Hello All!
Today, I will be telling you all about my second day spent at the 75th NASH conference hosted by the Canadian University Press. This is when the event really took off.
After sitting down to a scrumptious breakfast feast – which I would like to thank the Delta Chelsea staff for – the roundtables, conferences, and workshops began. The way it works is that the day is divided into about four different blocks, each one containing several different events you can attend. They covered a wide range of different themes, all focused on the practice of journalism in one way or another. I didn’t attend too many on the first day, I will admit, as I was still too overwhelmed with the idea of actually being there.
The first speaker I listened too was Chris Jones, a writer for Esquire, who talked to us about interviewing and the right and wrong ways to approach it. He spoke mostly from his own experiences as a journalist, which were many, and the difficulties that arise when trying to get sources to trust him. The public and the media don’t get along too well at the moment, mostly because of a distrust and paranoia that exists between them. You can’t really blame them, either. There have been so many cases of stories being plagiarized, people being misquoted, and journalists jumping to conclusions.
Still, Chris showed us that it is possible to create a rapport with people. He delved into the story of how he got in touch with the mother of a US soldier, Sgt. Joe Montgomery, in order to talk to her about her son and just how his body was brought back home after having been killed in Iraq. It was a touching story that helped us to understand that even the most sensitive of topics can be confronted and discussed with the people closest to it.
The second one I went to that day was about critiquing and covering the arts, which was hosted by Steve Fisher and Carly Maga. Their focus was manly on Theater, giving us an idea of what details should and should not be included in a critique, and also offering up a very helpful piece of advice; never tell the actors, director or anyone involved in the play and/or musical what you think of the play before you have written the article.
We then enjoyed yet another amazing feast, which was made even more amazing by the presence of Amanda Lang as our keynote speaker! She spoke about the business side of journalism, and how productivity is essential for innovation and the inspiration of new idea’s. Of course, she also brought up her time spent talking and debating with Kevin O’Leary on their CBC segment “The Lang and O’Leary Exchange”.
After that, I spent the rest of the night hanging out with my fellow Fulcrumites, taking in the sites of Ontario’s capital. That concludes my second day at the NASH 75 conference. Tomorrow, I will talk about what took place on the third day, but until then, happy reading!
Cheers 🙂
The World in Writing 