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| Photo by Ryan Dorgan |
| Students took time out from workshops to visit the Lance Armstrong Foundation.. |
Below are the itinerary and student reports. You also can follow their week at their class Web site.
Student reports:
Day SevenBy Madeline Wukusick
March 24, 2010
I’m not going to lie, the panels at SXSW unsettled me in a deep way. As I may have mentioned previously, I’m graduating in May with a degree in journalism and I’m beginning to wonder if the degree is even worth the paper on which it’s printed.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the IU School of Journalism and I feel like, over the past four years, I have received an excellent education and foundation in journalism and reporting. However, as jobs become harder and harder to find and the competition is steadily increasing, I’m more than a little concerned about the imminent job search.
I do believe that there are some glimmers of hope peeking through the storm clouds. I learned about a lot of new Web sites, blogs and other media projects that might be of interest to graduating seniors. I will say that my main focus is on investigative reporting, but many of these sites include opportunities for all types of journalism jobs in print, broadcast, Web design and magazine.
A few suggestions I received from the professionals included:
A few suggestions I received from the professionals included:
- Learning a foreign language;
- Going back to school for a degree in another field so that you can focus on niche markets;
- Blogging everyday;
- Developing a brand for yourself and promote that brand;
- Familiarizing yourself with as many different media types as possible, because even if you know how to write, you should have well developed photography, video editing and design skills and experience.
Day Six
By Lynae Sowinski
March 24, 2010
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| Photo by Ryan Dorgan |
| Lynae Sowinski checks out some of the day’s photos. She considered the future of photos and other arts after visiting the Harry Ransom Center. |
The contact sheet got me thinking about the changes we will see in preserving things from this decade. With darkroom photography, you make contact sheets of all the pictures on a roll of film to see what photos you have and which you want to print. We no longer have this process. Now we take a huge amount of pictures (I’m guilty), and store them en masse on the computer. Deleting photos is much easier as well, so many are lost. Most people don’t have physical photo albums any more as Facebook has replaced them.
Photos aren’t the only thing that will change in future museums. Scripts are written on the computer, not a typewriter, so the reject pages aren’t floating around, they are deleted on someone’s hard drive.
Though many drawings still exist, more and more are turning to computers for storyboarding and costume design. This also changes the physical aspect to these stages of film.
Not many letters are sent through the mail currently, with the invention of e-mail. People would maybe save letters, but even if an e-mail is saved, it isn’t printed out. There is a password to get into the e-mail, so after someone is dead, there isn’t a chance of just stumbling across a huge pile of his or her interaction with others.
What is going to happen to museums? Will they get the same amount of documents, just in a different form? Maybe instead of individual documents, museums will inherit entire computers and the workers will get to navigate through the person’s hard drive.
It’ll be interesting to see if there even is an interest in the movies of 2010 in 2060. Will the people of 2060 give Gone With the Wind the same credit as we do?
Though many drawings still exist, more and more are turning to computers for storyboarding and costume design. This also changes the physical aspect to these stages of film.
Not many letters are sent through the mail currently, with the invention of e-mail. People would maybe save letters, but even if an e-mail is saved, it isn’t printed out. There is a password to get into the e-mail, so after someone is dead, there isn’t a chance of just stumbling across a huge pile of his or her interaction with others.
What is going to happen to museums? Will they get the same amount of documents, just in a different form? Maybe instead of individual documents, museums will inherit entire computers and the workers will get to navigate through the person’s hard drive.
It’ll be interesting to see if there even is an interest in the movies of 2010 in 2060. Will the people of 2060 give Gone With the Wind the same credit as we do?
Day Five
By Holly Heredink
March 17, 2010
The whirring of printing presses and the distinct smell of ink filled the Austin American Statesman this morning as the J460 class wandered through the building that houses Austin’s major daily newspaper.
Ah, the joy of the printed word. In my opinion, nothing quite compares to it.
We toured the Statesman and attend an editors meeting. I was really impressed by the professionalism of the staff, and the way they quickly decided on the future content of the paper. As I watched their diplomatic conversation, I really longed to be a part of a paper on that level again.
Since entering college, my main goal has been to receive training in the field of broadcast journalism. I aspire to be a television news reporter, preferably doing some political reporting.
But as I sat in the meeting, I longed to be extremely involved in a newspaper again. In high school, I had participated in editors meetings since my sophomore year. Only after seeing another editors meeting did I realize how much I missed it.
After the tour, I got my mind off the matter when the group took to exploring South Congress. Odd shops, quaint boutiques and several food places lined the road, and we spent hours strolling the street. After a bit of browsing, part of the group headed to a salon where some got manicures and pedicures and others relaxed.
And what would a day in Texas be without eating at a Mexican restaurant? (It seems literally as if every other restaurant is authentic Mexican food or Tex-Mex.) The group gathered at El Chile for some great food and new company. A few IU alumni joined us at our meal.
Since entering college, my main goal has been to receive training in the field of broadcast journalism. I aspire to be a television news reporter, preferably doing some political reporting.
But as I sat in the meeting, I longed to be extremely involved in a newspaper again. In high school, I had participated in editors meetings since my sophomore year. Only after seeing another editors meeting did I realize how much I missed it.
After the tour, I got my mind off the matter when the group took to exploring South Congress. Odd shops, quaint boutiques and several food places lined the road, and we spent hours strolling the street. After a bit of browsing, part of the group headed to a salon where some got manicures and pedicures and others relaxed.
And what would a day in Texas be without eating at a Mexican restaurant? (It seems literally as if every other restaurant is authentic Mexican food or Tex-Mex.) The group gathered at El Chile for some great food and new company. A few IU alumni joined us at our meal.
Day Four
By Katie Koselke
March 16, 2010
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| Photo by Ryan Dorgan |
| The students found a few moments to pose together before heading off to sessions at SXSW. |
It’s not that I don’t like to write. It’s just that I don’t like to blog. I like to be transparent and as a reporter that’s typically my role. But as a blogger, I have to develop my “voice” and that’s a tricky thing to do. Although I’m a senior graduating in two short months, I don’t think I really know who I am. I’m still working on it, but blogging requires me to project an image that I’m afraid I haven’t quite developed.
But, the one thing that I’ve been hearing over and over at this conference is the value of blogging as an exercise.
“You have to create your own internship with your blog,” was one piece of advice from professional blogger Ryan Fairbanks. I spoke with Fairbanks about finding print journalism opportunities in today’s media environment after a panel he led called, “How to Make a Living as a Blogger.” It turns out that Fairbanks actually got his start in print journalism as a reporter writing for his local paper. But, he says that he eventually got burned out and decided to move in a different direction.
I know that I want to be a professional journalist and not just a blogger. But still, his idea intrigued me. I can honestly say that it has never occurred to me that I could create my own “internship.” What is there to stop me from starting my own blog, other than my fear of others actually reading it? It could resemble the print journalism style and standards I value so highly but with the added technological advances of pictures, video and sound!
Of course, no one would read it other than friends and family. But, that’s not the point. It’s an innovative way for me to actually benefit from the same technologies that are straining traditional print media and to gain valuable reporting experience at the same time.
“You have to create your own internship with your blog,” was one piece of advice from professional blogger Ryan Fairbanks. I spoke with Fairbanks about finding print journalism opportunities in today’s media environment after a panel he led called, “How to Make a Living as a Blogger.” It turns out that Fairbanks actually got his start in print journalism as a reporter writing for his local paper. But, he says that he eventually got burned out and decided to move in a different direction.
I know that I want to be a professional journalist and not just a blogger. But still, his idea intrigued me. I can honestly say that it has never occurred to me that I could create my own “internship.” What is there to stop me from starting my own blog, other than my fear of others actually reading it? It could resemble the print journalism style and standards I value so highly but with the added technological advances of pictures, video and sound!
Of course, no one would read it other than friends and family. But, that’s not the point. It’s an innovative way for me to actually benefit from the same technologies that are straining traditional print media and to gain valuable reporting experience at the same time.
Day Three
By Deanna Krinn
March 15, 2010
I am continually amazed at the immersion of teenagers today in technology, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. They don’t remember a time without the Internet. They probably never lived in a home without a computer. They’ve had cell phones at their disposal probably from the time they could talk.
I feel so old
At the SXSW panel “Creative Youth: Organic, Collaboritive, and Throw-Away Media,” I witnessed two speakers directly address this incredible generation gap. And it’s something that, I imagine, is currently problematic for marketers.
These young’uns are now old enough to be a prime purchasing group, and companies have to understand how to market to their needs, but the drastic difference in this group’s childhood and understanding of technology compared to the 30-something and ups who are working to understand them is a problem that perhaps isn’t addressed all that often.
One point made by the presenters was that these teenagers don’t use technology as a tool that’s been purchased to use to accomplish some goal. In other words, adults learn by deciding to use a certain technology (e.g., Photoshop), and then go out, buy a book about it or take classes on it and go from there.
What the speakers discovered was that the teenagers they interviewed would decide they wanted to do something, say create a photo collage, then work backwards. They decide on an end product, then teach themselves how to use the tool needed (again, Photoshop).
Another point made was the speed at which the learning curve is developed. An example given was one girl who went from liking Neopets (an online virtual pet community) to mastering Photoshop in one summer, just because she was bored and kind of felt like it. Using Photoshop was not something she planned to pursue as a career later in life. She simply was curious and bored and felt like it.
Unfortunately, the panel didn’t seem to offer any solutions to those trying to market products to this age demographic. But it was interesting to see how intensely interested these people were in the habits of these teens. I always assumed there was a difference in the learning curve and knowledge of technology between Generations X and Y, but the audience was somehow dumbfounded at this concept. Perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Of course someone 15 years younger than you is going to be better at learning how to do things on a computer faster.
So hopefully a conclusion can be made on how to effectively understand teen computing habits. A suggestion I would like to make is to hire young, fresh marketing consultants. As in fresh out of college in a few months. As in me. Feel free to e-mail me and I look forward to your inquiry, prospective marketing firm.
One point made by the presenters was that these teenagers don’t use technology as a tool that’s been purchased to use to accomplish some goal. In other words, adults learn by deciding to use a certain technology (e.g., Photoshop), and then go out, buy a book about it or take classes on it and go from there.
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| Photo by Ruth Witmer |
| Lorin Williams took photos at the Lance Armstrong Foundation. |
Another point made was the speed at which the learning curve is developed. An example given was one girl who went from liking Neopets (an online virtual pet community) to mastering Photoshop in one summer, just because she was bored and kind of felt like it. Using Photoshop was not something she planned to pursue as a career later in life. She simply was curious and bored and felt like it.
Unfortunately, the panel didn’t seem to offer any solutions to those trying to market products to this age demographic. But it was interesting to see how intensely interested these people were in the habits of these teens. I always assumed there was a difference in the learning curve and knowledge of technology between Generations X and Y, but the audience was somehow dumbfounded at this concept. Perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Of course someone 15 years younger than you is going to be better at learning how to do things on a computer faster.
So hopefully a conclusion can be made on how to effectively understand teen computing habits. A suggestion I would like to make is to hire young, fresh marketing consultants. As in fresh out of college in a few months. As in me. Feel free to e-mail me and I look forward to your inquiry, prospective marketing firm.
Day Two
By Greg Winget
March 14, 2010
Successfully navigating the teeming throng of hipsters, tech gurus, socialites, advertisers, presenters, venues, products and events of SXSW’s Interactive Conference has been, expectedly, disorienting. The festival’s dizzying informational barrage has made full digestion of the many ideas to which I’ve been introduced impossible, and left me with little downtime for adequate reflection (or meals).
Still, my first day exploring Austin’s wondrous Convention Center and panels has provided me with a feast of food for thought, much of which is still churning around in the metaphorical belly of my brain.
Along with everyone else in the wide world of media production, I’ve been thinking about what journalism will start to look like as we move further into the 21st century, and how to successfully glean a paycheck from it.
Many of the speakers (and my own meandering interpretations of the shifting media landscape) have led me to the answer that, well, there is no one great answer.
My day’s final panel, forebodingly titled “Media Armageddon: What Happens When the New York Times Dies,” left a bitter taste in my mouth, with the topic’s discussion resulting in far more divisive questions than cooperative solutions for the media issues everyone must face.
Though the line drawn between old media purists and the ever-rising denizens of the blogosphere seems more pronounced than ever, neither side claims to know how reliable news information will be disseminated if our traditional news structure collapses in on itself. Social media and online networks will undoubtedly play a role in the way people get their information, but “Media Armageddon” moderator Henry Copeland brought up an interesting question: If trusted news sources like the New York Times no longer exist, how can people verify the questionably-dependable information they receive via tools like Twitter?
The debate rages on, and I find myself as clueless (or more so) than everyone else on which direction it will lead. If all else fails, at least I got some tips from “How to Make a Living as a Blogger” on how to survive through independent and freelance blogging. Writing lists of “Top Ten Hottest Boobies” certainly seems like something I can handle.
My day’s final panel, forebodingly titled “Media Armageddon: What Happens When the New York Times Dies,” left a bitter taste in my mouth, with the topic’s discussion resulting in far more divisive questions than cooperative solutions for the media issues everyone must face.
Though the line drawn between old media purists and the ever-rising denizens of the blogosphere seems more pronounced than ever, neither side claims to know how reliable news information will be disseminated if our traditional news structure collapses in on itself. Social media and online networks will undoubtedly play a role in the way people get their information, but “Media Armageddon” moderator Henry Copeland brought up an interesting question: If trusted news sources like the New York Times no longer exist, how can people verify the questionably-dependable information they receive via tools like Twitter?
The debate rages on, and I find myself as clueless (or more so) than everyone else on which direction it will lead. If all else fails, at least I got some tips from “How to Make a Living as a Blogger” on how to survive through independent and freelance blogging. Writing lists of “Top Ten Hottest Boobies” certainly seems like something I can handle.
Day One
By Ryan Dorgan
March 13, 2010
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| Photo by Ryan Dorgan |
| Andrew Olanoff uses his Flip camera to interview a panelist at SXSW. |
Close to 100,000 people descend on the city of Austin for what has come to be known as a breeding ground for new technological innovation and ideas. Online services that have seemingly taken over the Web and made their way into every Web browser and mobile device in the country are born here. Twitter was introduced just three years ago, right here at SXSWi in Austin.
You’ll find somebody from every walk of life roaming the maze-like halls of Austin’s massive convention center. There are the gamers, the coders, older folks who seem to be trying to understand and catch up on all of these new, constantly-evolving new media trends, and oddly enough, I’ve seen four men wandering the halls wearing traditional Scottish kilts.
I’ve attended only two panels so far in addition to Danah Boyd’s keynote speech on online publicity and privacy, both of which were pretty eye-opening. The first explored the future of online influence, mainly focusing on the role of “experts” in today’s online world. In the past, there were very few credible individuals whom people went to and trusted for information. With the spread of Web 2.0 effectively creating a virtual democracy in which every user pulls the same weight, the line between professional “experts” and those “lay” individuals with knowledge on a particular subject has been blurred like never before.
A majority of the panelists had worked in public relations and advertising, so much of the discussion was centered on the influence that brands have over their customers. Nonetheless, the concepts can be translated to any and every realm of online interaction, be it companies and their customers, group leaders and their followers, even friends.
The second panel I attended sounded a lot like the topic I chose to explore for my overall SXSW project, "A Conversation About Social Change Through Social Media," led by invisiblepeople.tv’s Mark Horvath. Mark focuses his work on the homeless and allows them to tell their stories in hopes of driving social change to help these people. Much of the discussion centered around the relationship between non-profit organizations and social media, exploring new, efficient ideas and ways of enacting real on-the-ground activism by way of promotion through social media.
The consensus seemed to be that these social media forums like Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup simply act as a channel through which people can find people with common interests and goals, and then really begin to make a difference by donating via the Web or by text message, or in the best cases, by actually coming together as a physical group and working to make a difference.
I’ve attended only two panels so far in addition to Danah Boyd’s keynote speech on online publicity and privacy, both of which were pretty eye-opening. The first explored the future of online influence, mainly focusing on the role of “experts” in today’s online world. In the past, there were very few credible individuals whom people went to and trusted for information. With the spread of Web 2.0 effectively creating a virtual democracy in which every user pulls the same weight, the line between professional “experts” and those “lay” individuals with knowledge on a particular subject has been blurred like never before.
A majority of the panelists had worked in public relations and advertising, so much of the discussion was centered on the influence that brands have over their customers. Nonetheless, the concepts can be translated to any and every realm of online interaction, be it companies and their customers, group leaders and their followers, even friends.
The second panel I attended sounded a lot like the topic I chose to explore for my overall SXSW project, "A Conversation About Social Change Through Social Media," led by invisiblepeople.tv’s Mark Horvath. Mark focuses his work on the homeless and allows them to tell their stories in hopes of driving social change to help these people. Much of the discussion centered around the relationship between non-profit organizations and social media, exploring new, efficient ideas and ways of enacting real on-the-ground activism by way of promotion through social media.
The consensus seemed to be that these social media forums like Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup simply act as a channel through which people can find people with common interests and goals, and then really begin to make a difference by donating via the Web or by text message, or in the best cases, by actually coming together as a physical group and working to make a difference.
By Deanna Krinn
March 13, 2010
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| Photo by Ryan Dorgan |
| Students checked the daily booklet to decide which of many sessions to attend at SXSW. |
Day One of our interactive experience at SXSW has started at a sprint. I’m currently waiting on my third panel of the day to start and still have two more immediately following. Then there’s a trip to see the Austin Symphony just after this. I’m finding this to be an excellent diet plan, so thank you, School of Journalism, for that.
The most apparent aspect I’ve noticed since arriving in Austin is the incredible diversity of people both in the town itself and participating in SXSW. In addition to this conference, there’s a state high school basketball tournament, a college women’s basketball tournament and a rodeo. And not only are these people all here, they’re all friendly and willing to interact. I had a 20-minute conversation with a man at a hat shop who happened to not only be from Fort Wayne, but also grew up in the same neighborhood as I. Small world.
I was most struck by the range of people in my first panel, “How to Make a Living as a Blogger.” The last thing I had expected in a conference featuring social media tools and how to use them was a 12-year-old boy. While waiting for the speakers to begin their presentations, I heard him telling his friend how he just gained 200 Twitter followers in an hour. I would have loved to talk with him, but frankly, how do you talk to this type of 12-year-old without sounding like an idiot? That, and he left in the middle of the panel and I didn’t have a chance to run him down.
And there were professionals too, including a project manager from Google Ads and an editor for AOL. Ages, levels of experience, career fields, purpose – everything is represented at this conference. It’s still baffling to me that technology can have this much power over our world today. This conference draws in around 100,000 people. That’s enough people to populate many smaller cities across the country.
And we all have common goals here, no matter where we come from: How do we utilize this technology to the best of our ability? The methods of how we want to go about this are different for everyone. The gamer is here for to learn about different tools from the marketing guru. But it’s technology that’s caused everyone to gather in this city for five days and exchange ideas with the goal of making everything in our world better, in one way or another.
By Sam Leffers
March 13, 2010
Pulling up to the Austin Convention Center on our first day, I was focused. I had a plan. A desire. I needed coffee.
After scoring my caffeine fix, it was time for the serious business. From waiting in the longest line I’ve ever seen for a no-show speaker (Quentin Tarantino), to collecting enough free T-shirts to fill a backpack, to hearing a panelist tell an entire audience to do something physically impossible to themselves, to hearing keynote speaker Danah Boyd talk about the privacy failures of Facebook and Google Buzz, I’ve got plenty to write about.
But I’ve decided instead to focus on the first, and most thought-provoking, panel I attended: “Universities in the ‘free’ era,” a discussion on what panelists Glenn Platt and Peg Faimon described as the “death of higher education.”
Platt compared the situation many universities find themselves in to falling off a high cliff. The ground is so far away, it’s hard to tell the difference between flying and falling. After all, since the Protestant Reformation, only 70 institutions have survived and 61 of those are universities.
But these age-old institutions, Platt said, are falling. The reasons given were numerous: high costs, inflexible graduation timeframes and close-minded professors, to name a few.
The panel focused much of its ire on the tenure system. They argued that while job security is important, universities with too many tenured professors only experienced change “one funeral at a time.”
Imagine, they argued, if other businesses adopted this model. It simply isn’t an effective way to operate and directly opposes forward progress.
The panelists also criticized the hiring processes of most universities. Professors tend to hire professors like themselves. The problem with this, Platt said, is the difference between how younger and older generations synthesize information.
In a system that doesn’t fire professors, Platt said, hiring makes all the difference. In this case, different doesn’t seem to be entering the equation.
This talk gave me a real appreciation for the quality of IU’s journalism faculty. Although tenure is still part of the reality, the school does make an effort to bring in new professors with fresh ideas.
I left the panel with a new perspective on the traditional higher education system, but a sour taste in my mouth. The problems were addressed, but the solutions were abstract and unfulfilling.
It left me wondering: How much is will my degree be worth if higher education falls?
But these age-old institutions, Platt said, are falling. The reasons given were numerous: high costs, inflexible graduation timeframes and close-minded professors, to name a few.
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| Photo by Ryan Dorgan |
| Students Camille Ward, Madeline Wukusick, Andrew Olanoff and Sam Leffers made their way to dinner in Austin. |
Imagine, they argued, if other businesses adopted this model. It simply isn’t an effective way to operate and directly opposes forward progress.
The panelists also criticized the hiring processes of most universities. Professors tend to hire professors like themselves. The problem with this, Platt said, is the difference between how younger and older generations synthesize information.
In a system that doesn’t fire professors, Platt said, hiring makes all the difference. In this case, different doesn’t seem to be entering the equation.
This talk gave me a real appreciation for the quality of IU’s journalism faculty. Although tenure is still part of the reality, the school does make an effort to bring in new professors with fresh ideas.
I left the panel with a new perspective on the traditional higher education system, but a sour taste in my mouth. The problems were addressed, but the solutions were abstract and unfulfilling.
It left me wondering: How much is will my degree be worth if higher education falls?