2006 workshop plan: taking your Activate experience one step further

It’s important that your Activate experience doesn’t begin and end with “simply” producing the paper: our mandate as a student newspaper is to teach new writers, designers, photographers and sub-editors all about journalism.

During 2006, our aim in running the workshop programme is three-fold:

1. to ensure continuity – so that Activate staffers continue to learn and develop throughout the year;
2. to work closely with the Rhodes University Department of Journalism and Media Studies, by calling on the skills of its lecturers and practitioners, and;
3. to ensure that all Activate staff produce work of the highest standard at all times, whether in Activate or other publications

This year – for the first time – we’ll be running workshops for writers, designers, photographers and sub-editors. In the past, there was a lot of focus on teaching photographers and writers, but very little emphasis on training designers and sub-editors.

Our basic plan – subject to change – looks like this:

March 4	Introduction to workshop programme
March 18	General workshop #1
April 22	General workshop #2
May 6	General workshop #3
May 20	General workshop #4
July 29	General workshop #5
August 12	General workshop #6
August 26	Wrap up and feedback

During the year, we’ll be talking about ethics, freelancing, caption and headline writing, design templates (“dummies”), developing sources, interview techniques and much, much more.

Workshops last for two-three hours; smoke/stretch breaks will feature, we promise!

I know the big question everyone’s asking is, “Is this compulsary?”

Well, no. We can’t force you to come to these workshops, just like we can’t force you to attend meetings or really get involved. But, in return for spending a maximum of 24 hours in workshops during the entire year, you’ll be taking gigantic strides ahead of those people who choose not to come.

At the end of the year, we’ll provide you with a letter of proof that states you have attended “x” number of workshops and can therefore reasonably claim to be an “active” member of Activate’s staff. This letter will also look great in your portfolio, and will prove to future employers that you’ve got a number of vital skills to function well in a newsroom.

On Saturday, 4 March, we will be launching our workshop programme. Please come along and take a listen to what it’s all about.

Venue: Zoo Major

Time: 14h00 (plenty of time for the hangovers to wear off!)