Catching up!

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With Graduation nearly two weeks away, a trip back home to Denver, and a trip to Las Vegas for RTNDA@NAB conference it is finally time to catch up on my blog.

First my vacation home was needed and very productive. I got to spend some quality time with the family. It is crazy to think that is the last time I will go home as a college student! On top of spending time with the family I also spent sometime at KMGH in Denver. I got some great critiques on my tape from the news director and general manager. The critiques were both humbling and insightful. I definitely have many areas to grow as a journalist and look forward to improving those skills in my first job.

After getting back from Denver I also made a trip out to Las Vegas for the RTNDA convention. I was in Vegas a totally of 5 days and 4 nights. We had 1 evening of convention and then 3 full days. Looking back at all the sessions and mingling events I left feeling pretty inspired. Yes, the economy isn't great so no there weren't as many jobs or news directors there as normal, but that was an expectation going into the conference. I did though get to meet a lot of people and gain some important contacts in the business. It was also great to see so many journalists positive about the future. With the economy the way it is right now I feel like sometimes all you hear is the negative. And in being realistic yes it is very true that the job market isn't great but I believe that if you give in to that negativity it is just an excuse not to get a job. Going along with that though, it was reassuring to be surrounded by so many eager and positive journalist. Journalists who are working to create a new model of journalism one that creates content on multi-platforms. I left the convention will this message the news is no longer at 5, 6, and 10 it is 24 hours. When a story breaks it should break on the web and bring viewers to the 5 after it happens at 2. No longer will viewers wait because simply they don't have to and we have to jump on this idea and run with it. No longer can we work in the model that was created so many years ago. The exciting part about this is that I grew up with the internet and so did everyone else in my generation. Because of that fact my generation isn't having to go back and learn the internet we are simply just having to incorporate the two (internet & TV) together in a way we may have not thought of before. Overall, Vegas was a good combination of fun and learning.

Coming back from Vegas I was hit with the reality of Graduation. At first I was excited, which then turned into a little scared, and now a mixture of both. It is so liberating and exciting to think I am going to be on my own supporting myself and have no idea where I could be in 3 months. Columbia is home and I will be sad to leave but I truly am excited to embark on new things and go to a place where I can improve my skills even more. I promise to update this more in the upcoming weeks as graduation is coming closer and closer with each day!