I have to admit right up front — I’m biased. I’m sitting here on a beautiful spring day worrying about yearbooks. Well, not about their survival, about their future. And they have a future — at least we all better hope so.
CLICK HERE to view a slideshow of images.
"Fort Knox" comic strip author Paul Boscacci and me at SIPA.
Yesterday, I went down to Columbia, S.C. for the annual Southern Interscholastic Press Association regional conference. More than 400 students came from all over the Southeastern United States to hear speakers on everything from video editing to basic reporting.
It was great seeing old friends like Mark Murray, Leslie Dennis, Beth Dickey, Jake Palenske, Karen Flowers, Frank LoMonte, Chris Floore, Buck Ryan and all the others. It was great working with such talented students as T.J. Maynes who shot most of the photos in the gallery already online. And it was great teaching classes on how schools can move online efficiently and practically — now — as we went through using Facebook, Twitter, SmugMug, Flickr and other tools. Of course I always enjoy teaching my introductory photojournalism classes. Fun.
There were some frustrating moments as well, every single one of them around phrases such as “I can’t…” or “The administration won’t let us….” Schools that can’t use Facebook because some administrators don’t see the value in modern social networking. Or schools that can’t use Twitter because they don’t see how it can be used in the classroom. Or, can’t use Flickr because of what students ‘might’ be able to find.