Our Voice: Why the heck was there no Colonnade last week? We took a long car ride, that’s why.
You might have noticed that there was no new issue of our paper last week. Or maybe you were still recovering from Deep Roots.
On Wednesday at 8 a.m., 10 Colonnade staff members squeezed into an official GCSU van for a nine-hour car ride to Louisville, Ky. Why did we torture ourselves you ask? Well it was for a conference— the National College Media Convention.
During our three day stay we were able to learn quite a bit about the industry, Louisville—pronounced loo-a-vuh— and ourselves as a staff. The trip serves a few purposes. Of course, it’s educational and informative. It also allows The Colonnade staff to bond together. I mean if a nine-hour ride doesn’t bring you closer then I don’t know what can.
Each day we attended anywhere from four to six informational sessions about various topics. Some staff members chose to focus on professional advice like how to dress for success, what not to do in an interview, etc. Others focused on the newspaper’s design and overall look. And, of course, we all attended sessions on improving writing and coverage.
In between sessions we were able to explore the windy city of Louisville and see what it has to offer. We were right near the Ohio River so we had a fantastic view we could enjoy.
On Friday morning we got a chance to sit down with another newspaper advisor from a different university as he critiqued our newspaper with us. This is probably the most beneficial part of the trip. Critiques are were we learn what an outsider thinks we’re doing well and what we’re falling short on.
Overall the feedback we received was positive. We weren’t sure how some things would be taken, but the advisor only had nice things to say. He did make some suggestions about our coverage and some slight adjustments on design. Rest assured, we will be fully taking into account all feedback we received during the convention.
Friday night was also got another critique, but this time it was more focused on the writing and reporting quality. This one was tougher on us; writing and reporting has been what we as a staff feel is a weakness. In the past we’ve been blessed with extremely experienced staff and writers, but for the first time this year the new members outweigh the old. And that’s a great thing! However, it does bring some new challenges in terms of writing quality.
As a staff, we are continuously working to improve, and we are. If you happen to still have our first issue, look at it and compare it to this week’s. You’ll notice a giant difference. Watching staff members and writers grow is one of the best parts of this job and it’s been our pleasure to be there along the way.
We learned a lot in Louisville, but there’s always more we can learn and the best people we learn from is those we serve. So we encourage you to let us know any time you have a concern, suggestion, complaint, question, or just want to talk. We don’t bite; we promise.
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