Career Development

Modern Media Conference gives exposure to career options

The schedule of the conference was cleverly designed as a newspaper to match the journalistic theme of the event.

Recently, I was able to attend the sixth annual Modern Media Conference at Georgia State University as a part of my internship with Pegasus Creative, Oglethorpe’s student communication agency in University Communications.

This year’s conference featured keynote speaker D.W. Pine, creative director for TIME Magazine, and panels like “Let ‘em Know It’s YOU: Develop Your Own Media Personality,” “Writing Your First Novel: Advice From Someone Who’s Done It,” and “Radio as a 21st Century Career,” just to name a few.

The Georgia State campus welcomed attendees—like me—from other universities and organizations from around Atlanta. The student center buzzed with energy and excitement, and the hallways and classrooms were lined with people with cameras bigger than I had ever seen (and most likely more expensive than my college tuition!). Students crowded around media luminaries, such as CNN correspondents Ciara Frisbie and Nick Valencia, Atlanta-Journal Constitution political reporter Greg Bluestein, and of course, keynote speaker D.W. Pine.

One of the most influential panels I attended was “Your Film, Your Vision, Your Time,” with director, writer, and entrepreneur Dontell Antonio, who spoke about his latest film The Hopeless Journey. Although the panel’s centerpiece was the film itself, the discussion among attendees included everything from entrepreneurship and how to finance independent projects, to the writing process and how to edit your own work, to the importance of coloring in visual media.

As someone who is minoring in the broad field of communication, it was interesting to see how expansive nearly all careers in the field are. Although you may focus in a visual medium such as film, there are prominent aspects of writing, editing, and photography that you must also practice regularly. And as someone who has yet to choose which career path to take, the fact that practicing one passion doesn’t necessarily exclude others was comforting.

My experiences at the 2017 Modern Media Conference made post-college life as an English major / communications minor seem a lot less scary and uncertain. As a student who admittedly gets caught in Oglethorpe’s “OgleBubble” at times, it was energizing and inspiring to be among so many professionals out in the real world practicing the professions I’ve dreamed of—and succeeding.

Pegasus Creative intern Lexi Covalsen, far right, poses with the other attendees of the “Your Film, Your Vision, Your Time” panel.

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