesting in this list and somewhat noteworthy is how light it is on top managers. It seems like a lot of “worker bees” were let go instead of people who a number of journalists would be direct reports. A slight silver lining is that it appears that no one from the Editorial Board was touched by these cuts.

Community Media Workshop has worked with a couple of people on this list over the years. A couple of people have been panelists at our past Making Media Connections Conferences, and some have just been great supporters of the Workshop.

This news makes this year’s Making Media Connections Conference, themed “Advocate + Communicate = Change” even more relevant. If newsprint continues to shrink so rapidly, who will be communicating the information that is relevant for people to advocate and make that change?

We’re staying tuned…

Ragan Communications, a sort of Community Media Workshop for corporate communicators, sent a TV crew to Making Media Connections, here’s one of several interviews they did. 

My son and daughter spent 5 hours at Chuck E Cheese’s yesterday with the babysitter–long enough to amass enough tickets to win a gumball machine, two lollypops, a fun dip, and a magic wand. I was about as pleased with how the Making Media Connections conference went as the kids were with their loot.

“I’ve been wanting to come for years, and I wasn’t disappointed,” Charley, from Elmhurst College, said. Lena Parsons, who has gone from a participant to a moderator to a panelist, said, “This was really special for me because I started as a conference attendee being completely flabbergasted by the entire media world. To be there today was pretty damn cool.”

With 95 presenters and a lot of other folks who made it happen, to thank everyone by name here would not be the sexiest blog post ever. Your note will be in the mail and email soon–for now, thanks to all!

Renee Ferguson hit just the right note in the morning, pointing out that when she was growing up in segregated Oklahoma, African Americans mimeographed stories about their community to counteract mainstream media that they felt were missing or mis-covering their community.

And Beth Kanter’s keynote presentation on how she raised $43,315 from 1,812 donors, which led to a match of $50,000 from the Case Foundation– for The Sharing Foundation, an agency that works with children in Cambodia through which she and her husband adopted two children and on whose board she serves. By the time Beth finished telling the story of how people across the country banded together to help her win the $50,000 match, I was kinda weepy (Maude from our office was, too).

Social media–no, really

It made a big difference at the conference, as it has begun to do in all of our work, that alongside of some of Chicago’s best journalists  were presenters who are national new media for nonprofit leaders: Britt Bravo, Beth Kanter, Heather Mansfield. They really showed us how to use the new tools.

They were live blogging, MySpacing, wiki-creating, and video-streaming all over the place. And how great is it for us that the new tools may look and act different from the old ones, but they work the same way: as all three presenters pointed out, we still need to:

• think about audience
• hone the message
• set a goal and make it happen

In other words, strategic communications 101! We had the benefit of a great sum-up of one element that made this year’s conference such a success, I think, from Britt Bravo of NetSquared:

“The difference from [Making Media Connections] last year to this year,” she said at the final discussion of the day, a community media update roundtable, “is more familiarity with social media tools.” but a lot of folks are still afraid of Facebook, MySpace, Blogs, Wikis, YouTube, flickr, etc. etc., etc. “People may not have tried them, but they want them… The answer is, when you’re afraid, you have to try it.”

Britt summed up the prescriptive part of Beth’s presentation better than this at her blog (thank goodness I can just link to it).

This is totally self serving, but honestly, it was one of the nicest conferences I’ve ever had the pleasure to help put on. Not to beat a metaphor into the ground, but I had about as much fun as a kid in a candy store!

Bosses–and board members–have lots of reservations about blogging and other social media tools, like:

• We do not want to link to the site of somebody else that we can’t control–what if that person says or does something crazy or unsavory!
• What if someone blogs for our organization and says something we do not agree with?
• The CEO or other honcho (or honcha) has to be the person who is the chief blogger, but s/he doesn’t want to do it!
• What if someone comments on our blog and adds comments that are factually incorrect?
• What if the comments get out of hand?
• and probably more I forgot to write down during Britt Bravo’s nonprofit blogging workshop at Making Media Connections this morning (the topic was on the agenda slightly in Beth Kanter’s session, as well). Read the rest of this entry »

The best part of my yesterday evening at a business schmoozefest, Chicago Green Drinks, came right before the panel discussion. Host Peter Nicholson says something like, “If you need a job, there’s no reason to be unemployed…. Well, [can't remember the name] is hiring–what kind of person are you looking for?” and the guy who’s hiring gives a thumbnail of the kind of person he needs.

Three people were hiring yesterday evening–including I-Go Car Sharing, which is looking for a salesperson, by the way (we’ll try to get a full description of this position for an upcoming e-newsletter from Community Media Workshop).

But in my experience, this kind of networking for nonprofits is hard to come by. More than that, where do nonprofits get news about nonprofits? Read the rest of this entry »

Was going to title this post ‘the seamy underside of the web’ but that’s probably too strong. Of course the past month or so we’ve been all about promoting our Making Media Connections conference and here’s one nugget from that experience that shows why we all ought to give our good old MSM some love, right now, while we’ve got ‘em: the PSA.

Every day for about four years now I’ve been getting email from Patrick Phillips’ IWantMedia, a headline aggregator (in other words he rounds up headlines on the media biz from a range of news sources); he it features ads for interesting places and conferences (like ours). Read the rest of this entry »