Training at the Workshop
policies | success stories | subscribe to the media guide | tips | resources | contact us | all events
WORKSHOPS
Writing To Make The News
9 a.m. to noon Thursday, March 18
With: Alton Miller
$95, REGISTER
Learn the basics and more including: 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, speechwriter to the late Harold Washington, and Columbia College dean offers insights into effective public relations.
Presenting…You – NEW
9 a.m. to noon Thursdays, April 15 & April 22
With: Gordon Mayer
$180, REGISTER
After your presentation is over, how much will your audience remember later? What can you do to boost that amount and get more of them to take action afterwards? This workshop will put together practical tips on using Microsoft PowerPoint, presentation strategy, and handling interaction to answer those questions. Whether you expect to be in front of journalists, speaking at a fundraising or advocacy event, or in a staff meeting you should be prepared. A follow-up session offers participants the opportunity to practice delivering a presentation.
Website Design, Content and Usability – NEW
9 a.m. to noon, Thursday, April 29
With: Emily Lonigro, LimeRed Studio & Nathan Hiemstra
$95, REGISTER
Ever wonder what makes a killer Website? Or how some sites make sense right away, while others overthink 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.
WINTER/SPRING BROWN BAG SERIES
Experts share insights on the latest communication trends in traditional and social media. Brown bag workshops are free but registration is required. Space limited register today!
Legal Ramifications of Blogging
Noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 25
With R. David Donoghue, Closed
Every day a new blog is added to the blogosphere. While there are opportunities for organizations to tell their stories there are also legal ramifications of blogging. If your organization has a blog or is considering creating one find out from expert R. David Donoghue, Chicago IP Litigation blog, what you need to know about the legal pitfalls of blogging from copyright infringement to online defamation.
FAQ
What will I get from attending a communications training at the Workshop?
Who should attend?
How do you set the prices for your workshops?
What if my organization wants a custom workshop — to have Workshop trainers come out to us, to do a session on an evening or weekend day?
Where are the workshops held?
What will I get from attending a communications training at the Workshop?
Learn to tell your stories better, using all the tools of communications, advocacy, outreach, and marketing, such as: media relations, using new media/technology, developing print materials, planning strategy, holding events, and other types of public relations. We are known for:
- Hands-on, practical training
- Emphasis on how to create compelling stories to increase visibility among media,funders and other audiences
- Providing tools to integrate Web 2.0 and social media into your communications and fundraising efforts
- Leading workshops that honor the ways adults learn, are interactive, and engaging
- Providing handouts you can use, not put on a shelf
Learn more about real people’s successes using what they learned from us by viewing some recent success stories
Who Should Attend?
Our workshops are for nonprofit communicators–staff and volunteers responsible for telling their organizations’ stories. They come from grassroots and community organizations, arts groups, hospitals and universities, social-service agencies, philanthopry, and other types of nonprofit.
While we do not turn for-profit communicators away, for popular workshops we may wait-list them to make sure there are seats for all the nonprofit communicators who wish to attend. If you are in corporate communications or at a for-profit PR firm, we encourage you to visit the sites of our colleagues in PR, such as Ragan Communications, the Publicity Club of Chicago, PRNewswire, or the Public Relations Society of America.
To learn more about our participants, you can download a list of groups who accessed our services last year.
How do you set the prices for your workshops?
We are half grant-funded and the rest of our revenue comes from selling workshops, trainings, and our Chicago-market media guide, Getting On Air, On-line, & Into Print to other nonprofits.
This allows us to keep the costs of our workshops at a fraction of the price of equivalent sessions in the private sector. Workshop prices take into account fees for our trainers (typically much-reduced from what they typically charge as a service to the nonprofit community), other fixed costs such as serving coffee, water, and meals during workshops.
Scholarships are always available to organizations with budgets under $100,000—please view our Scholarship Policy. You may also want to check the details of our Cancellation Policy.
What if my organization wants a custom workshop — to have Workshop trainers come out to us, to do a session on an evening or weekend day?
We are happy to provide custom sessions that respond to specific needs or to reinforce core messages at your organization.
Organizations we have worked with recently include ACCESS, Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University, Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Latinos Progresando, Local Initiatives Support Corp., Michigan Nonprofit Association, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Progressive Technology Project, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
To learn more, download a one-page backgrounder on our custom training, and contact Gordon Mayer, Gordon@newstips.org or Diana Pando, Diana@newstips.org, or call us, 312-369-6400.
Where are the Workshops Held?
Unless noted elsewhere, our trainings take place in our classroom at our walk-in location at:
Community Media Workshop
at Columbia College
218 S Wabash
Chicago, IL 60605
Tel: 312-369-6400
Fax: 312-369-6404
Email: cmw@newstips.org
Print This Page
