Dainty cakes and talking heads
The dog won’t look at me, the kids are feeling neglected and my husband is tiring under the weight of the dual role of primary caregiver and breadwinner.
And that's because instead of being with them I am spending my days this week at the Walkley Media Conference 2010 hobnobbing with colleagues and strangers, eating dainty cakes, drinking copious amounts of sponsored coffee and watching the talking heads that are the VIPs of the media industry.
I have plenty of highlights from the conference, the biggest of which are said dainty cakes. They are to die for, quite literally, with all that sugar and fat now pulsing through my veins.
My lowlight was hearing no less than five Mark Latham jibes in 24 hours. Can't we just forget him already?
Anyhoo, it’s all been worth it because I feel enlightened. I have gleaned quite a lot of information that, I believe, will make some aspects of my work days as a freelance journalist a little more efficient and fun.
I came to the conference, in part, to learn some techy skills, and many of the presenters have certainly given me that so I am happy to share my newfound knowledge here.
Newfound techy skills
Let me begin with what I learnt at Google’s offices overlooking the water at Pyrmont, Sydney; they have Guitar Hero, free chips, chocolates and colourful mobiles hanging from the ceilings.
Okay, so one would hope I learnt more than the fact that Google isn’t stingy with staff refreshments and office equipment. Luckily, I did.
One cool tool I discovered was Google Insights for Search. This nifty online tool allows you to easily sift through trends data that can paint a picture of what Google users are looking for and when.
Google’s Kate Conroy showed us, for example, how more Australians search for information on Julia Gillard’s earlobes than on Kevin Rudd’s gall bladder. What the?!!! was my first thought, but apparently you can’t argue with 'the search beat of a nation’.
Now, I would hate to think any journo would ever use this data as the only source of statistics for a broader trends-based article, but in tandem with credible, well-sourced data this can certainly help in a journalist’s research of painting a picture of what internet users are trawling for.
The other Google gadget that piqued my interest was Google fast flip, which allows you to instantaneously flip through news in a user-friendly, aesthetic format. (And, no, I won't go into the debate that Google doesn't pay for the content it uses. That's for another post.)
Meanwhile, the fast-talking folk at Google also encouraged us to check out the tutorials and videos on You Tube’s reporters center. They have videos on everything from interview techniques and presenting a story to production tips.
But one of the biggest Google tips I gleaned came courtesy of digital media consultant Claire Wardle in her social media presentations with University of Canberra journalism lecturer Julie Posetti. She informed us that Google's advanced search function was grossly underutilised by many Google users, and I put myself in that category.
By filtering, eliminating and fiddling with the search criteria, we can quite literally, ‘Wrap Google around your little finger,' explained Claire.
So from now on, that’s what I intend to do - wrap Google around my finger. (Hell, I can’t do it with the kids or the dog or the hubby, so I'll give it a go with Google.)
The other internet tool that Claire encouraged us to play around with was Netvibes. After just one hour navigating this tracking tool, I am a convert. As a person whose inbox collects about 50 emails every night from the many blogs, news feeds and occasionally-informative websites I subscribe to, I need my own personal filing clerk, so Netvibes has come to my rescue.
Claire also highly recommends delicious social bookmarking for sifting through and collecting the updates on specific news yarns we’re chasing.
Anyone interested in finding out more about a few of these tools can also find training handouts on Claire's website.
So, on that note I will now leave you to do what I intend to do over the next few weeks - collate my newfound techy knowledge and jump online to play, play, play.
For those of you coming to Thursday's conference sessions - dedicated to freelancers - maybe pop in to my session on Setting Up Your Freelance Business and say hi.
And that's because instead of being with them I am spending my days this week at the Walkley Media Conference 2010 hobnobbing with colleagues and strangers, eating dainty cakes, drinking copious amounts of sponsored coffee and watching the talking heads that are the VIPs of the media industry.
I have plenty of highlights from the conference, the biggest of which are said dainty cakes. They are to die for, quite literally, with all that sugar and fat now pulsing through my veins.
My lowlight was hearing no less than five Mark Latham jibes in 24 hours. Can't we just forget him already?
Anyhoo, it’s all been worth it because I feel enlightened. I have gleaned quite a lot of information that, I believe, will make some aspects of my work days as a freelance journalist a little more efficient and fun.
I came to the conference, in part, to learn some techy skills, and many of the presenters have certainly given me that so I am happy to share my newfound knowledge here.
Newfound techy skills
Let me begin with what I learnt at Google’s offices overlooking the water at Pyrmont, Sydney; they have Guitar Hero, free chips, chocolates and colourful mobiles hanging from the ceilings.
Okay, so one would hope I learnt more than the fact that Google isn’t stingy with staff refreshments and office equipment. Luckily, I did.
One cool tool I discovered was Google Insights for Search. This nifty online tool allows you to easily sift through trends data that can paint a picture of what Google users are looking for and when.
Google’s Kate Conroy showed us, for example, how more Australians search for information on Julia Gillard’s earlobes than on Kevin Rudd’s gall bladder. What the?!!! was my first thought, but apparently you can’t argue with 'the search beat of a nation’.
Now, I would hate to think any journo would ever use this data as the only source of statistics for a broader trends-based article, but in tandem with credible, well-sourced data this can certainly help in a journalist’s research of painting a picture of what internet users are trawling for.
The other Google gadget that piqued my interest was Google fast flip, which allows you to instantaneously flip through news in a user-friendly, aesthetic format. (And, no, I won't go into the debate that Google doesn't pay for the content it uses. That's for another post.)
Meanwhile, the fast-talking folk at Google also encouraged us to check out the tutorials and videos on You Tube’s reporters center. They have videos on everything from interview techniques and presenting a story to production tips.
But one of the biggest Google tips I gleaned came courtesy of digital media consultant Claire Wardle in her social media presentations with University of Canberra journalism lecturer Julie Posetti. She informed us that Google's advanced search function was grossly underutilised by many Google users, and I put myself in that category.
By filtering, eliminating and fiddling with the search criteria, we can quite literally, ‘Wrap Google around your little finger,' explained Claire.
So from now on, that’s what I intend to do - wrap Google around my finger. (Hell, I can’t do it with the kids or the dog or the hubby, so I'll give it a go with Google.)
The other internet tool that Claire encouraged us to play around with was Netvibes. After just one hour navigating this tracking tool, I am a convert. As a person whose inbox collects about 50 emails every night from the many blogs, news feeds and occasionally-informative websites I subscribe to, I need my own personal filing clerk, so Netvibes has come to my rescue.
Claire also highly recommends delicious social bookmarking for sifting through and collecting the updates on specific news yarns we’re chasing.
Anyone interested in finding out more about a few of these tools can also find training handouts on Claire's website.
So, on that note I will now leave you to do what I intend to do over the next few weeks - collate my newfound techy knowledge and jump online to play, play, play.
For those of you coming to Thursday's conference sessions - dedicated to freelancers - maybe pop in to my session on Setting Up Your Freelance Business and say hi.
For more information about Pamela Wilson or WriteSmart, log on to http://www.writesmart.com.au/