This past week at convention has been a great learning experience for us as well as the members of our staff that went along. We are excited to bring back all of the information we learned to our staff. We both plan on bringing back a new-found enthusiasm for journalism that we can share with our staff.  We are also so proud of our staff members for their dedication throughout the weekend. Convention was an incredible learning experience and everyone that attended was very focused and ready. We are proud of everyone and their accomplishments this weekend.

Sarah speaking:

This year’s convention marks my third convention as a staff member. As I have found in the past, the convention was an exciting and inspiring event. I love seeing thousands of other people that might not think I am crazy for practically living in the journalism room. Our staff attended information sessions, participated in write-off contests and snuck in time to go to the Mall of America. For me, this convention was a bit bittersweet. I will probably not be attending another convention and it won’t be long until I will leave high school journalism behind. As Jill talks about, neither our paper or website placed in the best of show competition. Last year both place and our website even got tenth place. Initially, I was disappointed. After reflecting on the week, however, I realized I couldn’t be more proud of the work the JagWire has produced this year. Readership of the paper is as high as ever, and our website has again and again reached new milestones in page views and reader interaction. I believe our paper provides consistent coverage of topics relevant to students and I don’t need an award to assure me of it.

Jill speaking:

This weekend is definitely a weekend I won’t forget. I took mainly classes on design and it is always nice to get out and see what other schools and publications are doing with their designs. I like coming back with new ideas and new enthusiasm and being able to share that with the staff. This weekend also made me think about how I had decided that journalism wasn’t a possible career. I am definitely reconsidering because it is something that I am good at and enjoy more than anything else, so I don’t know why I would try to force myself in another direction.  On another topic, our staff didn’t place in best of show for the paper or the website which was definitely a little bit of a letdown. However, I don’t want anyone to think that this is any type of testament to a lack of effort this year. I think this year has been the best year of all the years I’ve been on staff for enthusiasm. Everyone works so hard and winning awards is by no means a measure of that.  I’m excited to see where the rest of this year takes us as a staff and I think we will continue to do a great job.

Lessons of the week:

1. Winning awards is not a testament to hard work.

2. Sometimes it’s good to get outside of our box and see new things.

Lesson 14 of being an editor-in-chief: Check.