Changing the community … in 24 hours

A group of Mass Comm students is preparing for a mid-spring-break 24-hour creative blitz, when they will work in teams to produce marketing and advertising services for 12 area nonprofits.

CreateAthon onCampus is the first program of its kind on a university campus, initiated at VCU by Associate Professor Peyton Rowe.

“The CreateAthon program started by RIGGS is such a rich and rewarding experience,” Rowe said. “Since my first CreateAthon in 2004, I’ve always wanted to bring this intense and fulfilling experience to students.”

The School of Mass Communications’ initiative is registered as a topics course MASC 491: Nonprofit Project Development.

More than 20 undergraduate students from the school, 20 graduate students from the Brandcenter and nearly two dozen local professionals will participate in CreateAthon onCampus around the clock, starting at 8:30 a.m. on March 13, 2008. During the creative blitz, participants will create and develop advertising and marketing projects at no cost to selected nonprofits in an effort to help them fulfill their missions.

Rowe says the results from the professional CreateAthon programs that she has participated in have been invaluable for client organizations.

“CreateAthon projects give these nonprofit organizations the opportunity to focus on what they do best – helping others,” She said.

Public relations coordinator and PR senior Carrie Lefler has worked with Rowe on the CreateAthon onCampus from its planning stages. Lefler participated in the professional version in fall 2007 in Richmond at PUNCH and now is excited to work with her peers and professionals at VCU.

“It’s great to be a part of such an exciting opportunity,” she said, “and be able to see how this idea has grown into an actual event.”

The VCU program is based on the professional CreateAthon, which was started in 1998 by RIGGS advertising agency in South Carolina and is now a national program and network that annually supports nonprofits.

“It’s truly amazing to help people who don’t have the funds to fulfill their good will to help the community,” Lefler said.

Creative advertising senior David Canavan will volunteer on one of the working teams. He says the experience from the program would be beneficial for both students and client nonprofits.

“It’s a good cause and I think it’s going to give me a lot of experience that’s really valuable to me as a student,” Canavan said.

Following the pilot program at VCU, Rowe plans to offer CreateAthon onCampus to other universities and spread the idea to more students and nonprofits.

For more information about CreateAthon onCampus, visit http://www.createathononcampus.org/

A list of selected nonprofit organizations:

Richmond Friends of the Homeless

The Faces of HOPE

Coordinators2inc

Twin Saddles Therapeutic Riding, Inc.

Richmond Affiliate, Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Lifelong Learning Institute, Chesterfield

Virginia Council for Economic Education

Offender Aid and Restoration of Richmond, Inc.

Jackson-Feild Homes for Girls

Connect Richmond

The James House

The United Virginia chapter of the National Hemophilia Foundation

For Capital News Service reporters, every day includes state politics

Tied to the Virginia General Assembly, the everyday life of some Mass Comm students has a dose of state politics.

Capital News Service (MASC 475) student reporters cover the legislative session for a number of media outlets across the state. Associate Professor Jeff South leads the class. He says CNS is as professional as established news organization.

“CNS is an opportunity for students to compete against the 'big dawgs' at the Capitol – The Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Virginian-Pilot,” South said.

“CNS students go head-to-head with veteran reporters in covering the top stories – the state budget, for example, and proposals to ban smoking in restaurants. In my opinion, the CNS reporters often beat the pros – in part because the students look at what's happening in the General Assembly with a fresh set of eyes. What the students may lack in experience, they make up for in enthusiasm.”

Graduating senior Suzanne Hoyle spends an average of two hours a day working for her client newspapers.

“To me, CNS has been a great learning experience in helping me to build relationships with local officials,” Hoyle said. “I feel like this is a learning experience that I can take with me into the real world.”

Hoyle said she usually focuses on one story at a time until it’s ready to file to CNS copy desk. Hoyle has been assigned to cover the GA for the Petersburg Progress-Index and the Smithfield Times. She said that the editors she has communicated with have also enhanced her experience in CNS.

“The most valuable thing (I’ve learned) is working with Virginia publications,” Hoyle said. “I was able to learn what they need and how to cater to them.”

Former CNS reporter and copy editor Patrick Kane said the class helped him to not only become a better reporter, but also open up to people.

“CNS showed me how much I enjoy the action and drama of Virginia politics,” Kane said. “It helped me overcome some of my shyness. It is definitely my long-term goal to cover a statehouse.”

Kane, who is now staff writer at the Petersburg Progress-Index, covered two legislative sessions. He said that even in his current job as a reporter, the CNS experience comes in handy.

“At our small daily, we can't keep a reporter at the legislature,” Kane said. “However, my knowledge of how everything works in Richmond helps me keep tabs on our region's lawmakers and proposed bills that would affect our area.”

The class is in session while the General Assembly is, starting every January. For three upper-level Mass Comm credits, CNS student reporters gain hands-on experience and portfolio clips from newspapers from all around the state.

The client list includes the Washington Examiner, Richmond.com and Rappahannock News. The class enrolls an increasing number of students every year with a record of 23 students, including a multimedia producer and a graphic artist this session. A new aspect of the class is multimedia.

“This year, CNS made its first serious effort to branch into television reports and multimedia news, such as slide shows and podcasts,” South said. “You can see CNS on VCU InSight, the school's public affairs show on PBS. I hope we'll be doing more of that in the future.”

For a second time this year, the School of Mass Communications expanded the learning opportunities for CNS students by adding a second class to make the reporting process easier. The new class, Topics: CNS Copy Editing (MASC 491) enrolled six students as copy editors under the guidance of adjunct journalism professor Mary Ann Owens. Copy editors meet on Friday to polish the stories before they are sent to clients.

Close to the end of the legislative session, Hoyle now says she found CNS to be easier than she had initially thought.

“With the guidance of the professors, I knew exactly what needed to be done, which made it easier than I expected,” she said.

Kane’s advice to future CNS reporters is be consistent and start laying the groundwork for their reporting early.

“Spend time at the Capitol early and often,” he said. “Have the relationships with the lawmakers you will be following solidly in place before school starts, so you have a good head start.

“Also, follow a handful of bills that you can write about again and again as they progress through the lawmaking process.”

Pre-majors' deadlines approaching

Pre-majors need to keep in mind a couple of important dates that are coming up this semester:

• Feb. 28… Deadline to Register for MASC 203-Writing for Mass Media
  (summer and fall semesters)
• March 6… Deadline for Completing Petition to Major

MASC 203—Writing for Mass Media

One of the courses pre-majors need to complete is MASC 203 – Writing for Mass Media, which follows pre-requisite Mass Comm and English classes. Once students have completed Writing and Rhetoric workshop I (ENGL 101) or Focused Inquiry I and II (UNIV 111-112); Introduction to Mass Communications (MASC 101) and computer literacy, they are able to take MASC 203; a gateway course to the upper-level. Students must fill out and submit paperwork for this course; they must obtain an override form in order to register for MASC 203.

Download the full list of prerequisites, requirements and instructions now.

The deadline for completed paperwork is Feb. 28, 2008 for both summer and fall semesters. Paperwork may be picked up and dropped off at the Mass Comm office, with student worker Danielle Shutt.

Petition to Major

Another important step in the Mass Comm program is going from a pre-major to a major status. Students must petition to enter the upper-level. During the semester students are enrolled in MASC 203, they need to choose a specific major in the school (i.e., print or broadcast journalism, creative or strategic advertising, or public relations).

Download the Petition to Major application and instructions now.

The deadline for completed applications for fall entry to the upper-level is March 6, 2008. Student Advisor Natasha Long handles the paperwork.

If you have any questions about the procedures or the paperwork, contact Long at (804) 827-3722.

Associate Professor Bonnie Newman Davis offers a glimpse of a recent trip to Ghana

Associate Professor of Journalism Bonnie Newman Davis delivers a compelling account of a recent trip by students from the VCU School of Social Work to Accra, Ghana.

Read the feature story, which appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

See a gallery of images taken by photographer Doug Buerlein.

Audrey Thomson joins the Virginia Council on Economic Education

The School of Mass Communications said good-bye to a valuable member of its staff Friday. On Friday, Feb, 8, Audrey Thomson spent her last day as the school’s director of development and alumni relations, before becoming director of development with the Virginia Council on Economic Education, housed in the VCU School of Business.

The council is a non-profit that promotes economic literacy in grades K-12.

During her last days at the School, Thomson said she has appreciated the opportunity to work with the Mass Comm community.

“I leave with gratitude for the opportunity to serve here and for the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and donors with whom I've come in contact and with whom I've built relationships,” Thomson said. “It is bittersweet to leave friends and colleagues behind as I look forward to my new adventure.”

Director Judy VanSlyke Turk wrote to faculty in January that Thomson was a great staff member who had contributed a great deal to the school.

"Audrey brought considerable professional development experience and expertise to the school and VCU," Turk wrote, adding that under Thomson’s leadership, the school “completed the endowment of the Crutchfield Scholarship; secured a 10-year pledge to support a new visiting professorship in the area of interactive marketing, created an Alumni Advisory Board and has taken the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame to higher levels of visibility and sponsorship.”

In addition to her efforts to continue established programs and scholarships, Thomson undertook the first-ever faculty and staff campaign in the school and the College of Humanities and Sciences.

Thomson leaves the School with nostalgic feelings about her colleagues and students.

“I will miss the students hanging out in the airport lounge outside my office,” she said. “What a joy to see and hear their creative wheels spinning as the next advertising gurus, newspaper reporters, broadcast personalities and PR practitioners come into their own. This school has much to be proud of. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it.”

Legendary designer, Massimo Vignelli, to speak at VCU

Tom Gresham
University News Services

RICHMOND, Va. – Massimo Vignelli, the legendary designer, will speak at Virginia Commonwealth University next week about his career and his views on design.

Vignelli’s lecture is scheduled for Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m. at the Grace Street Theater, 930 W. Grace Street. The event is free and open to the public.

Vignelli designed the signage for the New York City and Washington, D.C., subway systems, the U.S. National Park System and Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, among many other projects over the years. His work with Vignelli Associates, which he established with his wife, Lella, includes graphic and corporate identity programs, publication designs, architectural graphics, and exhibition, interior, furniture and consumer product designs.

Vignelli, a staunch modernist, has also seen his work exhibited and entered into the permanent exhibits of numerous museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Montreal and the Die Neue Sammlung in Munich.

“Massimo Vignelli is the foremost proponent of modernism in this country, as well as one of its most articulate and passionate defenders,” said Jamie Mahoney, assistant professor of Graphic Design. “It is exciting to have him visit VCU.”

Vignelli’s appearance is being hosted by the VCU School of the Arts Department of Graphic Design.

Celebrities gone wild: What's the impact?

Join the Richmond Times Dispatch for its latest Public Square topic: Celebrities Gone Wild: What’s the real impact?

Details:
Tuesday, February 19
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
300 East Franklin Street, Downtown

Learn more now!

School of Mass Comm prepares to award more than $10,000 in scholarships

Financing college may not be as difficult as many think. At least not when money is coming from scholarships and doesn't need to be paid back.

The School of Mass Communications again this year is getting ready to award more than $10,000 to its students. The scholarships are awarded based on academic achievements, motivation for future realization and need. Director Judy VanSlyke Turk said students shouldn’t hesitate to apply for the scholarships.

"I would definitely encourage Mass Comm students to apply for one or more scholarships," she said. "I think sometimes students feel they wouldn't stand a chance but that's not the case. We have some great scholarships that are just waiting to be matched with the right student!"

Applications are available for pick up at the main Mass Communications office on second floor of Temple Building.

You also can download the application here!

Criteria for the scholarships vary, but all require that the applicant be returning to VCU for the Fall 2008 semester.

The last day for submitting application packages at the Mass Communications office is Monday, February 18, 2008.

VCU and School of Mass Comm open houses give students a chance to learn more

The School of Mass Communications will open its doors at on Saturday, Feb. 2, for interested high school students. The school's open house is staged to begin after the university welcomes students at the Siegel Center at 9 a.m.

After the university's session, the School of Mass Comm will offer informational sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Students and their families will gather in a Temple Building lecture hall: Room #1164.

At the School of Mass Comm's open house, students will learn about the five sequences (print journalism, broadcast journalism, creative and strategic advertising, and public relations), expectations of life at VCU and job opportunities and prospects for graduates of the programs.

The Mass Communications sessions will consist of an overview about the school, tours of its facilities, and a question & answer period. During the tours, students will visit the VCU InSight TV studio, and PC and Mac labs.

School of Mass Communications Director Judy VanSlyke Turk will kick things off with an introduction to the school. Advertising Professor Will Sims will lead the advertising tour, Journalism Professor Marcus Messner – the journalism tour, and PR Junior Leah Rullman – the public relations tour.

For more information about the university's open house, visit http://www.ugrad.vcu.edu/openhouse/

Advertising Professor Will Sims, Journalism Professor Marcus Messner,
and PR Junior Leah Rullman are leading tours atthe School of Mass Comm’s
Feb. 2 open house.