2010 Making Media Connections Conference

For more information about our upcoming Making Media Connections Conference, visit the website at http://www.communitymediaworkshop.org/mmc2011.

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!

Well you’ve might have seen last night’s post regarding what to do to prepare for our conference and if you’ve got everything lined up then here’s our list for the top 5 things to do while at MMC2010

1. Follow the conversation and participate. Follow the conversations online and on the ground. Our official hashtag for the conference is #mmc10 but you can also follow #mmc2010. Various panel sessions will be live blogged through out the day including information from @npcommunicator. Feel free to post the best quotes and ideas you here from experts and peers!

2. Introduce yourself to journalists and other communications experts. There will be many journalists and experts presenting and participating in our conference, the best time to connect with them would be just after their panel session. Tell them your name, your organization and something that may be relevant to you that you may have heard form them, then make your pitch. Have you contact card and any other materials you may have prepared to give away so you can follow up later.

3. Join or start a topical discussion at a table during lunch. If you’ve made enough of the right connections early in the day, why not invite them to join you for lunch to discuss things learned in the panel sessions, follow through with a pitch, or gather ideas from peers.

4. Pickup some books and resources. There are some great titles at the book table at the conference including “Share This” by our keynote speaker Deanna Zandt. Other titles include Tim Frick’s book “Return on Engagement: Content, Strategy and Design Techniques for Digital Marketing” and “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survice and Others Die” by Chip & Dan Heath.

5. Grab some free Art patches from Chris Drew. For years now, Chris has volunteered at MMC. Many have enjoyed conversing with him as he creates silk screen patches on-location. He is currently challenging a city “eaves-dropping” law for recording his arrest by Chicago police while giving away his art to the public. He has a fascinating story to share – one that may be taken all the way to the Supreme Court and help define our First Amendment Rights here in Chicago and fully realize a Free Speech Artist’s Movement.

I’m a total geek and when it comes to conferences there are a few things I usually do before heading out to participate. MMC2010 is unique and gives you the opportunity to connect with many people within the communications sector here in Chicago – journalists, communications staff, development folks, executive directors, technologists, PR professionals, educators, bloggers, techies and so much more! Here’s my top 5 things to do to prepare for the 2010 Making Media Connections Conference:

1. Prepare and rehearse your elevator speech. You will meet many potential journalists, freelancers and bloggers who may be interested in your story. Rehearse you elevator speech and be ready – but most importantly, be comfortable about what you have to say. If you need more tips, visit our website to get started.

2. Prepare a wifi or wireless communications device to participate in online conversations. Whether its your mobile phone, laptop or even iPad download a twitter client app to participate or monitor conversations taking place at the conference. Our hashtags this year are #mmc2010 and #mmc10 – why are there two? Not sure, but that’s what people seem to be using. Twitter client apps like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck can save searches in their own columns and can update automatically depending on your settings. You can even share some of the tweets or activities using your facebook app or via the Facebook website. You might have some friends or colleagues that can’t participate the day of but might be interested in hearing what’s happening. You can follow the workshop for updates @npcommunicator. Last year Lumity provided a mobile internet lab for our conference but will not be here this year, but MobileCitizen will and Columbia College Chicago will be providing free wifi… woohoo!

3. Bring plenty of contact cards and any materials that can reference your work. Most likely you will not have the chance to sit and talk to the person you’ve been wanting to pitch for hours on end, but the next best thing you can do is give them material that can help them find more information about you and your work.

4. Bring all of your conference information, including a print out of your registration information, maps to help you plan where you will park and the times and locations of your workshops and panels. You can find all of this information on our conference site. Rooms, locations and schedules for Wednesday and Thursday can be found here as well.

5. Check in with your staff who will not make it to the conference. Get some feedback from some of your staff that can’t make it. This will help you decide which panel sessions to drop into or what sort of materials you can gather from other organizations, news outlets and vendors.

These are just a few suggestions I know I usually follow. Do you have any you can share with others? Let us know! See you MMC2010!

– Demetrio

This is it! We are officially kicking off our 2011 Making Media Connections conference tonight with the NetTuesday Meetup (you can RSVP here). Tonight brings together NetTuesday, Youth Voices Network and Making Media Connection – featuring presentations from the Youth Voices Network and the work they have been pulling together in the past year polling youth online regarding their concerns on the web, news and more. Presenters include Jeff McCarter of Free Spirit Media, Salome Chasnoff of Beyond Media Education and more. A discussion among other youth media groups, web advocates, techies and nonprofits will follow along with networking. Food and refreshments will be served.

Event starts at 6 p.m. at the Film Row, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor. See you there!

Yesenia Sotelo doesn’t care if you don’t know HTML, CSS and all other new fangled web language that goes into making an attractive website. She’s concerned with one thing: staff participation.

“If you’re going to invest your precious nonprofit time in a website it should tie back to your goals and mission,” says Sotelo.

She points to President Obama’s successful online presence during the 2008 election as prime example nonprofits can follow. Good design, current content and audience participation were three key factors that enabled Obama to get his message across to mainstream American. And she says it’s simple enough to be done no matter your budget or staff size.

On June 9 at Making Media Connections, Sotelo will demonstrate how your nonprofit can take charge in creating a website that speaks to your audience. In her workshop, Website Strategy In-Depth, Sotelo will show how nonprofits can have a successful communication campaign by using the web and social media tools, how involved staff support can create a successful online presence and prepare your website to accomplish your objectives.

Working with nonprofits brand their online message since 2001, Sotelo says when nonprofits realize staff participation are key tools to have a successful interaction with online audiences then everything else falls into place.

“The solution is with the people not with the technology,” says Sotelo. The first part is to get an agency’s staff on board and to set goals, she says.

60 percent of potential donors will check an organization’s website before they make their donation, and very few organizations have thought what their website is suppose to do and whether or not it is accomplishing their goals, says Sotelo. The Website Strategy In-Depth workshop works because participants can address their social media and website issues while brainstorming with other organizations to develop creative and new visions for their website and social media strategy, she says.

No matter the size of your organization’s budget or staff there is a solution to developing a successful online approach.

Ready to tap into a new online audience?  REGISTER NOW!

Interview by Jennifer T. Lacey

“It’s time to bring fresh life into the conversations that we’re having about social change, and social networks are our strong bets for doing so.”

Deanna Zandt’s “Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking” provides an enduring foundation for anyone yearning to enhance his or her network or agenda using social media.  This book is for individuals and organizations that seek to influence and deepen the connections with their social networks.

“We can transform our new connections with social change.”

Deanna stresses the importance of sharing and storytelling and how one can use sharing to connect with others to drive action for a cause.

Deanna explains a brief history of the Internet and influence and “A Brief State of the Internet Union”, crucial to understanding where change needs to happen and why inclusively in social networks are critical. Then, she gets right into why “your presence is required”, what to post, “how sharing inspires social change”, online trust, online authority, “how to be a useful agent of change” and maintaining a private and public online presence. This book is an ample resource with examples of what not to do, real-life success stories, specific guides for individuals and tactics for organizations. Any activist or agent of change using social media would benefit from having Share This! as a resource! Deanna will be doing a book signing on Wed. June 9 at Making Media Connections. – Book Review by Deanndra Bunch. Sign up today!

STORY POWER (Wednesday, June 9- 9AM to 4PM)

“Thank you for offering this workshop! It’s something of an “advanced” course for those of us who are familiar with the techniques of media outreach, etc. but want to strengthen our story gathering, writing and speaking skills. Thanks again!” – Jane Lawicki, Rotary International

The most important tool you can have as a communicator is the power to captivate potential audiences with your organization’s story. Learn how to make your story not just another spiel about your organization but rather a powerful tool to captivate the media, potential funders and future members. Powerful storytelling is a necessity whether you are pitching to traditional or  online media.

Story Power is back by popular demand and taught by award-winning storyteller Susan O’Halloran.  Susan will empower you with the ability to captivate audiences and move them to action. Register Today! Read More