Day 4 July 12, 2017
Today's first session was Interviewing, where Jean McDonald and John Paul gave tips for interviewing, especially for that afternoon's press conference with either Brad Dancer, head coach of men's tennis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, or Jennifer Roscoe, a WCIA news anchor. We learned about the importance of preparation, asking open-ended questions such as "why" or "how", listening carefully to answers and other tips.
I loved the next session when Steve Raquel discussed public relations. This field sounds so interesting to me because it's ever changing and I feel like no two days working in public relations would ever be the same. Mr. Raquel described the current "Finger Swipe Generation," which is how many brands make or break it nowadays. An ad will pop up at random and people who see it can either "Like" or swipe left or right to make it disappear; public relations specialists have to work with marketing professionals to advertise their clients well. We also discussed the difference between people being celebrities because of their wealth and people being celebrities because of their fame (they did something to put them in the public eye and became wealthy because of it). For example, some celebrities such as the Kardashians are known for being wealthy whereas athletes like Simone Biles are known for their talent, which brought them to fame.
Next we learned about the local festival Ebertfest, named after Illinois film critic Roger Ebert. The festival takes place in the spring and showcases about 12 films per year, seeking to show films that have often be overlooked by critics, distributors and critics. It was so interesting to learn about all the components that go into planning a film festival - planning, programming, setting up a budget, promoting, organizing staff and sponsors, determining festival and travel logistics for the guests. Some of the past guests that have come to the festival that I knew of well were Jason Segel, Hugh Dancy and Shailene Woodley. Getting involved in planning an event like this is definitely something I would like to do in the future!
The afternoon brought the interview with Jennifer Roscoe. Each of us were supposed to prepare a few questions to ask her. Sadly, we all seemed to have prepared the same questions, so all of mine were asked before I could raise my hand. Ms. Roscoe was such an inspiration; she answered question on topics such as sexism in the news room, stories that have been hard for her to cover, stories that have been fun to cover, how she balances her work and personal life, and advice for aspiring broadcast journalists. She did not mince words and told us that her career was a difficult one with many obstacles, but she hoped that those hardships wouldn't keep us from going into her field.
I loved the next session when Steve Raquel discussed public relations. This field sounds so interesting to me because it's ever changing and I feel like no two days working in public relations would ever be the same. Mr. Raquel described the current "Finger Swipe Generation," which is how many brands make or break it nowadays. An ad will pop up at random and people who see it can either "Like" or swipe left or right to make it disappear; public relations specialists have to work with marketing professionals to advertise their clients well. We also discussed the difference between people being celebrities because of their wealth and people being celebrities because of their fame (they did something to put them in the public eye and became wealthy because of it). For example, some celebrities such as the Kardashians are known for being wealthy whereas athletes like Simone Biles are known for their talent, which brought them to fame.
Next we learned about the local festival Ebertfest, named after Illinois film critic Roger Ebert. The festival takes place in the spring and showcases about 12 films per year, seeking to show films that have often be overlooked by critics, distributors and critics. It was so interesting to learn about all the components that go into planning a film festival - planning, programming, setting up a budget, promoting, organizing staff and sponsors, determining festival and travel logistics for the guests. Some of the past guests that have come to the festival that I knew of well were Jason Segel, Hugh Dancy and Shailene Woodley. Getting involved in planning an event like this is definitely something I would like to do in the future!
The afternoon brought the interview with Jennifer Roscoe. Each of us were supposed to prepare a few questions to ask her. Sadly, we all seemed to have prepared the same questions, so all of mine were asked before I could raise my hand. Ms. Roscoe was such an inspiration; she answered question on topics such as sexism in the news room, stories that have been hard for her to cover, stories that have been fun to cover, how she balances her work and personal life, and advice for aspiring broadcast journalists. She did not mince words and told us that her career was a difficult one with many obstacles, but she hoped that those hardships wouldn't keep us from going into her field.
Later we took a trip to the State Farm Center. The basketball stadium was huge and we got to walk on the court to put in perspective what the athletes experience during their games. We also saw the media room for post-game press conferences and a gallery of photos from the history of the center and its performers. I think it's amazing that the college has attracted numerous famous artists in the past like Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra. Since I am a lover of theatre, the fact that the center holds a Broadway Series where four Broadway-level shows perform each year was fascinating.
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Today was the most tiring day for me this week so far. After dinner we had two more hours of free time than we usually did, so I took a nap. Then, I went to Insomnia Cookies with Kate and Irem because we wanted cookies.
My quote of the day, said by Michael Jordan, is "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." Jennifer Roscoe's stories at the press conferences about people not wanting to be interviewed for stories when their input is crucial or how she never takes "no" for an answer showed me that obstacles will always pop in my future no matter what job I pursue. It will then be my decision to give up or work around it.
My quote of the day, said by Michael Jordan, is "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." Jennifer Roscoe's stories at the press conferences about people not wanting to be interviewed for stories when their input is crucial or how she never takes "no" for an answer showed me that obstacles will always pop in my future no matter what job I pursue. It will then be my decision to give up or work around it.
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