STUDENTS: Getting real, getting inspired
(Above) The Nicoles giving feedback and coaching to The Intern contestant William Couch. It was exhilarating and refreshing to hear Tiffany Pease, Nicole Bogdas and Nicole Dudka giving real honest, and sometimes bluntly direct answers to a packed room of student VJs this afternoon. Moderator Stephen Komives was a smooth, and well-prepared host, probing the panelists for rich details with lots of anecdotal context from each of their work histories. He'd done his homework (When HASN'T Komives been the most prepped one in the room anyway, eh?) and was an organizational power force in making sure this was not a boilerplate session of stale material or cliche answers. It was real honest, real life.
Martin Gee was inspirational, of course. But better than that he shared some real-life examples of where he gets his ideas from -- and tried to offer tips for others on how to access better ideas and innovation processes for themselves. (Keys: Keep a journal. Make sketches. Don't accept your first idea -– purge the crappy ideas first then focus on the weird ones, and follow your heart from there). But better than all of this, he started with blunt reality by telling everyone, in screen-high letters: "YOU SUCK." No. Really. He said he sucks too. In fact, he thinks he still sucks. (So he must be lying, right?) It was bold, but a good way to drag out into the light the real fears and artistic insecurities we’ve all felt, and really deal with them. (He even had a 3D bar chart comparing his degree of "suckitude" and that of "the next guy." It set the stage for a very open look at work, life, and work life.
(Above) Martin Gee, Sara Quinn and Kenny Irby evluate "charticles" from a student excercise.Icing on the cake? Poynter's Sara Quinn pitched the Summer Fellowship for Young Journalists and later gave a visual pop quiz to help determine who would be finalists for three spots at next summer's seminar. At the conclusion of the day's presentations, in just 25 minutes, students were asked to create a charticle of the top five lessons of the day. Nine finalists are now being interviewed by Quinn and Poynter's Kenny Irby. The three lucky new Summer Fellows will be named tomorrow. The best news: there are no losers here. Anyone who doesn't make the cut can still apply with a traditional application. You missed the session? Stuck at home? YOU can apply too! Deadline: Nov. 15, 2006
Full disclosure: There was pizza and soda all day provided by the SND Foundation. Your donations hard at work -- educatin' hungry young visual minds.
2 Comments:
Congratulations to the new Summer Fellows. As a graduate of the 2006 VJ program, let me tell you: You will not regret this. It's an internship x50 - I never thought I'd meet so many people or get so many opportunities to expand my horizons. Besides Sara and Kenny, I met Ron Rason, Steve Dorsey, Denise Reagan, Andrew DeViegal, Neal Pattison and so many more. And if you ask nicely, everyone is willing to sit down with you and critique your portfolio or give you coaching on your projects. If you take advantage of everything Poynter has to offer, you will grow tremendously in those six weeks. I promise!
hey dorsey, thanks for the props. many thanks to nicole x 2, tiffany, sara, kenny and especially stephen for making the student session a wonderful success. last but not least, big ups to the volunteers who came out to help critique student portfolios. thank you, thank you, thank you!
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