Jan. 5, 2021

Session proposals for the
Spring National College Media Convention

Happy 2021, everyone!

We’re looking forward to spring — and the Spring National College Media Convention, presented virtually March 18-20. We invite you to join the fun.

Use this link to share your proposals for sessions. 

Please share your session proposal by Feb. 8.

For this virtual convention, we’re taking a different approach. Yes, we’ll have traditional training sessions, and we welcome your ideas on those. 

But, to break the Zoom gloom, we’re also planning a range of discussion sessions. Over the miles, we’ll bring together students and advisers to talk, to share what they’ve accomplished through the pandemic and to make plans for the challenges ahead. What have we learned? What have we accomplished? And what’s next?

We’re recruiting moderators for these informal discussion sessions — and we especially want students to share their experiences and launch the discussions.

What categories and topics are we thinking about? The list below will give you a sense of what we’re aiming for. Feel free to adapt or add topics with your session proposal.

Whether it’s a topic, an experience, a speaker or a contributor, please send your suggestions our way. 

Here’s to a great spring — and a great spring convention. Thank you!

Our categories

Business: advertising & marketing
Broadcast: video, audio, podcasts
Digital: multimedia & online
Magazine: literary magazine
Magazine: feature magazine
Newspaper & newsmagazine
Yearbook

Reporting & writing
Media law
Copy editing
Sports journalism
Editorial / opinion / commentary
Features journalism
Specialty reporting: campus, community, business, politics, government, entertainment

Design: print
Design: digital
Photojournalism: still
Photojournalism: broadcast

Community colleges
Private schools
Small staffs

Leadership & staff management

Diversity & justice
Faith & religion

Careers & professional development
Affinity group (birds of a feather)
Advisers

Our tracks
with session examples

What we’ve learned
Remote reporting
Remote staff recruitment & management
Adding diverse voices into our coverage
Adding diverse voices into our commentary
How our universities are handling COVID
Remote sports reporting
New emphasis on digital reporting
Self-care

What we’ve accomplished
Reaching audiences
Coverage show and tell

What’s next
What is post-COVID collegiate journalism?
New challenges?
Access
Recruiting
Building & sustaining relationships
Audience engagement
Content sharing partnerships

Issues reporting
Racial & social justice
Health reporting
Climate change
Business reporting
Political reporting