It is Feb. 27 at 8 a.m. I wake up abruptly and immediately begin packing my bags to make my train to Grand Central Station on time. I get dressed, get in the car, grab my Dunkin and I’m off to ProCon 25.
ProCon, hosted by the College Media Association (CMA), is a multi-day convention in New York City for students, advisors and other media professionals to network and offer career development opportunities. I attended this year alongside SUNY New Paltz’s Director of Student Media Valerie Turco. This was not only my first time attending but also my first time presenting at a national conference.
Our presentation “Campus to Commercial: Preparing Students for Broadcast Radio” focused on students’ experiences with their college radio stations and making the most out of internship opportunities in the field. Highlighting our own station, WFNP The Edge, we discussed the opportunities our DJs have with site visits to other stations, alumni relations and practical experience in radio.
I attended other sessions hosted by industry professionals like Emily Bloch, the president of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and Michael Koretzky, who works with SPJ’s SMACK: Student Media Aid, Cash and Know-How.
Bloch hosted two sessions I sat in on “Music & Lyrics” and “How to Cover a Music Festival Before You’re Old Enough to Drink at One.” In the first session on Feb. 27, singer-songwriter Mariel Loveland joined her alongside Rey Roldan, publicist for Loveland and other artists like The Cranberries and Yellowcard. Their session provided insight on the dos and don’ts of interacting with publicists and artists when working in music journalism. They provided tips on how to email them, have an engaging interview and general industry etiquette.
Bloch’s session on music festivals took place on Feb. 28. In this talk she provided tips and tricks on gaining access to festivals as a reporter and preparing for a packed day of performances and interviews in the sun.
Koretzky’s sessions were intense, to say the least. Thursday’s titled “Editor-in-Grief 1: Rule with an Iron Fist, Wear a Velvet Glove” focused on student editors in charge of their campus newsrooms and dealing with a room full of busy college students who may not be giving their all 100% of the time. He talked about providing incentives and rewarding good behavior while treating everyone equally and holding them to a standard.
His Friday session was named “Chicken Salad: Radical Redesign and Rewriting,” which hooked me just based on the name. We looked at about six different student-run publications to “rip apart their front pages and redesign everything.” We looked at what makes a publication attractive and aesthetically pleasing to get readers to pick them up, how to write better headlines, redesign logos and prioritize the most interesting stories.
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