Online News Association offers 'Parachute Training' in Ann Arbor (updated)

Two Three former Advance Internet employees are among the instructors who will lead sessions on video and blogging skills at ONA Parachute Training this week in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The training for independent, community, non-profit and displaced journalists and bloggers is Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Campus Inn and sponsored by the Online News Association. It is part of the organization's Parachute Training Initiative, supported by a $50,000 seed grant from the Gannett Foundation. I wrote about this when the group sought feedback on skills needed.

There are two tracks - beginner and intermediate - covering multimedia, blogging, mobile, legal and business issues, marketing through social networks and finding your niche on the Web. There also will be two half-day video sessions, limited to 25 participants on a first-come, first-served basis (on-site), and a session on legal issues.

It's a great price - $10 to cover food.

See my other post about a Community Conversation taking place on Wednesday.  Here's more about the Thursday lineup, which I'm picking up from the ONA site: (OK, I added the links and some details about folks since I wanted to know who they were. I especially wanted to see the blogs of people teaching blogging.).

8 a.m.: Registration


Video Session 1: 9 a.m.-Noon (limited to 25 participants)


The Fundamentals of Shooting, Editing and Posting Video: We’ll discuss why and when video is needed as a storytelling tool. This is a hands-on tutorial with an experienced videographer, intended for beginners who should bring their own cameras. Professional-quality equipment is not necessary. (An inexpensive Flip video camcorder, for example, will work just fine.)
Trainers: Tiffany Campbell, Producer for Enterprise, and Cory Haik, Assistant Managing Editor, seattletimes.com

Tiffany led a video workshop at the recent ONA convention, where the program description included this: Lately, she's been developing Web video and a growing multimedia team, while heading up special projects, interactives and enterprise development for seattletimes.com.

Campbell began her journalism career at CNN. She held several positions during her years there, including video journalist and broadcast writer. She switched to Web journalism in late 2004 when she relocated back to the Pacific Northwest to work for the Seattle Times.

In addition to her journalism career, Campbell teaches at the university level and at regional and national journalism conferences.She lives with her husband, Curt Woodward of the Associated Press, in Tacoma, Wash.

Cory (who was eliminated from the schedule sometime Monday at the registration site) was part of a "Four Cool New Web Tools for Journalists" session at ONA. The bio description included:

"she is an online journalist who has spent her last decade managing the disruption of Web media — which she likes. From running operations and development to reporting, editing and
production, Haik has her hands in most things that make online journalism work. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Online News Association and is currently the Assistant Managing Editor at seattletimes.com

 She spent many years following the storms of the Gulf Coast at NOLA.com, site of the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, where she was the Managing Editor. She shared in two Pulitzer Prizes for covering Hurricane Katrina. Haik holds a master's degree in communication theory from the University of New Orleans."

Session 1: 9-10:25 a.m.
Track 1
Finding Your Niche: How individual journalists can take advantage of the unique attributes of the Web to identify and deliver the news and information that folks need and want. We’ll first take a look at how you define your niche in a crowded media landscape. Then we’ll discuss immediacy, aggregation, interactivity, multimedia, database utility and social networking.
Trainers: Ken Sands, ONA Board member and self-employed digital media strategist, and Kelly McBride, Poynter Faculty and ethics group leader

Ken has worked for Congressional Quarterly and spokesman.com and currently is self employed, according to a bio posted on Poynter. He is a contributor to Poynter's E-Media Tidbits, with his latest article a look at how news organzations are using social media and improving site design.   He's also written about how tools to ease sharing of online finds can affect the user's experience.

I found a story that tells how a fake headline that made it into the newspaper led to Kelly's post as ethics group leader at Poynter. She was a reporter at the Spokesman-Review and blogged for awhile as The Imperfect Parent. Today, the blogging focus is Everyday Ethics. and other pieces for Poynter.

Track 2
Reporting with the Web: How reporters can use social media/aggregators/RSS/Web tools to be better reporters and how editors can use them to distribute their content. You’ll learn the skill of reporting with the Web, using sourcing and crowding-sourcing and engaging with users who are working alongside you. Learn how to uncover stories that only exist because of the Web, and gain more depth and context from the Web for your traditional content.

Trainers: T.J. Ortenzi, Associate News Editor, The Huffington Post; and Cory Haik, Assistant Managing Editor, seattletimes.com (Both are former Advance Internet employees, including a stint in New Orleans at NOLA.com. Haik was as managing editor during Katrina, Ortenzi a web producer.)

Ortenzi did a session called "Enterprising with Twitter" at the ONA convention. The bio for that included:

"Ortenzi , associate news editor editor, is responsible for the homepage of The Huffington Post. Before joining the staff in August of 2009, Ortenzi was an Associate News Producer at seattletimes.com and a homepage producer at NOLA.com, the Web site of The Times- Picayune in New Orleans.

At seattletimes.com, Ortenzi scanned the wires, wrote headlines and summaries, and ultimately acted as a journalistic liaison between the newsroom and readers. He also managed The Seattle Times' Twitter account.

Ortenzi honed his news judgment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a homepage producer for NOLA.com. He is a graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans, where he received a BA in Communications and French. Ortenzi lives in New York City with his fiancee and is a proud native of Hershey, Pa."

Session 2: 10:35 a.m.-Noon
Track 1
Blogging Effectively: We’ll narrow our focus in this second session, discussing blog software, frequency of posting, interacting with readers, a corrections policy, how blog writing is different and turning your life over to the blog.
Trainer: Ken Sands, ONA Board member, and Kelly McBride, Poynter Faculty

Track 2 Jim Brady, U.S. Consulting Editor, The Guardian
Going Mobile: Up to 70 percent of all mobile Web browsing is done on an iPhone. What does that mean for news providers? When will folks monetize mobile? What phone should a journalist have? When is it a good idea to develop an app on the side? Should you blog/take video or live-stream from your phone? What is the percentage of mobile readers vs. computer-based readers?
Trainer: Cory Haik, Assistant Managing Editor, seattletimes.com Jim Brady, U.S. consulting editor for the Guardian was substituted sometime Monday on the registration site.  Columbia Journalism Review interviewed the former Washington Post executive editor on why he left the Post and now is consuling for the Guardian as well as branding, web innovation and building audiences in September.



 Noon-1:30 p.m. Lunch and networking:


Video Session 2: 1:30-4:30 p.m. (limited to 25 participants)
 Production Values: From the 30 seconds of the burning house to a produced tier three that gives you context, b-roll and true narrative, this class will arm every journalist with good Web video production values. We’ll also talk about the technical side — editing programs, camera choices and production/hosting solutions.Trainer: Tiffany Campbell, Producer for Enterprise, seattletimes.com

Session 3: 1:30-2:55 p.m.

Tracks 1 and 2
Legal Issues: Jon Hart, a founding member and ONA counsel, will focus on basic issues involving aggregation, plagiarism, libel, comments and group insurance for bloggers. When can you be liable for content that your readers post? Are you better off policing user postings or remaining hands-off? Can other sites really post your headlines without your permission? What can you “borrow” from other sites? Why do Web sites display privacy policies and visitor agreements? Where can you find affordable libel insurance?
Trainer: Jon Hart, Dow Lohnes PLLC in Washington, D.C. (via Skype)

Hart was part of the legal panel at the 2009 ONA convention. His bio for that included he practices in the Media and Information Technologies group. He specializes in the representation of media and technology companies on a broad range of commercial, transactional, operational and content matters. Hart is the author of "Internet Law: A Field Guide" (BNA Books, 6th Edition, 2008). He's been on the faculty of the Stanford Professional Publishing Courses since 1994, and serves as general counsel to the Online News Association. He clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge Jerome Farris and U.S. District Judge Almeric Christian. Hart is a graduate of Middlebury College and Stanford Law School.

Session 4: 3:05-4:30 p.m.
Track 1

Self Promotion: How do you market yourself through social networking and find pay for your work? How do you connect with an audience on Twitter and Facebook and grow traffic to your blog? This session will focus on developing recognition for your blog by branding, or developing a distinctive voice, as well as managing your online reputation/personal brand.
Trainer: Shawn Smith, Optimal Webworks and New Media Bytes blogger. 

The Michigan State University graduate also was an Advance Internet employee, working his way up to senior producer mlive.com He describes himself on LinkedIn as an Internet marketer with journalism roots.  He also participated in ReThink News at Michigan State University, where he suggested news organizations need to look at a variety of content and test at niche products.

 
Track 2
How to Turn Your Blog Into a Business: At a time when staff and dollars are stretched and venture capital is scarce, a good business plan is essential to getting the resources you need or attracting the investors you want. This session poses the questions you must answer and how you should organize a business plan that will clearly lay out the elements of your project, along with strategies for growth and success, including change management.
Trainer: Neil Chase, Federated Media

Neil is vice president of author services for Federated Media, which is described on LinkedIn as providing "online marketing services for creators, audiences, and marketers. The company operates a network of author-driven Websites, including Digg, Boing Boing, and Dooce. Its federations include sports, technology, automotive, business & marketing, media & entertainment, momentum, travel and leisure, and parenting."

Neil also has worked for The Arizona Republic, San Francisco Examiner, and the New York Times. He's familiar with Ann Arbor, having spent four years at the University of Michigan and worked for the student newspaper the Michigan Daily. He launched the new media program at Northwestern University, according to a Knight Digital Media Center biography.