Mason Media Musings

Day five

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:54:40 +0000

Today was the last full day of the Washington Journalism and Media Conference. I am so sad that this experience is coming to an end. I have made so many amazing friends and learned so much useful information during my time in Washington. Today was bittersweet knowing that this was the last day to fully enjoy the company of my friends and colleagues.

The day began with a lecture from a first amendment lawyer who talked about the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) and its importance. I knew most of this because we learned it in Journalism this past year (Thanks Mrs. Carey!). We then listened to a panel of interns talk about the importance of internships during the college years.

We then went to Capitol Hill where we were able to go meet our Congressmen or Senators. I was lucky enough to meet and talk to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. It was a unique experience meeting the Senator, although it was a lot different then what I thought it was going to be. It made me realize I do not want to get involved in politics.

After Capitol Hill we came back to the dorms in order to prepare for the WJMC gala. It was so much fun to get ready; it almost felt like prom. All of my friends got ready in my suite and I was lucky enough to have the help of one of my suite mates to help with my hair and my makeup.

The gala itself was so much fun. It was so much fun seeing everyone let loose, especially the advisors. Sadly, the gala ended at 11, although not before Dean Flagen danced to “Party in the U.S.A.” After the gala there was a huge pizza party in the dorm room courtyard until midnight. Overall it was an amazingly fun night. I will never forget it.

Sadly, I will be leaving tomorrow to go home. Hopefully I will be able to keep in touch with all of my new friends. I have enjoyed this amazing experience I was lucky enough to be a part of and hope that next year I can be part of the board that organizes the conference. Until then, I am going to try and make it through tomorrow without crying. I will let you know tomorrow if I was successful.

Until next time,

Katie

Day four

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:30:17 +0000

So yesterday was the first day I did not post on my blog so I am going to recount yesterday’s events today. First of all, I cannot believe there is only one full day left. I have had an amazing time meeting so many amazing people and making some great new friends. The old cliché goes, “You learn something new everyday.” At this conference I feel that everyday, I learn dozens of new facts or ideas that completely change my perspective on life. It is incredible to me that in a few short days, I have grown so much, both as a journalist and as a person.

Yesterday started out with a panel discussion moderated by Ed Prugh, President of Nevin Communications, a PR firm. The panel discussed PR and social media in today’s society. The discussion was an eye-opener to me. I never realized the many different ways social media can be used as a platform for advertising and getting the word out.

After Mr. Prugh’s discussion, we headed to the National Press Club where we were welcomed by the president of the club, Mark Hamrick. We than listened to a panel consisting of Chuck Todd, Jonathan Martin, and Jessica Yellin. The three journalists talked about journalism and politics and the relation between the two. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives of the different journalists.

After the Chuck Todd panel came the star of the day, Hoda Kotb. Hoda is such an inspiration. She is sincere, passionate, and a genuinely nice person. Her speech was inspiring, funny, and though provoking. She is such a great example of what can be achieved if you keep pushing through failures until you get success. During her presentation, Hoda started playing music and singing along to it. She played “Black and Yellow” and was dancing to it. It was funny but because it was Hoda, it was charming just the same. After the presentation, I was able to get Hoda to sign my book and get a photo with her.

Later the same evening, we listened to another panel discussion, yet this one was filled with journalists who are all George Mason alumni. They had such good advise on how to succeed in the journalism field and how to use social media to its fullest potential. I was able to ask the panel a question too.

We wrapped up the evening with a moonlight monument tour, but like always, we were running behind Schedule. We were only able to see the White House and the Lincoln Memorial before heading home. By the time we got home and I showered it was 1:30. I went to sleep and then had to get up at 5:15 am. Needless to say, I am exhausted. I am not used to getting four to five hours of sleep a night. It is so tiring, especially because our days are so jam-packed.

This morning we were up and out early because we had to go to the George Mason Law School campus for a taping of C-Span. We were the studio audience for “Washington Journal” and “Q & A with Brian Lamb.” I was really excited to get to comment of the discussion we were having with Brian Lamb. While “Washington Journal” was live the Q & A session will be on television in a couple of weeks.

After our C-Span taping we had a press conference with the Special Assistance to the President, Josh Earnest. He gave an interesting perspective to the politics and media conversation the Chuck Todd panel had had the day before, because this time we were hearing from the political side. Earnest was able to explain how media is used by President Obama’s administration.

The next stop was the Smithsonian Museums. While we were leaving one of the museums to go to another, it started to rain. By the time we got to the other museum, we were drenched and cold. It was awful having to sit on a bus for 45 minutes wearing wet business clothes.

When we got back to the main campus of George Mason, we attended a panel hosted by Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham, the authors of “Finding Chandra”, who talked about investigative journalism. It was really interesting to compare investigative journalism to political journalism and some of the other types of journalism we have seen over the past couple of days.

The night ended with a college admission session hosted by the Dean of Admissions for George Mason University, Andrew Flagel. Dean Flagel’s speech was the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life. All 150 students at the conference were laughing the entire time Flagel was speaking because he was so funny. It was like watching a stand up comedian whose bit is applying to college.

Tomorrow I am interviewing Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. I am so excited to meet her and talk to her. For now I am going to get the little sleep I can and hope the circles under my eyes can be covered with make-up.

Until next time,

Katie

Day two

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:25:29 +0000

Unfortunately, this blog entry is going to be really short because it is late, I am tired, and I have to get up early tomorrow. Today we went to the Newseum. It is amazing. Seven floors (1-6 plus the concourse) of news history. We spent five hours exploring the exhibits. While the Newseum itself was amazing, some of its exhibits were emotionally draining. They also raised a lot of important topics. What is a journalist’s role? When does being a human become before being a journalist? What is the truth? What are ethics? The hard part is, none of these questions have one definite answer. What I believe is different then what my friends, family, or fellow humans may believe.

Overall, today was an awesome day. I made a ton of new friends and I learned a lot during my two mini classes (one on public speaking, one on t.v. broadcasting). I am looking forward to meeting and listening to Hoda Kotb. She is absolutely an inspiration.

Sadly, this is all the blogging I have in me for the day.

Until next time,

Katie

Day one

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:09:54 +0000

Wow. After waiting for so long for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference to begin, it is finally here. After spending two long and hot hours at Arlington National Cemetery with my family, I arrived at George Mason University. Everyone at the conference is so nice. My roommates are Katie, Katie, and Kayla. There are three Katies in the suite…I can’t wait to see how long it takes for that to get confusing.

My conference advisor, Timm, is hilarious. He is a high school teacher – one that any student would be lucky, and love to have. I am in the purple group and Timm made this hilarious chant for us to do. I am going to try and post a video of it tomorrow. Kayla is also in the purple group, along with 24 other National Youth Corespondents. As National Youth Correspondents, we have all access press passes to get into press boxes. They are so official looking; they even have our pictures on them!

After dinner, Chris Cillizza, the writer of “The Fix,” an online political blog for the Washington Post, spoke to all of the Youth Correspondents. His speech was really inspiring. He started “The Fix” before blogging became what it is today. He said to always pay attention to your surroundings because you never know what will be right in front of you. He also said to utilize all the technology you can, because it is always changing. This is going to be the hardest part for me because I am technologically challenged.

My goal for this conference is to learn about new technology I can use and then learn how to use it.

Until next time,

Katie

It’s here!

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:43:53 +0000

I am so excited! Today is the day the Washington Journalism Media Conference starts! I am getting ready to leave my hotel and head to the George Mason University where the conference is taking place. In a few short hours I will be in my room with my roommates ready to start this amazing conference.

Until next time,

Katie

One day to go

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 03:43:02 +0000

I had an amazing day today. It started off with a tour of Georgetown University. My tour guide, Sheila, was from Ballston Spa. I thought it was funny that after coming all the way down to D.C., I still ended up being around people from home. I absolutely loved the Georgetown campus and the school itself. After seeing Georgetown, a decision I thought was easy, William and Mary, was made more difficult. While I am still leaning toward going to William and Mary, Georgetown is now in the back of my mind.

While at Georgetown, I saw high school students on campus for summer programs. Seeing these students, I became more and more excited for the Washington Journalism Media Conference to start tomorrow! I am so excited I cannot even explain it.

After visiting Georgetown, my mom, sister, and I went to Georgetown Cupcakes, the bakery featured in the TLC television show, D.C. Cupcakes. The cupcakes were absolutely delicious and my sister was freaking out the entire time.

When we got back to downtown D.C., my family and I went to the Ford theater where we went through the museum and listened to a woman describe the events of the night President Lincoln was assassinated. After a year of AP U.S. history, I was really excited to discover that I knew much of the information.

For dinner my family and I went to one of our favorite restaurants, Fogo de Chao. It is a Brazilian meat house and it is amazing. After eating more food then one ever should, we went for a walk around the National Mall. While at the Lincoln Memorial, I ran into my friend Grace who is also attending the Washington Journalism Media Conference. It was really funny to randomly find her in a city as large as D.C. Seeing Grace made me even more excited to start the amazing week ahead of me.

To top off an amazing day, Derek Jeter got his 3000th home run!

I am working on posting pictures and videos to this blog for you to see, however, my computer is not recognizing the camera memory card reader I have. Hopefully I will be able to fix the problem soon so I can show you all the amazing things I am seeing.

Until next time,

Katie

Two days to go

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:48:38 +0000

Well, today was an interesting day. I awoke to the sound of torrential rain and booming thunder. I honestly felt like bombs were going off around me. However, by the time I left my hotel for my college interview, the rain had cleared up.

When I got out of my interview, my family and I met Jay and Joyce Miller, the grandparents of my best friend. They live in Williamsburg so they helped us get tickets to Colonial Williamsburg and showed us some of the best places to see. They were so kind and friendly; I now know why my friend and her family are all so genuinely nice people.

After the Miller’s left, my mom, sister, and I walked around Colonial Williamsburg touring houses and stores (my dad does not like touring houses so he stayed outside and read). While we were leaving the Governor’s Palace, only our second stop of the day, the skies opened up again and it started pouring again. When I say pouring, I mean POURING. In order to leave, my mom, sister, and I had to run through the rain and we got SOAKED! Even our underwear and socks were soaked.

What was weird about the rain though, was that it was warm! Most of the time, you expect rain to be ice cold, but because the weather in Williamsburg is, at the moment, in the 90s, the rain was warm. It was the weirdest feeling to be standing in the middle of warm rain. I laughed the entire time. Of course, we got the car soaked and had to go to the hotel to change our clothes.

After we ate lunch at the most delicious little café, The Cheese Shop, my mom, sister, and I went back to tour houses for another hour or so before Colonial Williamsburg closed. Yet again, the rain started as we were leaving a house, but this time we were prepared with umbrellas.

At five o’clock, the Colonial Williamsburg version of a marching band (teenagers and adults playing flutes and drums while marching in colonial soldier attire) started to play and march along the main street in Colonial Williamsburg, Duke of Gloucester street. It was highly amusing and amazing at the same time. The band marched with complete symmetry and rhythm, and was somehow able to keep straight faces.

I am now in the car on the way to our nation’s capital, Washington D.C.; one step closer to the amazing journey that awaits me at the Washington Journalism Media Conference.

Until next time,

Katie

Three days to go

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:34:20 +0000

I spent the entire day in a car driving down to Williamsburg, Virginia. I have an interview at the College of William and Mary tomorrow morning before I head to Washington D.C. It took my family and me nine hours to drive to Williamsburg and I am so glad to finally be out of the car. On the bright side, I was able to finnish Hoda Kotb’s book. Her story was inspirational and moving; especially the part about her battling Breast Cancer. My family has been greatly effected by Cancer and her words were truly inspiring.

I cannot believe that in three short days I will be living on the George Mason campus for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference. I am so excited for everything I am going to experience. I looking forward to lectures and tours, and of course, meeting people from across the country. I am truly grateful for the experiences I am going to have.

Until next time,

Katie

Four days to go

Katie Greenberg - Editor-in-Chief — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:23:57 +0000

It’s almost here! I cannot believe there are only four days until the start of the Washington Journalism Media Conference. I am starting to get really excited for the conference to start. Today I am packing all of my clothes and getting everything for the conference ready. I am leaving tomorrow with my family to go to Washington D.C. because I have a few college interviews/tours to attend before the conference starts.

Right now I am reading Hoda Kotb’s book, ”Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer and Kathie Lee.” At first, I was not looking forward to reading the book because I assumed it would be dull. As I started to read the book though, I realized that Hoda Kotb was really funny and her book was her personality in writing. The first fifty pages flew by without me even realizing how much I had read. Now, I am almost done with the book. I am really looking forward to meeting Hoda Kotb, as she will be one of the guest speakers at the conference.

I cannot wait until Sunday when I get to meet my roommates and students from across the country. I am so excited to learn more about Journalism and Media, especially because I will be the Editor-in-Chief of my high school newspaper next year. I will try to post to this blog daily so I can keep track of everything I am doing/have done. As for now, I am going to try to find a way to cram all of my “necessities” into one suitcase.

Until next time,

Katie