Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make the annual Making Media Connections conference a success. This year our conference trainings gave attendees new skills to communicate more effectively in order to tell their stories. Our panels gave folks insights and best practices on everything from social media policy to pitching freelancers. Attendees also had the opportunity to connect and build new relationships with reporters and other communications professionals.
Here is what people are saying about the conference:

I really enjoy this conference. The networking opportunities are excellent and for the most part, the panel sessions and workshops
are helpful and engaging. Looking forward to next year! – Stephanie Kuenn, American Library Association

Your organization is terrific. Immensely helpful to me, and I’m happy
that is as helpful to the nonprofits doing truly noble work in our city. –
Guy F. Wicke, Lukaba Productions

I love this conference. It is always refreshing, and both the presenters
and participants are always so helpful and eager to share tips and
stories. Thank you for setting the tone. – RoiAnn Phillips, Health
Connect One

Wonderful value for the price…speakers were knowledgeable
and approachable. – Mayre Press, Freelance Writer

Here are some quick conference highlights:
Did you miss Deanna Zandt’s keynote speech on telling your story in the digital age? Well, no worries you can still check her keynote on “Stories and Strategy In The Digital Age.”

If you didn’t have a chance to check out the “Who’s A Journalist Now” roundtable, check out the videos and summaries of the event.

From mainstream to multimedia, Ray Hanania works “both sides of the wall”

Growing up on the Southside of Chicago prepared journalist Ray Hanania to wear many labels. His schoolyard detractors wouldn’t take “I’m American” for an answer. So, Hanania sought out his father’s advice.

“Well, geesh, you know, don’t tell them your Palestinian. Tell ‘em you’re Syrian or Lebanese,” said his father. Imagine a time when it was okay to be Syrian or Lebanese, says Hanania.

Hanania returned to school, fearful of being beat up by taunting classmates, and offered the bullies this answer:

“Well, my dad said I’m cereal. But I think my mother is lesbian. I don’t know.”

Closing out this year’s Making Media Connections 2010, Hanania admitted he’s technically not a journalist, but he is “the face of the future.” As an award-winning freelance journalist who writes for 18 blogs, pens a column for several Arab news outlets, hosts a radio show, does comedy, and serves as the spokesperson for Cicero, Hanania said he has no desire to go back to working in mainstream media. Read the rest of this entry »

Check out some of the photos from the 2010 Making Media Connections conference. Special Thanks to our photographers Bob Black, Olga Lopez and Jonathan Werve. They look great!

Anna Tarkov, Blogger
Chicago Tribune Chicagoland Extra

If you think the dwindling media landscape is narrowing your agency’s options to connect with audiences about your stories, think again. As traditional news outlets have reduced their newsrooms and placed an emphasis online news platforms, journalists are revamping their efforts to deliver important and dynamic narratives to the public.

So, how are they doing it? Think freelancing. Anna Tarkov and Jessica Pupovic are two of many Chicago-area freelancers who are intent on covering stories and issues that matter. Both agree establishing relationships with freelancers, even out of work journalists, can pay off in the long run.

“Don’t discount journalists who are out of work, because they will eventually be working and that relationship will last and could be effective in the future,” says Tarkov.

Tarkov covers the Wilmette and Deerfield village meetings for the Chicago Tribune Chicagoland Extra section. As a blogger, she muses about political figures, such as Sarah Palin and other issues. Connecting with bloggers who are receptive to your cause provides a niche audience as well as longer shelf life for your story, she says.  However, she says establishing a relationship with select bloggers is vital and shows discernment.

“When you blast [a press release] it says a) you don’t read my blog, b) don’t know what I write about or what my interests are,” she says. “ And c) don’t care and that A and B are true.”

Jessica Pupovic, Freelance Writer

Finding the best home for your story means a bit of homework is involved. For Pupovic, it always helps if there’s a timely hook or a project that is about to come to fruition. She says it can hinder her ability to take a story if the pitch is sent out before or on the same day.  Freelancers, who tend to give more in-depth coverage to an issue, should be pitched a week or so ahead so a plan of action can be developed, says Pupovic.

Pupovic, who writes for Mindful Metropolis, In These Times and The Crime Report, advices against discounting smaller publications because “they really are read by people in the industry who might have an larger audience” and “news does trickle up.”

“[Freelancers] get it out there and I promise you that I’ve had dozens of stories I’ve written that later have I’ve found in the Tribune or the Sun-Times,” says Pupovic. “The bigger publications are also out there monitoring… between the bloggers picking it up and the editors.”

Pupovic and Tarkov welcome pitches via email. You can check out Tarkov’s work at http://annatarkov.posterous.com, follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/AnnaTarkov or email her at tooter2@gmail.com. Pupovic can be reached at jessicapup@gmail.com and her on her google page.