MediaFest 22

The Society of Professional Journalists, Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Association united in holding MediaFest22, at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., Oct. 27-30. This served as the annual convention of SPJ, of which I'm a member. I went on my own dime, for professional development.*

There were a few events on that Wednesday and Sunday, but everything I went to was on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

My agenda:

10 a.m. Thurs. 10/27/22: “FOIA and access to information” - speaker Mike Hiestand

11 a.m. Keynote - Perspectives on Journalism’s Future - speakers Pauly Denetclaw, Juana Summers, Darlene Superville (Lauryn Bass was listed on agenda, but I have no notes re her)

12:30 p.m. The Editorial Freelancers Association THEFA.org

Region 2 - Dela, Mar, VA, DC, NC. Stephanie Overman, R2 coordinator

1:30 p.m. FOIA and Public Records 101 - speaker Anna Marie Tamburro. SPFI = Student Press Freedom Initiative

2:30 p.m. Can You TikTok the News? Using social media video to report and present real journalism  - speaker Craig Duff

3:30 p.m. Beware of the copyright bots: Borrowing online photos and stuff - speaker Jonathan Falk

4:30 p.m. SPJ Business Meeting

7:30 a.m. Friday 10/28/22: SPJ Regional Meetings (region 2)

9 a.m. How to Investigate the Privatization of Public Services - speakers Jeremy Mohler, Tony Messenger, Angelica Serrano-Roman, Jeff Bryant

10 a.m. Google Tools Training - Detecting Disinformation - speaker Frank Bi

11 a.m. Woodward & Bernstein Keynote

12:30 p.m. Women’s Roundtable

1:30 p.m. Breaking into Business Reporting - speakers Paul Glader, DJ Shaw, Naomi Eide, Maria Monteros

2:30 p.m. Moving Mediums: Transitioning from Print to Broadcast or Delving into New Beats - speakers Bijan Bayne, Stacie Overton Johnson, Hazel Becker

9 a.m. Saturday 10/29/22: Excel for journalists - speaker Sean McMinn (graphics for Politico)

10 a.m. Nonprofit News to the Rescue? - speakers Stephanie Overman, Sarah Vogelsong, Len Lazarick, Jason Alconn (American Journalism Project), Yanek Rice Lamb

11 a.m. Keynote - Fellows Features

12:30 p.m. Legal & Ethics Roundtable

1:30 p.m. Freelancer - Editor Meet & Greet

2:30 p.m. Obstruction of Reporting through PIO Controls and Other Means: Responding to the Controls on Free Speech and Free Press  - speakers Haisten Willis, Cinnamon Janzer, Glen Nowak, Kathryn Foxhall

3:30 p.m. How to use open records laws to cover your beat and find and amplify your stories - speakers Miranda Spivack, Eve Sampson, Andy Schotz

SPJ Business Meeting (started at 3:30, still going when I went there after my 3:30 talk, continued past 6, when non-delegates like me were kicked out to make room for hotel staff setting up the banquet)

Most timeslots offered numerous seminars, up to a dozen or so. As you can see, I went to a lot of talks about using the Freedom of Information Act and dealing with Public Information Officers. As someone who never went to journalism school, I thought this was an area where I could use more training.

I'm not going to write up my notes here, because I didn't see anything where speakers gave permission for their talks to be published. But a lot of interesting points were made. I took at least two pages of notes for most of the talks, often more.

I wish I had saved myself some money by registering earlier for the convention. But even paying the full rate, I definitely felt it was worth the money.

I'll also give an endorsement for Whova, the scheduling app used by the convention. Having gone to three conventions this year, which each used a different scheduler, I found Whova the best for planning activities, adding notes, and networking, all in one app.

However, I was disappointed that MediaFest did not require masks, only proof of vaccination. I stayed masked the whole time, and went outside to eat my ration-bar lunches, but few other people were masked, maybe 1 in 20 or so. GenCon and ChiCon, my other two conventions this year, both required masks along with vaccinations, and although not everyone followed their policies, I felt much safer there.

* I'm writing this post on Jan. 10, 2023, but backdating it to Nov. 5, 2022, to keep it where the event happened in my personal timeline.