Journalism Bootcamp: Thriving in a Changing Industry

The National Press Club Journalism Institute's Bootcamp is an intense, one-day immersion in everything you need to know to find your next job or help do the one you have better. Improve your search, enhance your networking skills and navigate the increasingly complex world of social media. You can also polish your resume and pick up tips on data-powered reporting.

Space is limited, so register now! Cost is $15 for students and National Press Club members, $40 for nonmembers. NPC members should login to get the discount code.

Please note: Bloomberg editor Jodi Schneider, a veteran recruiter and trainer of journalists, will be providing resume advice. If you would like a one-on-one resume analysis, bring along a copy of your resume or send her an electronic version to [email protected].

8:30 – 900 a.m. Registration and Breakfast – First Amendment Lounge

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. Welcome– Angela Greiling-Keane, National Press Club vice president

9:15 – 10:45 a.m. Breakout Sessions
Career – Winners’ Room, Nancy Mitchell, Hard Wire Your Soft Skills
Join The Etiquette Advocate, Nancy Mitchell, to polish your people skills and raise your etiquette IQ. Companies call these soft skills, but they are a hardworking tool in your tool kit. Improve your etiquette skills and not only will you outclass the competition, but you will build better relationships.

Journalism Skills - Bloomberg Room, Natalie Vernon of Google's Politics and Elections Don't 'Get Lucky,' Get Scoops
Searching with Google is simple and easy. But if you're searching as part of your job, you can take it up a level or two with new techniques. These can help you narrow your search and help you find what you need faster on deadline, or for a bigger project.

10:45 – 11:00 a.m. Coffee Break – First Amendment Lounge

11:00 - 12:15 p.m. Small Group Sessions
Career – Winners’ Room, Jodi Schneider, Bloomberg News, The Resume Doctor
As technology and the news business changes, so do employers' expectations for resumes. Bloomberg editor Jodi Schneider, a veteran recruiter and trainer of journalists, will be providing resume advice. If you would like a one-on-one “check-up” analysis, bring along a copy of your resume or send her an electronic version to [email protected]

Journalism Skills- Bloomberg Room, Matt Stiles, NPR, Data-powered reporting, Five Tips You Can Use Monday Morning for Tuesday's Story
Data-powered reporting doesn’t have to be a massive, weeks-long project. Find out ways you can do meaty, quick-turnaround stories with the help of readily accessible data.

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Networking Lunch - How to get Hired – Advice from the Deciders
Once you have the perfect resume and great networking skills, you still need to get in the door. Come hear the perspective from the other side of the interview table with the editor who hires for one of Washington's most dynamic publications and the woman who guarded the personnel gates for 14 years at The Washington Post and now works to increase readership at newspapers across the country.

• Beth Frerking, Assistant Managing Editor, Politico


• Jeanne Fox- Alston, vice president Newspaper Association of America Foundation, director of recruiting & hiring at The Washington Post

1:45 – 3: 00 p.m. Small Group Sessions
Career – Holeman Lounge, The Promise and Perils of Social Media
″Build your own brand″ is common advice today for journalists. It makes sense, but there are plenty of stories on the industry blogs about journalists under fire for breaking unwritten rules. This session will offer tips on how to promote your brand, how to protect your reputation and how to figure out those unwritten rules.

• Kevin Goldberg, attorney at Fletcher Heald & Hildreth and expert in media law.


• Mandy Jenkins, digital projects editor and social media strategist/ trainer at Digital First.


• Polly Wood, team leader for special project at www.reputation.com

Career – Bloomberg Room, The Freelancers’ Life: How to Make Going It Alone Work

• Karen Thuermer has been freelancing since 1992. She is the previous editor of various magazines, including Global Trade, Development, and Electronic Market Trends.


• Donald Graul, president of American Independent Writers


• Jackie Jones, career coach and former assignment editor for The Washington Post