Yeeewheew, I’m Baaaaackkk!!!

Hey guys, so I know it’s been forever since I’ve last blogged but you have to forgive me because for once in my life I’ve actually got a reason :) Yep I really do! And I swear to Gee Oh Dee, it’s not the “I forged my mums signature on an impostor permission slip to get me out of PE” type of reason for neglecting this delightful little page I have going here. Haha exaggerations aside, I’ve been a busy little intern, yes you read right! No really, I’ve been fortunate enough to land not one but TWO internships at two awesome magazines so please forgive me. Even though I’ve been so inspired and I’ve written little notes and posted links to some awesome blog ideas in my Iphone, I’ve been too busy to chase them up and actually sit down and write them out in a half decently entertaining way for you guys because even when I’m not interning I’ve had a shitload of Uni work to attend to! This semester has been seriously killing my …ahh wait what is it called again? Oh yes a life! I kind of forgot about that due to the fact that I actually lost the little life I had, but I’m back on board and it’s all thanks to the inspiration I got from the fabulous wordsmith lane blogger and all round nice girl Sarah Ayoub! But more on her later…

So on Thursday the 6th of May I attended the Walkley Foundation’s Media Pass Student Industry Day! It was held at Redfern Townhall, probably irrelevant to everyone else out there, but for my fellow aspiring journo’s you should seriously be kicking yourself… no, launching yourself into oncoming traffic for missing out on such an awesome event!

So I know there were more exciting things happening last week AKA ROSEMOUNT AUSTRALIAN FASHION WEEK!!! (Of which I shall blog about ASAP, so be on the lookout to hear about how I bluffed my way into RAFW and my take on the bizarre events that took place during the show)

But honestly, I’m so happy I attended this year! For those of you who are unaware of the Media Pass Student Industry Day, it basically gives us final year kids a chance to hear from a few awesome peeps in the industry. Now I attended last year… well I just sort of showed up as an interested 2nd year and posed as a final year student and listened to everything everyone said (of course I asked a million questions too). Last year was pretty good and even more so because there was a big group of UWS girls, however the members of my entourage were no where to be found :( actually most of them were busy interning and couldn’t make it! So clearly, I was forced to sit there and take in what each speaker was saying and even wait for it (so proud of myself) take notes!!! Most of them were mental notes of course lol it is me after all, but I’m so happy I did turn up because the guys from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and Walkley Foundation really outdid themselves this year, the line up was pretty much on par with that of Future music festival :)

The day started off with a bang, what I thought consisted of the best panel, ranging from inspiring young Freelancer and media studies researcher at USYD Sarah Ayoub, Channel Nine news reporter Tom Steiford and the lovely Yalda Hakim, who is a video journalist at the SBS!

It was amazing to watch such a range of journo’s communicate with each other up on stage, each of them obviously from different walks of life yet they all shared one passion, the passion as a journo to get the msg across whether it be via video or written in print. Now most of you may not know (yet!) but I often cop a lot of flack from my girls for my absolute adoration for certain people in the industry aka the Mia Freedman’s, Lisa Wilkinson’s, Nedahl Stelio’s, Sarah Wilson’s and the Zoe Foster’s of the world. I know, I know I’m a nerd and I understand that yes all five of these women worked in magazines, I am and I will quote my friend Karina here an absolute “MAG WHORE.”

I totally accept the above title, but after hearing the “Making it in the media” panelists speak I learnt something:

1)Not only was Sarah a lifesaver for launching wordsmithlane.com but it was okay to doubt yourself every now and again.

2)Oh, it also confirmed that I definitely want to be a Journo!

Meet the peeps:
Sarah was warm and genuine, as expected. Ps I was familiar with Sarah and her work as we were twitter buddies prior to the event and I thank God for the day she sent me a link to her blog :) But seriously, believe me when I say I’m not being bias in regards to this group!

Tom was very confident, it was quite obvious he was a news reporter and his story was quite interesting, it turns out he got lucky in his second year at Uni when he got accepted to intern for WIN TV where he worked hard for a few years and found himself being promoted to Channel Nine news less than a year ago. And clearly he had no issues keeping the attention of the girls in the room, ifyaknowwhatImean.

The third speaker absolutely blew my mind. I have to admit it guys… I think I have a girl crush on Yalda Hakim. Honestly, she was so well spoken, so educated, the type of person that made me feel like I should probably remove at least 2 of the… “Wait, how many mags does ACP publish again?” Anyways…the number of magazines I carry out of my handbag and replace them with an extra textbook to read on the train. Her presence was startling; she was quite possibly one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. Btw, I mean beautiful not fake tanned, push-up bra, with half a can of hairspray melted into her scalp type of beautiful.

Anyways, the day went on and a few more workshops took place but the other highlight of my day was after lunch during the “Pick me: Advice from Employers” workshop, the editor of Cleo, Miss Sarah Oakes was present and along side her was Heather Forbes, the staff director from ABC and the witty training and development director Jock Cheetham, from Fairfax.

Thanks to my awesome Radio and Television Journalism tutors I had actually heard Ms. Heather Forbes speak at Uni just two weeks ago so I wasn’t really fussed and gave my notebook and my right hand a much needed break from my aggressive note taking. However, I was pleased to see that Sarah had remembered me (how embarrassing!) as I’d run into her about a week before Industry day and introduced myself lol pretty sure my afro hair wasn’t hard to miss ;-) In short, that workshop was definitely relevant as they each spoke of the qualities they look for in a young journalist…I’m pretty sure I noted every tip Sarah was kind enough to share with us!



PS If any of you guys are interested in attending next year or anything Walkley Foundation related, hit up Allison at http://twitter.com/walkleys.

PPS they’ve extended the deadline to apply for Media Super Student Journalist of the Year Award so get to it – enter now! The winner will be announced at the Young Journalist of the Year Awards and also receives an invite to the Walkley Awards – it’s worth a try and hey I’m pretty sure that’ll get at least half your foot in the door. Even if you have like, massive Paris Hilton style feet ;-) Haha I’m actually still considering whether to enter or not, but I’ll keep you guys posted!

As always, much love Abi! xxx