ROOM: GRAND A

Session-Parish/School

VIEW PRESENTATION

Practical Ways to Improve Parish Communication

Free photo sites: www.unsplash.com, www.pixabay.com, www.flickr.com, www.pexels.com, www.videos.pexels.com.

Join communication expert Mike DiCosola in a fast-paced session providing practical takeaways that will help you instantly improve your parish communications. Based on the popular Practical Parish Communication Workshop hosted across the US in 2017, you will discover easy-to-implement tips for everything from your bulletin and website to Facebook and your parish App. Throughout this session be inspired to recall your mission and heed the words of the Holy Father to “use wisely the means at your disposal” in engaging the faithful of your parish.

Mike DiCosola is the Director of Mobile Services for myParish App at Diocesan. He previously acted as a CTO in print communications for almost 20-years. He has been actively involved in lay ministry for more than 15-years with experience in early childhood, middle school, teen and adult formation. Mike recently served as Communication Coordinator at Our Lady of Consolation Parish in Rockford, Michigan, where he resides with his wife Heather and five children. Mike has been a featured speaker at retreats, conferences and missions across the globe. He can be found on Facebook, Twitter, his iPhone, AppleWatch, iPad, Laptop, Kindle and sometimes juggling – not always at the same time. His greatest blessing is being a father of five and a child of the one God. His goal in life is to give this all up and see everyone in Heaven.

ROOM: GRAND D

Session-General Interest

A Jesuit’s Vision of the World

As a photographer, I see the world through the lens of who I am and the life I’ve lived. I can’t help but photograph from the life of faith that I’ve grown into as a priest over the past 50 years.

Often I am asked if being a priest effects my photography. My answer is always, “Yes, it has everything to do with it.” For me it’s hard to separate the creative process of seeing from prayer. Both can be contemplative acts. Both involve an openness to the Spirit — a willingness to let go of one’s presuppositions and go with the hunches and intuitions that arise deep within one’s heart where I believe the Spirit speaks within each of us.

I try to live a quote from Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation:

“HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO REACH YOUR OWN PERFECTION BY LEADING SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE. . . . YOU MUST HAVE THE HUMILITY TO WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION IN A DARKNESS WHERE YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY ALONE. . . . IT TAKES HEROIC HUMILITY TO BE YOURSELF AND TO BE NOBODY BUT THE MAN OR ARTIST GOD INTENDED YOU TO BE.”
Jesuits have a mission — “Faith doing Justice.” I photograph to tell the stories of people who have no voice. Hopefully I can help others understand and work to change unjust social structures.

Don Doll, S.J. is a Jesuit priest and well-known photographer whose work has been featured in National Geographic, [Hunters of the Bering Sea, June 1984, and The Athabascans along the Yukon, February, 1990] and a number of the Day in the Life of… books, including America, California, Italy, Ireland, Passage to Vietnam, and Christmas in America.

In September, 2012, Magis Productions with Creighton University Press published A Call to Vision: A Jesuit’s Perspective on the World, a 224 page coffee table book with 188 of his photographs from his fifty year career as a photographer.

Doll recently received the International Understanding Through Photography Award from the Photographic Society of America; in January of 2016, Doll judged the PSA 83rd International Photography Competition.

Since 1969 Doll has lived and worked at Creighton University, in Omaha, Nebraska, where he is Professor Emeritus of Journalism holding the Charles and Mary Heider Endowed Jesuit Chair.

Since 2005, Doll has photographed for the Jesuit Refugee Service in Uganda, SouthernSudan, Burundi, Rwanda, the Congo, Chad, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

His work can be seen on his website: http://magisproductions.org.

ROOM: GRAND B

Session-Digital/Social Media

Twitter: Building your audience one tweet at a time

Instagram. Reddit. Snapchat. So many social media channels have started up since Twitter, yet this platform dominates, especially among news lovers. In this session, Nina Nolan Rouse will look at where this platform has been, where it is now, and what we’ve learned about tweeting along the way. If you’re looking to connect with your audience in ways that they will engage your content more, you will want to be sure to sit in on this session from a seasoned, veteran social media professional.

Nina Nolan Rouse is in her tenth year with the Office of Communications at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI, and is currently the senior web and social media specialist. In her role, Nina is primarily responsible for developing the web content strategy and architecture for the college web properties. She works with departments and units across the college to develop their web content and provides the general oversight and on-going maintenance of web properties to ensure the adherence to brand standards.

Nina provides the strategic direction and management of all college social media initiatives, including institutional presences on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, LinkedIn and YouTube. She is responsible for the general oversight of all campus social media presences and for the guidance and best practice training of campus departments using social media.

Her social media efforts for the college have garnered both regional and national recognition for St. Norbert College.

ROOM: GRAND B

Session-Digital/Social Media

Using Photos on Social Media to Engage your Audience: Social Media Journalism with a Smart Phone

From news to portraits, still lifes to videos images are the first thing our readers are drawn to in print or on a smartphone.
With social media having the potential to reach new readers and engage them to out content we need to be sure our images are powerful and persuasive.

We will use our phones and apps to learn about:
–       Planning our photos to tell a story or capture a scene
–       Mobile photo composition
–       Using photos to drive traffic
–       Choosing the right platform for the message
–       Managing our captions, hashtags and links
–       Tips for improving our images
–       Other apps we should try

Maximizing storage and battery life

In 1993, Matt left The Tablet to work for a Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, managing their marketing, development and business operations.

Matt joined Catholic New York, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New York, in 2006 as Advertising and Business Manager and took an active role in the Catholic Press Association. Matt is the 2017 St. Frances de Sales award recipient.

From working with advertising clients and marketing circulation and to developing student enrollment and fund-raising Matt has specialized in growing revenue while building a professional image for Catholic organizations.

Matt has used his photography to capture everyday moments and tell stories. Bringing this experience to social media platforms is another opportunity to share our faith through evangelization.

ROOM: GRAND A

Session-Parish School

Parish/School Communicators Roundtable

This participant-driven session is a valuable opportunity to share ideas and best practices, discuss the joys and challenges of your day-to-day ministry, and network with fellow parish communicators from around the U.S. and Canada.

Joe Towalski is the director of communications for the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn., and editor of its biweekly newspaper, The Visitor. Joe has won individual Catholic press awards for editorial, news and feature writing. He began working in his current position in St. Cloud in 2014 and is focused on strategic projects to bolster the diocese’s communications outreach via its print, web and social media resources. The newspaper garnered a second place CPA award for general excellence in 2015.

Joe has served on the Catholic Press Association board of directors as the Midwest regional representative since 2012 and is currently serving a two-year term as the association’s president.

ROOM: GRAND F

Session-Editorial

The Screen Generation: Understanding an Audience That’s Plugged in but Disconnected

The session will review the research that helps editors to better understand their Catholic audience , especially the younger generation.

Dr. Bill Thorn began his journalism career in Minneapolis as a reporter and editor, where he earned is PhD before becoming  a professor and chairman in the Department of Journalism at Marquette University.  In addition to teaching as a visiting professor in Rome at the Gregorian University and Salesian University, he serves as a member of the board of the communications apostolate of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  In 2016 he spoke to the World Congress of Families in Budapest on the role of media in contemporary families, one of his research and teaching  interests.  His most recent book was Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement.  He and his wife, Vicki have 6 children and 11 grandchildren.

ROOM: GRAND H

Session-Communication

Making the Most of Media Buys

As with any marketing focus, media planning and buying begins with a RACE from start to finish: research, action, communication and evaluation. We’ll explore practical tips on how to achieve success: identifying your target market; exploring the types of media; evaluating media benefits and features; purchasing/negotiating your media buy; and evaluating the results.

Pat Szpekowski, APR, is president of PR Strategies & Communications, a full service advertising agency and public relations firm, in Elgin, IL, which she founded in 1987. She is an author and award-winning writer, who has won first place recognitions from the National Federation of Press Women, Illinois Woman’s Press Association, Northern Illinois Newspaper Association, and the Catholic Press Association.  She is also a freelance writer/correspondent for The Observer, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Rockford, IL.

Pat is an accredited public relations professional (APR) member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and former president of the Suburban Chicagoland Chapter PRSA. She has received numerous awards including: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Suburban Chicagoland Chapter PRSA; Sam Walton Business Leader Award; Chamber Business of the Year; and the Elgin IL Area YWCA Marguerite Henry Award for Communications. She is board chair of Presence Saint Joseph Hospital Elgin and a board member of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association, Northern Kane County Chamber of Commerce and Summit School.