The sessions are finished. The awards have been handed out. The bags are unpacked (or at least sitting somewhere waiting to be unpacked) and everyone has headed home from Philadelphia.
So, now what?
A good conference shouldn’t end when you check out of the hotel.
Over four days at the 2026 National Student Media Convention, students and advisers shared ideas about storytelling, leadership, journalism, audio and video production, podcasting, sports, promotion, artificial intelligence, careers, community building and the future of student media.
That’s a lot to take in.
You probably don’t need to act on all of it.
But you should act on something.
Pick One Thing
Maybe you left Philadelphia with pages of notes, dozens of photos and screenshots, a collection of business cards or new contacts in your phone, and a long list of things you want to try.
Start with one.
What was the idea you immediately wanted to bring back to your station, newsroom or media organization?
Maybe it’s a different way to tell a story. A new show you want to create. A better way to train your staff. Something another student outlet is doing that made you think, Why aren’t we doing that?
Pick one idea that feels possible and put it into action.
You don’t have to transform your entire organization next week. Small experiments have a way of becoming bigger changes.
Share What You Learned
Not everyone from your organization got to come to Philadelphia.
Bring the convention home to them.
Instead of simply reporting that the conference was “great,” tell your staff what you learned. Take a few minutes at your next meeting to share your favorite idea from a session. Send everyone your notes. Demonstrate a production technique. Talk about something another student organization is doing well.
Better yet, ask everyone who attended the convention to bring back one idea worth sharing.
Suddenly, one person’s convention experience becomes something the entire organization can use.
Follow Up With the People You Met
One of the most valuable things at CBI doesn’t happen behind a podium.
It happens in hallways, elevators, restaurants, session rooms and conversations between people who realize they’re dealing with many of the same challenges.
If you met someone whose work interested you, follow up.
Send the email.
Follow their station or organization.
Connect with the professional who gave you advice.
Message the student from another school whose project gave you an idea.
You don’t have to wait until next year’s convention to talk again.
Student media is a surprisingly small world. The person you met in Philadelphia could become a collaborator, colleague, mentor, employee, employer or simply someone you exchange ideas with for years.
Try Something
Conferences can make experimentation feel easy.
You’re surrounded by people showing you interesting things they’ve made and talking about things they’ve tried. Then you return home, the semester gets busy again and it’s tempting to fall back into the familiar.
Don’t.
Try the thing.
Change the format. Make the documentary. Start the podcast. Cover something your organization has never covered. Experiment with a different camera technique. Improve your station’s social media. Create the live event. Rework your training process.
Some experiments won’t work.
That’s useful, too.
Student media is one of the rare places where you get to try something ambitious, learn from it and try again.
Take advantage of that.
Bring Someone Else In
If you learned something useful at CBI, teach it to someone else.
Show a first-year student how to do something you learned. Invite someone who has never been involved with student media to a meeting. Give a newer staff member a chance to produce, report, host, shoot, edit or lead.
The strongest student media organizations don’t just produce great work. They create the next group of people capable of producing great work.
You can be part of that.
Save the Work You’re Proud Of
Over the next several months, you’re going to make things.
Some will be assignments. Some will be broadcasts. Some will be stories you didn’t expect to tell. Some might start as experiments inspired by something you heard in Philadelphia.
When you make something you’re proud of, save it.
The 2027 CBI National Student Production Awards open in April.
Don’t wait until the deadline to remember the great thing your organization made six months earlier. Keep a folder. Keep a list. Bookmark the link.
Your next award entry might be something you haven’t even thought of yet.
Show Us What Happens Next
We’re interested in what happens after CBI, too.
Over the coming months, we’ll revisit ideas that came up during the 2026 National Student Media Convention and turn them into things you can use at your own student media organization.
We’ll talk about storytelling, production, leadership, audience building, careers, podcasting, live media and more.
But we also want to see what you’re doing.
Tag CBI when you try something new. Send us work you’re proud of. Show us what’s happening at your station, newsroom, channel or media organization. We’ll be sharing examples from student media organizations around the country.
Because the best ideas at CBI don’t have to stay at CBI.
Take one home.
Try it.
Share it.
Teach someone else.
Then make something.
We’ll see you in Cleveland, October 27–30, 2027, for #CBI2027.
