The Long Weekend '11 Program

The Alabama Scholastic Press Association presents The Long Weekend

June 17-19 2011

The Alabama Scholastic Press Association presents The Long Weekend (All sessions will be held in Reese Phifer Hall) Note: The video-oriented sessions are focused on a project. Students interested in broadcast or video should plan to attend all of the sessions in order to be a full participant in the project.

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Friday, June 17

Check in to Riverside East dorm/lunch on your own 2 p.m.

Welcome! Room 216 Reese Phifer Hall

Dr. Jennifer Greer, Chair, Department of Journalism Dr. Ed Mullins, Center for Community Based Partnerships Meredith Cummings, Director, Alabama Scholastic Press Association

Keynote, Dr. Chris Roberts, “Beyond Posing and Plucking” It’s easy to make noises using mass media. It takes art, skill and experience to craft harmonious messages. Dr. Chris Roberts, a University of Alabama professor and former president of the Alabama Scholastic Press Association, will talk about the instruments you need to make your publication sing.

3-4 p.m.

Session 1, Choose from the following:

Yearbook theme concept and development, Room 344 You’ll look at what a theme is and why your yearbook should have one. Where the theme goes and some ways to develop it will be explored.

Wayna Polk Shooting Interviews for Video and B-Roll Basics, Room 325 Jump right into doing video and broadcast with this session designed to teach you everything from developing the best questions to employing the “five-shot sequence” for gathering the best elements for a two-minute video vignette.

Dr. George Daniels InDesign, Room 338 THIS SESSION IS TWO HOURS AND WILL WRAP UP IN TIME FOR DINNER Dr. Roberts first taught design software at an Alabama Scholastic Press Association workshop in 1988, when the slick tool was called Aldus PageMaker. That software has evolved into Adobe InDesign, with more bells and whistles but with the same goal: Helping designers make their pages make sense and look pretty.

Dr. Chris Roberts Get this party (story) started, Room 341 Nobody wants to read a news story with a stale beginning. Here you will learn three kinds of ledes and ledes to avoid, as well as the basics of writing direct, delayed and feature ledes.

Paul Isom

Storytelling in Journalism and Beyond, Room 345 Whether you’re reporting breaking news, writing a feature story or collecting anecdotes for an oral history project, you’re telling somebody’s story. Learn how to gather brilliant stories to move your writing forward.

Carla Jean Whitley 4-5 p.m.

Session 2, Choose from the following:

Yearbook theme brainstorming and lab, Room 341 Your turn. What will be your theme, and how will you develop it?

Wayna Polk Interviewing, Room 338 The do’s and dont’s of interviewing: You will jump head first into becoming comfortable with interviewing.

Learn how to ask meaningful questions, even about the sensitive subjects.

Paul Isom Field Interview Shoot, Meet in Room 301 It’s time for students to go out in the field for this session for scheduled interviews in Phifer Hall and on the UA campus.

Dr. George Daniels, Breanna Thackerson, Marie Parsons Creating a Sense of Place by Seeing What You’ve Never Seen Before, Room 345 Learn how to use sensory details that make your reader feel and visualize settings. Writing participation required.

Laura Hunter Getting the most out of your point and shoot, Room 344 When the digital SLR is out of reach, your images shouldn’t be. Come learn what you can do with a simple camera.

Dan Meissner 5 p.m.

Joint session, Room 216, Getting to know you!

Get out of your comfort zone, and get to know fellow ASPA campers.

Mary Inglis 6 p.m.

Dinner in Reese Phifer rotunda

7 p.m.

Organized free time:

Pixar Movie: Room 216 (Scott Parrott, counselor)

Board games at dorms: Room 338 (Ashley Johnson, counselor)

Field games: Meet in the rotunda (Breanna Thackerson, John McWilliams, counselors)

Walk back to dorm with appointed counselor 10:30 p.m.

Campers in rooms/ Check in with assigned counselor

Saturday, June 18 9 a.m.

Breakfast at Riverside East in 4th floor common area

9:30 a.m.

Meet at 4th floor in Riverside East lobby to walk with counselors to Reese Phifer

10-11 a.m.

Session 3, Choose from the following:

Hands-on photography, Meet in ASPA lobby then end up in Room 301 THIS SESSION IS TWO HOURS AND WILL WRAP UP IN TIME FOR LUNCH Photography tips and tricks, as well as one-on-one feedback. Students will go with instructor to take photos and come back to Reese Phifer for feedback.

David Grewe Yearbook coverage and deadline planning, Room 341 We’ll talk about what you should be covering in your yearbook as we take a look at spreads from books across the country. Be ready to jot down ideas!

Wayna Polk The source’s apprentice, Room 345 Who are your sources? Are they freshmen or seniors? Tall or short? Old or young? And do your readers care? In many cases, yes. In this session, learn how to identify your story’s sources in a way that gives your story more impact and credibility.

Paul Isom Logging video and picking bites, Room 338 Students take the interviews they shot, and that are available on video cards, and select soundbites and video clips for a two-minute video vignette.

Dr. George Daniels and Breanna Thackerson Turn that Page!, Room 344 Students will identify how to sequence events so the reader is compelled to keep turning those pages.

Laura Hunter Composition: Making good photos great, Room 327 Stop taking snapshots, and start making your pictures come to life. This class will help students to better understand the rules of composition.

Dan Meissner 11 a.m. - noon

Session 4, Choose from the following:

See how broadcast news is done, Room 345 Now that you’ve shot your own video and experienced what it’s like to be in the field, here’s your chance to see how the pros do it from a reporter and weather anchor.

Daniel Sparkman Yearbook storytelling and copy writing, Room 341 A successful yearbook is composed of more than just photos. Let’s explore some ways to make sure you tell your stories in ways the reader will want to read them.

Wayna Polk

Voice lessons, Room 327 How do you decide which voice best fits your work so that your reader maintains confidence in your work?

Writing participation required.

Laura Hunter Feature magic, Room 344 How to use three main approaches to draw multiple reader’s attention in a feature story. This session is detailed and for more advanced writers who want to learn to craft descriptive and anecdotal ledes.

Paul Isom Photoshop for photographers, Room 338 Students will learn to take photos, and make their shots look the best, for all publications.

Scott Bowman Noon

Lunch in Reese Phifer rotunda

1 p.m.

Joint session, Room 216, When the Truth Hurts Ways to write about sensitive issues and painful experiences without losing friends

or violating privacy rights Moderator: Paul Isom

Greg Screws, Laura Hunter, Wayna Polk, Nora Stephens 2-3 p.m.

Session 5, Choose from the following:

Yearbook captions and headlines, Room 341 A picture may be worth a thousand words … but not really. In 20 years, will you really remember the name of that cute boy in the lab photo or what happened during that football game? Captions and headlines will be read, and you need to write them correctly!

Wayna Polk Tweeting a speech, Room 327 This session helps students explore how social media and news media meet and converge. It also demonstrates how Twitter can be used to report the news, and how to think critically about news coverage. It will also help students see how Twitter can be used to engage an audience.

Paul Isom Are you in your right mind?, Room 344 Rid yourself of those “duh” moments by getting your literal-minded left-brain in touch with its creative counterpart by using techniques that eliminate the “block” monster. Writing participation required.

Laura Hunter Storify!, Room 341 Storify is an online curation tool for reporting and telling stories using social media. In this session, you’ll look at some good ways to use Storify and then get started on your our own stories.

Chip Brantley On-camera tools & techniques; Standup shooting, Room 345 Add another skill to your video toolkit: how to present on-camera. You’ll go over the basics and the instructions for your ASPA 2011 Standup. Then, you’ll shoot a standup with the assistance of Greg Screws, Daniel Sparkman or George Daniels. After your shoot, please go join the ice cream social. (This session will run over an hour.)

Greg Screws

3-3:45 p.m.

Ice cream social in Reese Phifer rotunda

3:45-5 p.m.

Choose a tour to take:

Tour the University campus: Meet on the steps outside of Reese Phifer This tour will take students on a walk through campus guided by a representative from the Capstone Men and Women. (Note to MJW students: Please don’t take the campus tour. We will take one together later in the week.)

Capstone Men and Women Tour WVUA television studio: Meet in Reese Phifer rotunda Students will tour the television station located in the basement of Reese Phifer, the University’s own WVUA, which signed on the air as News Channel 49 in January 1998. The operation became the first television station in Tuscaloosa since 1996, when Tuscaloosa’s local television stations left the city. Question and answer session to follow.

Getting involved in college media: Meet outside Student Media building Students will check out the Student Media building that houses student newspaper The Crimson White; yearbook The Corolla; and literary magazine Marr’s Field Journal. Students will also hear about how to get involved in college media at any college. Question and answer session to follow.

Paul Wright 5 p.m.

Joint session, Room 216: Social Media Story Telling Social media isn’t just a way to, you know, be social. And it’s more than Facebook and Twitter. Learn how you can use social media to tell stories, to brand yourself as a student creator, and to interact with influential people in your community.

Kristen Heptinstall, Senior Producer, al.com

6 p.m.

Dinner in Reese Phifer rotunda

After dinner:

Back to dorms after dinner for free time/games

10:30 p.m.

Campers in rooms/Check in with assigned counselor

Sunday, June 19 8:30 a.m.

Devotional (optional) in Riverside East led by Greg and Jody Evans

9 a.m.

Breakfast at Riverside East in 4th floor common area

10-11 a.m.

Session 6, Choose from the following:

Yearbook Design, Room 341 You’ll learn basic yearbook design concepts.

Wayna Polk Hands-on photography, Meet in ASPA lobby then end up in Room 301 THIS SESSION IS TWO HOURS AND WILL WRAP UP IN TIME FOR LUNCH Photography tips and tricks, as well as one-on-one feedback. Students will go with instructor to take photos and come back for feedback.

Scott Bowman iMovie Basics in 20 minutes, Room 338 Learn the most essential tools in Apple’s iMovie ‘10 software to edit your video vignette, record audio track and add transitions and fonts. You’ll leave this session having a good start on your two-minute video project.

Dr. George Daniels

Character Motivation: A Study of Conflict, Room 345 A look at universal needs that cause characters to act and re-act to their experiences.

Laura Hunter It may be legal, but should it print?

Students will explore ethics in publications, from the reporter’s, editor’s and adviser’s ethical responsibility standpoint. Newspaper pros will guide students through some tough ethical decisions.

Paul Isom and Joseph Bryant 11 a.m.-noon

Session 7, Choose from the following:

Yearbook design lab, Room 341 We’ll put pencil to paper (or mouse to computer screen) to design an actual basic spread you can take home and use to guide you as you begin creating your 2011 yearbook.

Wayna Polk Video editing, Room 338 This session will involve the editing of your video project that was shot on Friday.

Dr. George Daniels Workout, Room 345 Put your nouns and adjectives to the test and learn tricks for avoiding pesky punctuation problems. Writing participation required.

Laura Hunter Graphics that go Pow! Zing! Bam!, Room 327 Make your graphics and illustrations pop with advice from The Tuscaloosa News graphics editor.

Anthony Bratina Noon

Lunch in Reese Phifer rotunda

1-2 p.m.

Session 8, Choose from the following:

Yearbook marketing, ad sales and design, Room 341 Let’s look at some ways to increase book sales and make our ad sections more complete and attractive.

Wayna Polk Final video editing and sharing your work, Room 338 Time to take your edited project and prepare it for the final presentation. If you don’t have a YouTube Channel, we’ll help you get one started so you can broadcast yourself.

Dr. George Daniels Secrets of good prose: writing-ten percent, editing-ninety percent, Room 345 Experience ways to pare and polish your work as you write and edit. Writing participation required.

Laura Hunter 2 p.m.

Final awards, show-and-tell and camp closing, Room 216

3 p.m.

Check out of Riverside East immediately following awards ceremony

(MJW students meet with counselors in 4th floor dorm lobby at 5:30 p.m. to walk to dinner.)

A very special thank you to the following financial supporters: Alabama Press Association Dow Jones News Fund UA Center for Community Based Partnerships Mercedes-Benz Endowment The Montgomery Advertiser UA College of Communication and Information Sciences UA Department of Journalism Thanks to contributors of the Multicultural Journalism Program endowment: The Estate of John Brooken Gaines and Marci and Louis Henna Jr. Special thanks to: al.com The Birmingham News The Crimson White The Tuscaloosa News The Mobile Press Register The Huntsville Times Birmingham Magazine Dr. Loy Singleton, Dean, CIS Dr. Jennifer Greer, Chair, Department of Journalism Marie Parsons, ASPA Director Emeritus Paul Wright and the Office of Student Media Jody and Greg Evans Breanna Thackerson Cecilia Hammond Crechale Stevens Scott Parrott Ashley Johnson John McWilliams Haley Namie

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