workshop – ThirtySomething Shenanigans

I have officially completed my third week of my internship at HOMTV.

Yesterday we had an alumni training workshop where former alumni members Alexandra Illitch and Local 4 WDIV‘s John Pompeo gave us tips and advice about the news industry.

I learned a lot from both of them and I left the workshop feeling even more eager and motivated to do well not just at this internship, but at any other future news job. I am so passionate about this industry and I can’t wait to see where my future takes me.

homtvalumniWS — HOMTV alumni workshop. #HOMTV #Local4WDIV #WLNS

Ali told us about how the news industry isn’t a 9 to 5 job and if that’s the type of job we’re looking for then this isn’t the industry for us. She also talked about the many misconceptions people have about the news industry and what jobs in the field entail. People think it’s all glam, being on TV and what not, but it’s much more than that.

I’ll admit, when I first graduated and even every now and then, I think how wonderful it would be to have a Monday-Friday 9 to 5 job. My best friends have that kind of schedule and I always imagine how nice that would be. But, as I’ve learned, I am very much passionate about the news industry and accepted that that is a sacrifice I have to make to have a job in the field. It will never be 9 to 5, and as Ali explained, some days reporters work up to 12 hours. And as she mentioned, and I knew–the news never sleeps.

While she said it’s a lot of work, she also said how truly great it is to be a reporter. Her passion showed when she talked to us and it made me hopeful that one day I can be in her shoes talking to rookie and junior interns expressing my passion for the field.

Not only did Ali share her passion, tips and advice to us interns, John Pompeo did as well. He’s been in the industry for over thirty years and he said he’s still doing it because he LOVES it. It was inspiring to see someone still so passionate about the industry this many years later.

He showed us his work he did and through it I learned so much. The way different he shoots stories made me excited to incorporate those ways into how I share my stories. I found the way he finds his stories to be unique, and how he doesn’t necessarily have to be the one telling the story through a voice track, but to have a main “character” in the story and having him or her tell it.

Something I also found interesting that he said was that

“Everyone is a story teller.”
– John Pompeo

While I came into this internship with previous newsroom experience, others did not, and I thought how this really hit the nail on the head for not just me but especially for the others. I never gave that idea much thought before but, with the right tips and creativity and thought process, I realized how right he was.

Like I mentioned above, I can’t wait to take the tips both he and Ali shared with us and apply it to my future stories both at HOMTV and other future jobs. During the workshop I was already thinking of possible different stories I could cover this semester and what angle I would take with each one using these different tips.

Why I also enjoyed him saying this is because I believe everyone has a story to share.

That’s a huge reason I want to be a journalist, a reporter, is because I want to be able to give a voice to people–especially those who might not otherwise have one. Also, a tad off topic, but the name of my blog–“Coffee and Curiosity” is titled that because a) I love coffee (who doesn’t?) and b) because I am a curious person. I am always eager to learn more about people. Which, ironically, although I love learning about people, I will be the first admit that I am extremely shy outside of my reporter self when it comes to getting to know people. But anyway…

I love learning about people’s experiences. I believe everyone has a unique story to share and as a reporter, I long to discover what it is. And as it is now officially Monday, I start off a new week, working on my first assignments for HOMTV and while brainstorming what angle I want to take for my stories, I’ll be keeping in mind the tips Ali and John gave us. 🙂

Until next time…

XO,

Ana

It’s Thursday night, and I am currently sitting at my kitchen table, feeling a tad hypocritical for having just had leftover pizza for dinner, and wanting an ice cold beer, but, not having any, while I stare right at my new It Works! starter kit that came in the mail today.

For those of you who don’t know the gist of It Works!, it’s that “crazy wrap thing”… That aims to help you tone, tighten and detoxify your body. Along with a line including a bunch of other products designed to help you be healthier.

Anyway, not my point of this blog…

It’s Thursday night, and I have officially completed week one of my internship at HOMTV.

While it has only been a couple of days, I must say I am super eager to see what the rest of this semester/experience holds. I have already learned so much in such a short period of time, that I can’t wait to find out what else I will learn from the program/workshops itself, but through my own trials and tribulations.

The first day was orientation, where learned the overview of the program along with the usual procedures and policies. Oh, and we went over dress code… Note To Self: Create shoe bag and leave in car. LOL! I am seriously going to find my best shoes and put them in a bag and leave them in my car so I am always prepared. I wore my Ugg boots to the Wednesday night workshop and while no one said anything, I accidentally forgot my work shoes from my coat closet at home. But, given the weather this week, my initial thought was Uggs=WARMTH! LOL.

We also got our picture taken for the HOMTV website, which, I am super geeked about. And yes, I just used the word “geeked.” (A one-time thing, I swear, lol) Not only will this picture be used on the main HOMTV website, but it will also be used for my soon-to-be in live action, FACEBOOOK FAN PAGE! Yep, that’s right. Us reporters get a fan page! I am telling you this now so you can remember to “like” it on Facebook as soon as it’s up and running.

The following day for my morning shift we watched archive videos of past newscasts and wrote our bios for the HOMTV website. It was a little strange at first, writing in the third person, about myself, but, once I got going I couldn’t be stopped. I wrote the serious stuff, like where I graduated from, what I studied, and where I see myself after the internship. And then, of course, I put the fun stuff–like that in my free time I like to watch my favorite TV shows Pretty Little Liars and Criminal Minds, and that I am a coffee mug collector. And course love Chipotle and shoes. (Although, Chipotle, not so much lately… You know, given their whole E-Coli deal…)

Then, later that evening was our first workshop–the reporting workshop. During this we learned about the Society of Professional Journalists: Code of Ethics, the various terms used in television, and watched previous interns’ work, i.e. packages and stand-ups. I most excited about this workshop, as this is the track I will be focusing on–reporting.

The second day, morning shift, we continued/finished watching the archive videos of old newscasts and began working on our first exam. Our first exam is due Tuesday. Will work on that this weekend. EEEK! The evening portion was our field production workshop–where we learned all about how to use a camera. It was a lot of information to process, but, I definitely learned a lot. It makes me even more eager (although just as nervous, too) to get out there and start shooting stuff.

HOMTV1 — Me and Ar-Rel getting ready for our future close-ups.

This morning I had off. In the evening we had our editing workshop, which involved even more information than last night. I feel super nervous and overwhelmed at the moment, but, after talking to some of the other interns and a seasoned intern, I can move forward knowing it’s okay/normal to feel this way and that everything will be okay. The workshop tonight taught us how to import, export and edit our footage. It’s a lot to do and a lot to remember, but, like I said before, I AM looking forward to it! Can’t wait to see how I improve over the course of the semester. Yay!

Anyway… So that is what my first week at HOMTV was like. I’ll try to update this more frequently as the internship goes on, but, I know the internship itself will keep me fairly busy so, we’ll see. Anyway, look for me on Facebook soon–my fan page. And, if you haven’t already, be sure to like the HOMTV Faceboo0k page itself by clicking here as well as their Twitter handle at @HOMTV.

Until next time…

XO,

Ana

Tag: workshop

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