Training at the Workshop
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Calendar developed and supported by Kieran O'Shea
Making Media Connections Conference
Tuesday, June 4 – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Reception 5-7 p.m.)
Join us for the Midwest’s best, and most cost-efficient communications conference that brings together nonprofit communicators, journalists, web advocates, PR professionals, community leaders and more!
Video Bootcamp
With Marissa Wasseluk, Community Media Workshop
Thursdays, June 13, 20, & 27 – 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Do you want to produce a video for your organization, but are unsure where to start? Produce a video this summer with the Workshop’s Video Bootcamp! Put your message in motion – learn to create impactful visuals on the go and with a small budget! This 3-session intensive training will not only help you think like a video producer, you’ll learn to shoot and edit your own video! Premiere your own 2-minute web video at the end of the course! Must have access to laptop and camera (can include your phone or any other camera you know how to operate).
Developing a Communications Plan
With Thom Clark, Community Media Workshop
Thursday, July 18 – 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Did you know that having a communications plan for your organization is the first step in developing a solid media relations campaign for your cause? This workshop will walk you through developing a communications plan using exercises to establish goals, target audiences, messages that move people to action, and tools to achieve your communications goals. A communications plan will help your organization or campaign engage donors, advocates, volunteers, and clients.
Social Media Bootcamp
With Adriana Diaz & Marissa Wasseluk, Community Media Workshop
Thursdays, July 25, August 1 & 8 – 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Are you struggling to reach your target audience via social media? Or, are you challenged with creating a social media strategy for your cause? In this intermediate 3-session course you will have ample time to dig into social media strategy and social media engagement. Discover which tools are best for your social media plan. Walk away with a concrete online communications plan and social media policy for your organization. Learn essential tools and tactics to advance your organization’s social media efforts!
There are no webinars scheduled at this time. Please check back periodically as we update our calendar!
Experts share insights on the latest communication trends in traditional and social media. Brown bag workshops are free but registration is required.
There are no Brown Bag Sessions scheduled at this time. Check back regularly to see future free information sessions!
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
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, philanthropy, 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.
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.
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 about our custom training view our services and contact Nora Ferrell, Nora@newstips.org or Diana Pando, Diana@newstips.org, or call us, 312-369-6400.
Unless noted elsewhere, our trainings take place at Columbia College Chicago at 33 East Congress Parkway.
Walk-in Location:
Community Media Workshop
at Columbia College
33 E Congress Parkway, Suite 610H
Chicago, IL 60605
Tel: 312-369-6400
Fax: 312-369-6404
Email: cmw@newstips.org
