Upcoming Trainings and Courses: Oct. 4 Edition

Each week, MediaShift will list upcoming online trainings and courses for journalists and media people — with a focus on digital training. We’ll include our new DigitalEd courses, as well as those from Mediabistro, NewsU, and others. If we’re missing anything, or you’d like to pay to promote your training in the “featured training” spot of our weekly post, please contact Mark Glaser at mark [at] mediashift [dot] org. Any non-MediaShift courses in the “featured training” slot are paid placements. Note: Course and training descriptions are excerpts, edited for length and clarity. 

FEATURED TRAININGS

DigitalEd: How to Host Great Live Media Events
Great events don’t happen by accident. It takes a lot of hard work and time to find the right people, book a venue, get good speakers, and then promote, promote, promote! I’ll explain how MediaShift got started in events — with simple mixers — and how we use our entire team to help promote and run events. I’ll also address how media outlets can best make use of their platform before, during and after an event. (Note: We don’t run large conferences, and this training will not focus on those.)
Featured Presenter: Mark Glaser, MediaShift
Date and time: Oct. 5, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $39

DigitalEd: Smarter Audience Analytics for Journalists

Do you get bored reading your own analytics report? Are you only reporting numbers? Analytics are a powerful tool, but only reporting pageviews and other statistics doesn’t change how a newsroom operates. In this online training, we’ll look at how you can put analytics to work for you. What is your baseline? What measures do you use to determine a post’s success? What do analytics tell you about your audience? How can you turn that insight into actionable items by your staff?
Featured Presenter: Elizabeth Stephens, news editor, Columbia Missourian
Date and time: Oct. 6, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $39

Register here!

OCTOBER 2016 

CUNY J+ SuperResearcher
Find even the most elusive sources. Dig up hard-to-find information. Avoid embarrassing mistakes in your news stories, in this series of workshops by the former director of news research at the New York Times.
Date and time: Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25, 2016, 6:30 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City or online webinar
Price: $49 (single workshop); $149 (entire series)

CUNY J+ News Bots
News bots, Twitter bots, Slack bots, chat bots, weather bots… Robot journalism is one of the year’s hot topics as more media brands are experimenting with the automated delivery of news on mobile. In this two-hour workshop, John Keefe, Senior Editor for Data News & Journalism Technology at WNYC, will explain what bots are, how they work and what they may mean for journalism.
Date and time: Oct. 5, 2016, 6:30 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $25

DigitalEd: How to Build and Teach an Online Course
New technology and tools are transforming the learning experience and creating new opportunities — and challenges — for educators at high schools, community colleges, and four-year universities. In this online training, you’ll learn how to organize a course and plan modules in a learning management system — whether you’re transitioning an existing course or starting one from scratch. You’ll also get a chance to try out tech tools to enhance the online educational experience, understand how to develop relationships with students in an online environment and discover new techniques for creating robust discussion among students in the class.
Featured Presenter: Stacy Forster, associate faculty associate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Date and time: Oct. 12, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $39

CUNY J+ FOIA Online
Using Freedom of Information laws in the age of the Internet represents new challenges and new opportunities. The former director of news research at the New York Times, will guide you through the most accessible, mostly free FOIA resources the Internet has to offer, including letter generators, repositories of public documents, tools and organizations.
Date and time: Oct. 12, 2016, 6:30 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $39

NewsU: A Road Map for Surviving Digital Transformation
Digital denial is over. But catching up AND positioning for what lies ahead is no easy trick. Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds works full-time to understand evolving business models. This webinar will include his take on where digital transformation efforts stand and what key issues to expect in 2017.
Date and time: Oct. 13, 2016, 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT
Producer: Poynter News U
Place: Webinar
Price: $29.95

CUNY J+ VR Video: Intro to 360-Degree Shooting and Stitching
This all-day, hands-on workshop teaches the basics of 360° video production and post-production. Participants will practice shooting, stitching and editing 360° video, as well as discuss immersive storytelling techniques, ethics and distribution platforms. Students will work in small guided teams with 6-GoPro camera rigs and the Kolor stitching software.
Date and time: Oct. 14, 2016, 9:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $449

The Art of the Pitch: Selling Your Stories
As the journalism industry evolves, newspapers, magazines, and websites are relying more and more on freelance writers. In fact, there’s no better time to break into journalism as a freelancer—and that means this is the time to learn how to pitch. In this course, taught by a former New York Times editor, learn how to hatch fresh story ideas that will draw editors’ attention and how to portray these ideas in winning ways. Whether your target publication is Buzzfeed or The Wall Street Journal, and whether you write features, profiles, or criticism, the pitch is the key to opening editors’ doors, getting your writing noticed, and getting paid.
Date and time: Oct. 17, 24, 31 and Nov. 7, 2016, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Producer: New York University
Place: New York City
Price: $270

CUNY J+ All About Excel
Get started with spreadsheets with the powerful software Excel. Learn to organize, manipulate and visualize your data to unearth trends and stories.
Date and time: Oct. 19 & 26, 2016, 6:30-9:00 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $199

DigitalEd: Facebook Live for Journalists and Publishers
What makes an engaging, high-quality Facebook Live broadcast? This training will explore what news organizations like NPR and AJ+ are doing to maximize their investment in Facebook Live. In addition, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how success can be measured on Facebook Live. (Here’s a hint: it’s more than simple numbers.)
Featured Presenter: Dale Blasingame, senior lecturer, Texas State University
Date and time: Oct. 20, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $39

Social Media Campaign Strategy
Whether you are launching a new product, service or program or getting the word out about an event, social cause, or candidate, social media is the way to engage with your audience. So how do you make the best use of the platforms available and what are the coolest ways to create engaging social media campaigns?
Date and time: Oct. 21, 2016, 1-5 p.m. PT
Producer: Bay Area Video Coalition
Place: San Francisco
Price: $175 / $150 members

CUNY J+ Data Journalism Bootcamp
This intensive 3-day course will teach you how to find and analyze datasets, how to find stories buried within and to visualize them for powerful narratives. You will be able to use your new skills to work on your personal data project under the guidance of seasoned data journalist Lam Thuy Vo.
Date and time: Oct. 21-23, 2016, 6:30-9:00 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $899

Drone Photography and Videography: Introduction
Drones have been used by park rangers to spot poachers and save rhinos, to show the scope of droughts and deforestation and to cover important events from festivals to protests. In this Introduction to Drones, Sally French, (aka The Drone GIrl) will share her experience as a drone journalist, enthusiast and instructor.
Date and time: Oct. 22, 2016, 10:30-4:30 p.m. PT
Producer: Bay Area Video Coalition
Place: San Francisco
Price: $235 / $195 members

DigitalEd: Smartphone Filmmaking 101
Whether you’re shooting coverage for your high-concept documentary or making a low-budget music video for your band, the smartphone in your pocket can be an invaluable tool for video production. This training will illustrate the use of the iPhone as a low-budget professional production camera. We’ll include short practical tips on shooting techniques. We’ll review and demonstrate some of the emerging technology, apps and software that can be added to a smartphone in order to make it a more robust production camera. While this class will concentrate on how to use an iPhone, most concepts are applicable to all smartphones.
Featured Presenter: Kyle Brannon, assistant professor, American University
Date and time: Oct. 26, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $39

Creating Your Own Augmented Reality – Beginners Workshop
This is a hands-on augmented reality creation workshop foranyone who wants to roll up their sleeves and get started creating in AR. Artists, designers, video editors, social activists, tech-heads, musicians, marketers, and teachers are welcome. No programming knowledge is required. This dynamic three-hour workshop will get you up to date on all of the developments in the world of AR. You will leave with a completed AR project of your own and insider tips on how to create successful augmented reality experiences.
Date and time: Oct. 29, 2016, 1:00-4:00 p.m. PT
Producer: Dream Logic
Place: San Francisco
Price: $100

NOVEMBER 2016 & BEYOND

CUNY J+ Social Media 101 Series
Learn the ins-and-outs and pro tips from professionals who use these platforms every day. Six independent sessions for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, and Instagram.
Date and time: Nov. 1, 8, 15, 29 and Dec. 6, 13, 2016, 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $49 (single workshop); $250 (entire series)

Social Media for Crowdfunding
Social media gets a bad rep for being a solipsistic medium (and crowdfunding for being, you know, beggy), but I have to let you in on a little secret: It’s just about relationships and good business. In this session, learn why social media skills are essential to a successful crowdfunding campaign, how to be a responsible social media citizen, how to plan your social media for an effective campaign, and how to run a campaign that helps you build your audience, raise money, and continue doing what you love the most.
Featured Presenter: Julie Keck, media and communications director, Seed&Spark
Date and time: Nov. 2, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $39

CUNY J+ Intro. to Coding
This class is for journalists and others who want to understand the basics of coding, in particular the HTML, CSS and Javascript languages. News and media employers have consistently listed coding as a sought-after skills and the ability to work with newsroom coders as a management plus.
Date and time: Nov. 2 & 9, 2016, 6:30-9:00 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $199

NewsU: Immersive Storytelling with 360-Degree Video and 3D Virtual Reality
The recent explosion of 360-degree video and virtual reality has opened up new possibilities for visual storytelling. These emerging technologies enable storytellers to capture spaces and experiences from a new perspective, resulting in interactive and immersive content that transports media consumers into stories. In this webinar, you will learn the basics of producing 360-degree videos, 360-degree photos and 3D virtual reality content. We’ll help you find the best equipment, and share the best ways to use it all.
Date and time: Nov. 3, 2016, 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT
Producer: Poynter NewsU
Place: Webinar
Price: $29.95

Virtual Reality Video Production: Introduction
Virtual Reality film offers full immersion into another world and unparalleled connection with characters. As the technology necessary to make VR a reality has finally become accessible, it is our duty as media makers to learn how best to tell captivating stories in this evolving medium. This workshop is your hands-on crash course to being a VR storyteller.
Date and time: Nov. 5, 2016, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. PT
Producer: Bay Area Video Coalition
Place: San Francisco
Price: $345 / $295 members

Virtual Reality Video Post Production: Introduction
Virtual Reality film offers full immersion into another world and unparalleled connection with characters. As the technology necessary to make VR a reality has finally become accessible, it is our duty as media makers to learn how best to tell captivating stories in this evolving medium. This workshop is your hands-on crash course to editing in VR.
Date and time: Nov. 12, 2016, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. PT
Producer: Bay Area Video Coalition
Place: San Francisco
Price: $345 / $295 members

CUNY J+ Incredibly Useful Productivity Tools
During this evening workshop, Jeremy Caplan will guide you through a curated list of current tools to discover, test and compare so you can build your unique, personal toolkit to organize yourself and work better.
Date and time: Nov. 16, 2016, 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City
Price: $25

Online and Social Media Analytics
The key to creating, monitoring, and adjusting campaign strategy and goals begins with understanding the importance of metrics, stats and analytics. With this in mind, digital marketers and development departments need to know best practices for developing campaigns on multiple platforms, how to understand what statistics impact previously set goals and how to use analytics to fine-tune your marketing content.
Date and time: Dec. 2, 2016, 1-5 p.m. PT
Producer: Bay Area Video Coalition
Place: San Francisco
Price: $150 / $125 members

CUNY J+ So You Want to Be in Academia?
This workshop is for journalists who want to teach on the side or transition to academia. Andrew Mendelson, associate dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, will give provide you with a better understanding of the mysteries surrounding college teaching, both full-time and part-time.
Date and time: Dec. 7, 2016, 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET
Producer: CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Place: New York City or online webinar
Price: $25

COURSES ON DEMAND

An Introduction to DocumentCloud
DocumentCloud is a catalog of primary source documents and a tool for annotating, organizing and publishing them on the web. Documents are contributed by journalists, researchers and archivists. We’re helping reporters get more out of documents and helping newsrooms make their online presence more engaging.
Place: online
Producer: Investigative Reporters & Editors
Price: free

Election Coverage: Follow the Money
There are several ways that political funds can play a role in key states, especially during an election year.  You’ll see how to trace money that comes from outside sources to state-based political groups, and how to follow the path of expenditures from the ground game to the air wars.
Place: online
Producer: Investigative Reporters & Editors
Price: free

Marketing with Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr
Market your brand using Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr. This course will give you the knowledge of each of these platforms and enable you to identify the most appropriate ways to implement them to meet your business objectives.
Place: online
Producer: Mediabistro
Price: $149

Skills in 60: Build an Editorial Calendar for Social Media Channels
This in-depth short course will show you how to develop integrated editorial content calendars and establish a robust production and publishing strategy across all your social channels. The video lessons will guide you on how to plan, create, distribute and analyze your editorial calendar for long term success.
Place: online
Producer: Mediabistro
Price: $49

Twitter Marketing
Become a better, smarter marketer with Twitter to generate word-of-mouth, create leads, and grow your business.  From hashtag strategy to deep data dives, influencer outreach to employing an effective posting schedule, you’ll master Twitter 140 characters at a time.
Place: online
Producer: Mediabistro
Price: $129

Whose Truth? Tools for Smart Science Journalism in the Digital Age
As journalists, we ignore science not only at our own peril, but at the peril of our readers, viewers and listeners. In this course, you’ll learn to how make sense of scientific data and tell stories in ways that connect with your audience. You’ll get techniques and tips to improve your interviewing and reporting skills. You’ll also learn how to lift the veil from front groups to launch investigations based on informed fact-gathering. When you’re done, you’ll have a toolkit of ways to identify and overcome the barriers journalists face when reporting on science-related topics.
Place: online
Producer: Poynter’s NewsU
Price: free

Periscope 101: Break News Faster with Mobile Live-Streaming
The power of Periscope means any person can live-stream eyewitness video from anywhere, instantly. Just by pressing a few buttons, the free Periscope app can immediately transport viewers to a breaking news scene. In the hands of a journalist or communications professional, the possibilities are tremendous. Award-winning reporter and mobile journalism trainer Neal Augenstein has developed best practices for this quickly-evolving tool, to enable users to grab and hold an intrigued audience.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19

Social Media Master Class Part I
MediaShift’s Social Media Editor Julie Keck will lead you through using some of the most powerful publishing tools any media professional can use. You can learn how to optimize your feeds, post the right amount each day, and help promote your content or projects better. You can establish yourself as an authority using the right mix of social media platforms and skills. And most of all, it’s fun. Don’t be intimidated or overwhelmed by social media – you can do it!
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19

Social Media Master Class Part II
You’ve established yourself on social media, but you want to grow your audience. How do you get people talking about your content without seeming too self-promoting? Learn to harness the power of #hashtags, run a popular live Twitter chat, find out what’s trending today and how to jump in at the right moment with the right content.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19

DigitalEd: iPhone Audio Reporting 101
The days of carrying recorders, microphones, and cables and cameras are gone – the smartphone is replacing bulky audio gear. This training will show how to use free and inexpensive mobile apps to record and edit audio (as well as video and photos) to creatively engage with audiences. Participants will be encouraged to use a variety of storytelling apps to communicate quickly and effectively.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19

DigitalEd: How to Get Foundation Funding
Have you ever considered getting foundation grants to help support your journalism and media projects? Didn’t know where to start? This training will give an overview of the major foundations and what they typically fund. Major media foundations are going through upheaval, with major reorganizations happening at Knight Foundation, McCormick Foundation, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and others. There will be a discussion of these changes, and how they will affect your chances for grants. And now foundations are supporting both for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19

DigitalEd: 5 Tech Tools to Improve Your Reporting
Whether you’re an investigative journalist or a daily beat reporter, free and low-cost technical tools and apps can help you improve and streamline your reporting. We’ll introduce you to tech tools and platforms that will help you obtain and manipulate data. You’ll learn how to scrape social accounts, without knowing any code. And you’ll discover how to use features that are built into services you already use in more powerful ways. Plus, we’ll look at some popular (free!) project management software and applications to help you collaborate with colleagues and manage reporting projects.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19