My Eighth Semester

I said my final farewell to my semester in Washington, and now I'm nearing the finish line to my time at Butler University. I've got a full plate of academics, extracurriculars and sorority life (not to mention that thing called "finding a job").

Here's the lineup:

Theological Ethics is my last chance to utilize an elective. As I've continued to explore religion and faith in my daily life and work, I wanted to take a religion course before Butler told me to graduate. Our professor, Dr. Brent Hege, just won an award for theological promise, too! I'm looking forward to some deep discussions, especially since there's only 7 of us in the class.

International Communication is going to focus on how media is distributed around the world - and how that contributes to globalization. Last week our class divided into two section and did some role-playing: one side was the Western world and the other side was the Third World and debated issues of Westernization. It got pretty heated.

The History and Literature of Journalism, though it may sound dry, will probably be pretty cool. I'm hoping to do my epically long research paper on either the Newsboys Strike of 1899 or the development of non-profit media. Who knows? But I'm excited, as only a journalism major could be.

Data-based Investigations is a new journalism elective this semester, taught by the expert! Mark Nichols is in charge of data-based investigations at the Indianapolis Star. We meet once a week, from 7:15 - 9:45, hoping that all those crime statistics will keep us awake! In all seriousness, though, we'll practice writing a FOI request letter (Freedom of Information) and use software to input things like crime statistics.

Directing the Narrative offers me one more chance to work behind a camera before I get out in the real world. It will finish off my Media Arts (video production major. This weekend I shot a short character sequence with a classmate. I played an OCD college student. If all goes well, maybe I can post that clip at some point.

During the week I'm also interning at the Center for Faith and Vocation, working as the multimedia editor for The Butler Collegian, bible study-ing and living in Pi Beta Phi (a.k.a. The White House)! I even found a video (tour of the house) my roommate Christina did for her gig as a Butler blogger.

Photo Credit

PubCamp Weekend

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincentgallegos/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

What does it look like when public broadcasters and social media rockstars come together? It looks like PubCamp - short for "Public Media Camp."

Folks from NPR, PBS, their affiliates (and a those from a multitude of other organizations) gathered last weekend at American University to discuss how to strengthen relationships with the public through collaborative projects.

The Format

It wasn't a conference, it was actually an "unconference" (no joke, that is what it's called). There is no committee that pre-plans every session. Participants come ready to lead a session. During the first hour, leaders plot out sessions on a large chart - based on suggestions from peers. Participants are free to move about the unconference and attend whichever sessions they like. Radical, huh? It was modeled after events like CongressCamp and PrivacyCampDC.

My Role: "I Am Sponge"

On my first day at NPR, my supervisor, Andy Carvin asked me: "Can you help me at Public Media Camp?" (Have I not had "intern" stamped across my forehead for the last 18 months?) Of course I could volunteer, I said. After all, my supervisor Andy Carvin was one of the main collaborators of the first ever PubCamp. Not to mention I find this whole idea of "unconference" plus public media absolutely thrilling!

This was going to be epic.

Following the spontaneous style of unconference, as a volunteer, I showed up - coffee in hand - to help with registration. I sat in on sessions mostly as a sponge - then as a notetaker to contribute to the Wiki.

The Sessions

Getting Seniors and the Underserved Online - This one intrigued me, simply because my family is always trying to understand what it is I do online - and why I think it's so important. Mark Ryan from a Fort Wayne station discussed his experiences helping senior citizens navigate technology. The second half featured folks from PBS Kids, who talked about interactivity for the Web's youngest audience and participants.

Using Social Media for Story Ideas - This session was led by Maria Carter of KCUR (PBS affiliate in Kansas City). I volunteered to be the official note-taker for the discussion, and my notes are on the Wiki.

iPhone Apps Contest - This highlighted the results of a contest done through iStrategy Labs called Apps for Democracy. The session highlighted the successes of that contest and asked, "How can public media harness that to help their audiences?"

Some cool apps that came out the original contest: Stumble Safely. It points out all the watering holes in town so you can have a safer bar crawl. For those looking for something more civic-minded, Are You Safe? organizes demographic information into a user-friendly format. Moving to a new town? Use the app to find out the safest neighborhoods.

I - along with nearly 300 participants tweeted all day Sunday with hashtag #pubcamp. If you follow the tag, you can see the conversations that started this weekend.

The People / Follow PubCampers!

Finally, it was great to meet people with similar interests, and fascinating jobs. Here's a few noteworthy people who were in attendance (they're famous in my book):

Craig Newmark, of Craig's List (@craignewmark)

Jonathan Coffman, PBS social media guy (@jdcoffman)

Aaron Ginoza, NPR Business Affairs Coordinator (@ninjaclectic)

Jeri Eckdahl, with NYU's School of International Affairs (@misspolitica)

Andy Carvin, NPR social media guy (@acarvin)

...Not to mention folks from the Center for Public Broadcasting, The Sunlight Foundation and neat stations like WNYC and WBUR.

Follow Up

So what happens next? What resulted from these spontaneous discussions? At the end of the unconference, the large group reported back with pros and cons. The idea is that many people from this group will take what they've learned and head up a PubCamp in their area. There are already five planned for the near future. I'm not sure of exact details, but I know several PubCampers plan to continue discussions that will result in concrete projects. For example, @misspolitica hopes to spearhead a singles group in New York City.

Since participants are so active online, there are several great reflections posted to personal blogs. "Jessie X" wrote an excellent post on her "take-away" that was "retweeted" several times on Twitter - I think, because of her great analysis of conflict between traditional jouranlists and Gen X'ers.

Bloggers from We Love DC, a local blog, gave an excellent overview of the experience on their site.

On my first day at NPR, Andy asked me, "Can you volunteer?"

Of course, I said.

Thus begins my journey into public media...