Wednesday

9:00 – 11:30 AM & 3:15 – 5:30 PM

Location: Gateway 4

The world is a noisy place. Some sources report the average consumer is exposed to up to 5,000 advertising messages per day. Pope Francis has reflected “The speed at which information is communicated exceeds our capacity for reflection and judgment.” Needless to say, there is a lot of competition out there for people’s attention, so how do you rise above the clutter?

Effective church communications is more than just a fancy website, the occasional tweet or one more press release about a recurring event. That’s right, communications this day and age calls us to prioritize, strategize and plan in order to be proactive and remain relevant in today’s society.

This Master Camp will take a closer look at ministry collaboration, audience segmentation and message mapping to aid in integrated communications planning.

Target Audience: Catholic communicators charged with organizing and/or leading communication efforts at a (arch)diocese, ministry, parish or other organization.

Katie Pesha serves as the Executive Director of Communications and Planning for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Her responsibilities include oversight of archdiocesan public relations, marketing, mission awareness, publications, pastoral planning, website content and social media engagement. Under her direction since 2011, the entire communications process has been transformed toward a unified effort with fewer silos and strong results, including national awards for diocesan website, appeal promotional videos and publications.

Katie also serves on the Development & Marketing Advisory Committee for the Franciscan Province of the Sacred Heart, leads the Communications Committee at her home parish of 5,000 families, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cottleville, MO, and is an active board member of Genesis Ministry.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Quincy University in Quincy, IL and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. Prior to her time at the archdiocese, Katie worked at USA TODAY as the National Director of Higher Education Programs.

Katie and her husband, Frank, have three young children, Gavin (6), Skylar (4) and Sadie Mae (7 months).

Wednesday

9:00 – 11:30 AM & 3:15 – 5:30 PM

Location: Gateway 1

Let’s leave the big mysteries to God. But when it comes to good writing, God helps those who helps themselves – with hard work and a strong grasp of mechanics. This day-long master camp will be jam-packed with practical tools any writer can employ, whether working on an elegant essay, a substantive issues piece, a compelling personality profile, one of those pesky social-media posts or even a keep-‘em-the-pew sermon. The day’s catechism:

• Six (or seven) commandments of the writing process: What you have to do to make a story work
• Loaves and fishes of story ideas: How to find fresh angles and practical approaches to any event, idea or assignment
• Saints and sinners: Reporting and writing compelling personality profiles
• Structural rocks upon which stories are built: Fail-safe ways to organize your material
• Disciples of discipline: Understanding and addressing your individual writing habits from the inside-out
• No-penance confessional: Round-robin problem-solving of your own writing challenges

IMPORTANT: Please bring hard-copy printouts of three pieces of your original writing (not heavily edited by someone else), and three different colored highlighter pens. The pieces can be of any style or length, but should be substantive enough to demonstrate writing patterns, and represent the kind of work you typically do.

Jacqui Banaszynski worked in newspapers for 30 years, and now teaches students and professionals around the world. She is a Knight Chair Professorship at the Missouri School of Journalism and a faculty fellow at the Poynter Institute. While at the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, her series “AIDS in the Heartland” won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing. In 1986, her eyewitness account of the African famine was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting.  Projects she has edited have won national awards for business, investigative, social issues, environmental, human interest and sports reporting.

Wednesday

9:00 – 11:30 AM & 3:15 – 5:30 PM

Location: Gateway 3

More than ever before, news design requires careful and strategic approach to information organization and architecture. As news organizations become more and more focused on cross-platform storytelling, redesign has become a significant approach to seeking new solutions and tactics for engaging audiences. Design gives form to content in print and digital environments.

Likewise, every redesign project is different and must reflect the specific readers and community a news organization serves. However, there are a number of phases in the redesign process that should be observed to ensure the project breathes new life into your publication and gives the entire staff – from editorial to advertising – new strategies for telling stories and engaging readers. This workshop will explore the redesign process, including key considerations for typography, color and structure, the successful integration of print and digital products, best practices in prototyping and the art of information layering.

Target Audience: All designers and publications leaders who are considering a redesign or just want to tweak what they already have.

Dr. Jennifer George-Palilonis is a full professor in Ball State University’s Department of Journalism, and the co-director of the Center for Emerging Media Design & Development. She holds a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from the Indiana University School of Informatics & Computing. Since 2002, Palilonis has been a media design consultant, both independently and as an affiliate with Garcia Media Group. She has worked on the redesigns of more than 30 newspapers nationwide. She also worked for the Chicago Sun-Times as a news design editor and the Detroit Free Press as a business art director.

Palilonis is also the author of two books, The Multimedia Journalist (Oxford University Press, 2012) and A Practical Guide to Graphics Reporting (Focal Press, 2006). Her research interests include active reading in mobile environments, multimedia storytelling, the use of multimedia as a teaching and learning tool, blended and online learning, mobile design and development, and information graphics.

In 2012, she was  named the Scripps Howard Journalism & Mass Communication Teacher of the Year; and Ball State presented her with the Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2006, she was named the “Young Alumnus of the Year” by the Ball State University Department of Journalism and “Graduate of the Last Decade” by the Ball State University Alumni Association. Prior to becoming the EMDD co-director, she was the coordinator for the nationally recognized journalism graphics sequence and director of theBall State Digital Publishing Studio

Wednesday

9:00 – 11:30 AM & 3:15 – 5:30 PM

Location: Gateway 2

This workshop is designed to show participants how when done correctly, branding drives sales and increases ad revenue channels; builds the readership base (both print and digital products) by increasing customer retention and  lowering the cost of new customer acquisition; attracts talented, loyal employees; and builds brand awareness and community engagement.

We will discuss foundational elements of strong brands and brand challenges for all tasked with executing their brand plan.  We will dive into discovery, ROI and brand strategy planning tools to use as a guide in tweaking your current brand strategy or establishing a plan for the first time!

Nancy Ann Long is currently an independent marketing and sales consultant providing expertise in advertising, marketing and sales with special emphasis in social and online media.

Nancy worked for the St. Louis Dispatch for 20 years. In her position there as Vice President of Marketing, she oversaw Consumer Marketing, Public/Media Relations, Marketing Operations & Creative Services, Digital and Print Audience Development, Circulation Sales: Acquisition and Retention, Partnership Marketing, Research, Business Development, Merchandising and Retail Promotions.

Nancy earned her Master of Arts, Speech Communication – Emphasis in Public Relations and a Bachelor of Science, Speech Communication from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois.

Educational Sessions

Wednesday

9:00 – 11:30 AM & 3:15 – 5:30 PM

Location: Gateway 5

It makes calls, retrieves email, and sends texts and posts to Twitter. Your modern smartphone likely also shoots great video, and you can use it for real movies. You’ll learn about the tools, software and techniques to take your mobile video to a professional level.

Target Audience: Catholic communicators who want to do more video, either on a budget or from their pocket.

Judd Slivka is an assistant professor of convergence journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism.

He has worked as a reporter at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Arizona Republic. His work has appeared in Slate, ESPN: The Magazine, The American Spectator and the Los Angeles Times. Slivka has served as the lead legal investigator in police brutality cases against “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” and served as principal investigator in a number of multimillion dollar civil lawsuits.

Slivka served as the communications director for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, where he was responsible for all internal and external communications as well as the digital marketing of the Missouri State Parks system. He also served as the agency’s director of information services, responsible for all web presence, social media and IT infrastructure, as well as representing the State of Missouri on joint state-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency committees for information security and electronic transactions.

He has lectured on mobile journalism on three continents.