mcgettiganatmason

Time to reflect…

McGettigan.at.Mason — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:24:17 +0000

I slept so well last night. I think sleeping in your own bed has that affect on people. After a week of nonstop craziness, I am home from WJMC. It was the experience of a lifetime, seriously. I met so many amazing and talented people. To be honest, I felt like I was in a little over my head at some times.

I’ve come to realize that the journalism and media business is its own community. Everyone knows everyone else. It’s crucial to keep those relationships. I feel like the underlying cause of this conference was to give us a jump-start in knowing our future business associates. I have no doubt that many of the other kids will go on to do great things. I wouldn’t be surprised if in our group of 120 (give or take a few), there is the next ESPN broadcaster, foreign correspondent, or even president!

My friend count on facebook has gone up significantly since WJMC. I even made a Twitter! I will keep up with these people forever. Maybe in ten years I will find myself working with some of them. We can then reflect on how the Washington Journalism and Media Conference is where it all began.

We could talk about how everyone at the conference became so close in a matter of days. We can argue about who was funnier; Hoda Kotb or Dean Flagel. We can discuss how topics on CSPAN have changed since we were on it. We can exchange stories of exploring Capitol Hill. We can relive the Gala, and how it was the perfect ending to such a phenomenol week.

Do I really only have one more day?

McGettigan.at.Mason — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:08:58 +0000

Today was a looong day. But I feel like I didn’t give yesterday all the attention it deserves, so I will now.

We had the opportunity to listen to a George Mason Alumni Panel. Honestly, I was expecting this to be a bunch of guys who went to school here, and now give them a lot of money. In reality, it was actually some very successful alum in all different branches of communications. The one who stuck out to me the most was BJ Koubaroulis. He is the owner and founder of Synthesis Media Productions. His company films events (such as WJMC) edits them, and sells them to the organization. Filming and editing is more my area of expertise so it was refreshing to hear someone talk about something other than politics (that was my segway to today…not very discreet, I know).

Today was all about the politics. It really made me come to a realization that I don’t think many other kids here share with me. After sitting through 3+ hours of people talking about politically related journalism, I started to second guess what I really want to do. If being a journalist or broadcaster means nonstop politics, than I need to rethink what I want. That probably sounds kind of naive, but so be it.

I had this whole other paragraph about my day all typed up but then the not-so-dependable GMU internet stopped working, and it didn’t all save. Awesome. Unfortunately, I will be opting for sleep rather than retyping everything…I don’t want to go to the fancy schmancy gala tomorrow with bags under my eyes!

WJMC, Take 2

McGettigan.at.Mason — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:25:09 +0000

Is it really 6:13 in the morning right now? This is earlier than when I wake up for school! I guess being on CSPAN today does have its costs…but enough about today, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I was not very optimistic going into yesterday, a day full of listening to speakers had the potential to be pretty boring. Although I was excited for Hoda Kotb, and she certainly didn’t let me down. After an hour of listening to Chuck Todd moderate a panel of political journalists (it was a little dry for me) Hoda came up to the mic and I was entranced for the next 60 minutes. She was funny, personable, and I never wanted her to stop talking! I was definitely not ready for her to randomly start rapping Wiz Khalifa…but I’m not complaining! Some of the things Hoda said were just so quotable and well thought out that I did what any journalist would do; I wrote them down. Who knew that the person who was singing “Black and Yellow” would also inspire me by saying things like “There’s something magical about being who you are” and “Bloom where you are planted”. Great stuff! Let’s just say her page in my notebook is the only one without incessant doodling.

I will write more later, but I have to go grab some breakfast before our day full of CSPAN and the Smithsonian!

WJMC, Take 1

McGettigan.at.Mason — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 03:28:48 +0000

My eyes hurt, and my feet hurt more. I’m tired and becoming more thankful for air conditioning by the minute. These ailments seem small, though, after reflecting on my first day at the WJMC Conference. I feel like it was a week ago when I woke up this morning (after sleeping through breakfast), and boarded the bus to the Newseum. The Newseum is basically a journalist’s paradise. From the Interactive News Studio, to the heartbreaking 9/11 movie, I could have spent an eternity wandering through the hallways. One exhibit at the Newseum had an especially large impact on me. The Pulitzer Prize Photo Exhibit was a dimly lit room, which kind of matched the mood of the area. It was filled with incredibly powerful photos. One minute I wanted rejoice with the woman whose loved on was getting off a plane after being a POW, and the next I wanted to cry with the college student who had to witness the Kent State Massacre. Seeing the pictures was awesome, but reading the stories behind them was even better. A picture that just seemed to be a couple on the beach, turned out to be young parents frantically searching for their son who was swept away by the sea. The Exhibit, and our group discussion about it afterward, really opened my eyes to how important photojournalism is to society. Needless to say, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words!

Another highlight of my day was seeing Kathy Orton speak. Orton wrote one of the books on the reading list; Outside the Limelight. Her book, which followed an Ivy League basketball season. It seemed like a bit of a random topic at first, but she really made me really get into the season, and I was certainly on the edge of my seat while I was reading about the Penn vs. Princeton game. Aside from an author, she is a sports reporter for the Washington Post…pretty legit. She will definitely be one of my idols as a woman in the journalistic world.

I can’t believe I just wrote that much! Tomorrow we will be listening to a ton of speakers. The most notable is probably Hoda Kotb from the Today Show. I should probably go now, and try to get past the second chapter of Hoda’s book…Goodnight!