Last Friday, Sept. 26, five of The Collegian editors attended Student Journalism and Media Leadership Day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Well, not just attended, our work was recognized as an outstanding entry in a competition we did not know we signed up for.
We expected a series of lectures with a content creation workshop. Just in case, we brought some gadgets for the practical part.
As we arrived, organizers gave us folders. I unfolded mine and saw a two-and-a-half-page press release on the left, and a schedule with a few other printouts on the right. But hiding behind the press release was something called “Competition breakdown.” We had to create a 500-word story, a 60-second video and a five-minute audio piece about any artifact from the “SNL: Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of Music” exhibit.
I looked it over and my initial thought was, “Wow, all of that in TWO hours?! Is it optional?” However, we were already there, so we not only accepted the challenge but took it very seriously.
At first, we had a short get-to-know session with other teams and a panel discussion with a dozen communication and marketing professionals working at the Rock Hall. Meanwhile, we split responsibilities. Dashia took out her recording device and notebook, ready to capture important quotes from employees. She was the one writing the story.
After seeing the exhibit, we sat down to pick our topic. Dashia noted that someone at the panel said their favorite artifact was a ripped-up photo. We were not familiar with Sinéad O’Connor or her performance on “SNL,” but we decided to write about it. First, it is iconic and has drama behind it. Second, it is a niche artifact. If we hadn’t seen it the first time we walked through the exhibit, then most groups probably hadn’t either.
While Chloe and John were drafting the podcast script and Payton and I were working on the video script, Dashia went to take a photo of the ripped-up photo of Pope John Paul II and see if she could interview someone. We were skeptical. How high were the chances of meeting a visitor who could give a meaningful comment on this topic? Dashia returned with an unbelievable update — she brought back a quote from a woman who saw O’Connor’s performance live on TV in 1992. It was our first little win.
Before we split up, I mentioned that among the grading criteria, the last one was a connection to the Rock Hall Mission — showing how music and its history continue to shape culture. And we all showed that in our pieces in different ways. For example, in the audio piece, Chloe ended the conversation by ripping up the paper at the end, and John asked what she was doing. She replied that she was inspired.
Payton and I finished the script and began recording sentence by sentence. All we had was a mic, my phone, a gimbal and one hour before the submission deadline.
I went to a quiet location to edit, while Payton looked for additional footage. On the fourth floor, I saw John and Chloe tucked inside a fake recording booth, still creating the podcast with a phone and two mini mics
It was the fastest I have ever edited a video of that type. It took us longer to upload it to Google Drive than it took me to edit it. There were a few jump cuts and I didn’t smooth out the audio, but sometimes you must set perfectionism aside.
At the end of the day, organizers announced they had selected two winners. When they said, “The Collegian,” I fell out of my chair — literally. Dashia started looking around to see if there was another Collegian. We were astonished.
It was the first such trip for The Collegian, and not the last one, as we were invited to the Inductee Class Media Preview Day in October.
We had a very intense but fun and skill-building day. I am very proud of our team.
