Board Blog: How can you help at the 2015 NSEMC?

Last Updated on May 13, 2015 by askcbiorg

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Will Robedee, CBI Executive Director

The CBI National Student Electronic Media Convention enjoys rave reviews every year and the session approval rate is nearly 90 percent. We could not do that without the participation of members (students and faculty/staff), stations which are not yet members and professionals who you identify and work with to bring to the conference.

We need your help to get the ball rolling on session proposals for this year. How can you help?

Students – Think about what areas your stations need help with and what a session would look like that would help you or conversely, things you do well and think others would benefit from. For the former, think about roundtables. Roundtables generally student led sessions to discuss a topic of importance (how to stop theft, social media practices, how to put on a concert). You do not need to be an expert to lead a roundtable. Roundtable moderators do not make sessions about their specific situation, but can use their experiences and problems to start a discussion. The primary role of the moderator is to keep the discussion on track, keep one person/station from monopolizing the conversation and to keep the session productive. For the latter, if you do things you are proud of and want to showcase your accomplishments so that others can learn and borrow your ideas and or methodologies, this is your chance to not only do that and contribute to student media, but also add something to your resume. Almost without exception the students who lead sessions report that it was a rewarding experience and that they also came away from the session having learned from others.

Student Roundtables are very often reported to be the most beneficial sessions at conventions.

Non-Students – The faculty/staff and professionally led sessions make up the bulk of session at the convention and are highly rated by both students and faculty/staff. You can help by proposing sessions that cover ground that you know well and are enthusiastic about. You can even develop sessions where you want to learn and lead the session as a moderator. For example, if are a social media nut and want to share what you have learned and help stations, propose a session. Flip the topic on its head, if you want to know more about social media, identify experts in the field who can help and bring them into the session and moderate.

If you are a professional and want to share your expertise or are former student media student and want give back, you are welcome to submit a session proposal as well. Some of our best sessions come from professionals currently working in media. The professionals always tell us how much fun it was to do the session and how rewarding it was for them.

CBI faculty and staff advisers are also welcome to submit to our debut research paper showcase in Minneapolis. We are now accepting papers with an electronic media, journalism, and/or legal and ethical electronic media focus that do not exceed 20 pages. The deadline is June 1. The top three papers will be presented in a research paper session in Minneapolis. The winning paper will also be recognized as part of the awards ceremony. We hope this is one more way that CBI can continue to serve our members. Complete information is available on the NSEMC website.

Submit your proposal at http://askcbi.org/minneapolis/session-proposals/.

If you are unfamiliar with the CBI National Student Electronic Media Convention, see our past convention programs from Seattle in 2014, San Antonio in 2013 and Atlanta in 2012. The convention features more than 100 sessions and events including a trade show, pre-convention workshop, keynote speaker Lori Lewis and the annual Student Production Awards (entries due Friday, May 15).

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