Students will pick up some top tips on how to break into journalism, magazines and publishing from the experts this month.
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is hosting the Student Publication Association (SPA) Midlands conference on Saturday March 21.
Katrina Chilver, Midlands regional officer for the SPA and news editor of The Demon, De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU)’s student newspaper, is organising the event. She said: “This is a regional conference for students in the Midlands to come together, get some advice from industry professionals and get inspiration from each other as well.”
The SPA is only in its third year after being formed in 2013, and this will be its first Midlands conference. Katrina said: “This follows on from other regional conferences across the country, and we have got some really good speakers with a wealth of experience in the industry.
“They have experience in a variety of different areas, so there should be something for everyone, as well as being networking opportunities.”
Police media consultant Matt Tapp, of Leicestershire Police press office, will be talking about public relations. Matt, whose background includes working on high-profile cases including the Soham murders and the Madeleine McCann investigation, will give students the benefit of his experience.
“Matt has good links with DMU already, having given talks here before for journalism students. I know his talk will be extremely interesting for everyone, and he also has valuable advice for those looking to get into the industry,” Katrina said.
The former deputy editor of the News of the World's supplement, Fabulous, and editor in chief of digital magazine Handmade, Joely Carey, will be talking about digital content and what publishers are looking for.
Paul Hindle is now Content and Social Media Manager at DMU after working as a newspaper journalist, including 17 years as an entertainment reviewer for The Nottingham Post. He is leading a Q&A session on social media.
Katrina said: “There will also be a swap shop where all student publications are encouraged to bring along copies of their newspapers or magazines plus a Q&A and student media debate to find out what students want from the SPA.
“This is a really good opportunity to showcase the work we do here at Demon Media [DSU’s student media organisation].
“Our TV channel will be filming the event and highlights will go up on their YouTube channel, plus there will be volunteers helping out from across the university. Spa is an up-and-coming organisation and it is a really good opportunity to be involved in helping it grow.”
Tickets for the event, which takes place from 9.30am until 5pm, are £7 per person or £20 for a group of five.
Posted on Monday 9 March 2015