The 10th Oswego Media Summit brings Al Roker, Charlie Rose, and more to speak to students

Photos from Chris O’Neill

OSWEGO, NY(Oswego Now)

“The atmosphere is electric today and you have to almost catch yourself from getting caught up in all of it,” said Patrick Calvin, 2013 Graduate.

And that electric atmosphere that you felt Thursday afternoon in the Ice Arena was the result from a years worth of organization, late-night meetings, phone calls, and a lot of sweat. Dozens of student volunteers from WTOP, WNYO, and other organizations played a huge role in setting-up and running the show.

They had everything covered from the amount of seats on the floor to making sure Al Roker had a working Microphone. With that being said, many people forget or don’t know that the Oswego Media Summit is almost completely put on and organized by the students here at Oswego.

When you look at all that Media Summit has become, it is hard to think that student could be responsible for all of it. This is the reason why many of the students wanted to change the way people think about Media Summit and make sure they know who is running the show. They created t-shirts with the slogan “Remain Calm I’m a Professional with a GPA” on the back and “Oswego Student Media” on the front. Based on what I saw and the compliments I heard from former, and current students, it seems these “Professional’s with a GPA” definitely lived up to their quote.

Yet, while running the show is difficult to begin with, preparing and organizing for it is a completely different battle all together. Preparations for this years Summit started the day after last year’s ended. Marissa Sarbak, Senior Student Event Director for the Media Summit, says there is a lot of pressure to make sure everything goes right and it is all under control.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M23aB_322Mw&feature=youtu.be” width=”420″ height=”480″]J?[/su_youtube]

And all of the time and effort that was put forward by the students who volunteered was almost immediately noticed and applauded by other students on Twitter.

@ScottSasina Having so much more seating and the outstanding job done by students stole the show! #OzMediaSummit — Jordan Dietterich (@J_Dietterich) October 16, 2014

WTOP’s live broadcast drew a large crowd from students and staff alike, many-of-who watched with a look of curiosity while others, mostly professors and alumni, watched with pride nodding their heads and smiling at the “Professionals with a GPA” and seeing all they have, and can, accomplish. The volunteers who helped out this year say Media Summit is something everyone should try to attend because it is inspirational.

“Media Summit is an amazing opportunity for students to network, for students to understand the real power of the community here at Oswego. There are so many opportunities to hear about how somebody started and how you can do the same thing,” said Justin Dobrow, Student Volunteer.

And one of those networking opportunities came directly after the Media Summit, in the form of the Career Connectors panel in the Marano Campus Center.

And the career connectors panel is underway! @OzMediaSummit #OzMediaSummit pic.twitter.com/TZSGTFPlbZ

— david.jpg (@d_hermano10) October 16, 2014

Several recent SUNY Oswego graduates returned to their alma mater to share their wealth of real world experience in their field to student looking to achieve the same amount of success after they graduate.

As discussed by the Career Connectors, one way to optimize that success is through paying strict detail to one’s job resume.

An important point that was brought up was that the quantity of experience is not as important as how the experience listed directly applies to the job your resume is being aimed at.

Cameron Jones, a 2009 SUNY Oswego graduate and operations coordinator for ABC News noted that if he saw on a resume that an applicant had trained people to become managers at their previous position, that would not be enough. He would want to know where those trained managers are now, how they performed, what kind of recognition they have received, and other questions of the like.

Later on in the panel, the step that (ideally) occurs after handing in that refined resume and application was talked about: the job interview.

Jones pointed out that relaxing, making the interview conversational rather than a grilling for facts, and having questions prepared for the interviewer will go a long way in showing the company that an applicant is confident in both themselves and their resume.

Jeremy Donovan, another 2009 graduate and the sports director for WICZ in Binghamton, New York, also added that being yourself and not putting on a different personality is also key during a job interview.

The panel is over but the meet and greet has started! #OzMediaSummit pic.twitter.com/vXYyqtJsnX

— david.jpg (@d_hermano10) October 16, 2014

To the students in attendance that were more worried about finding what they are interested than their resume, useful advice was also given.

On this issue, the biggest point was to not worry about what the people around are doing, or what they are telling you to do. Jones at one point said, “…you are only lost when you compare yourself to someone else”.

The Media Summit’s purpose is just that: a method that helps students forge a passion in broadcasting. It is an event that several of SUNY Oswego’s current students mark on the calendar at the beginning of each school year, and alumni return to the college specifically for.Donovan noted that participating in as many different activities while in school and at internships will gain you a wealth of experience, and can help filter out what a person is truly interested in.

Seeing that the Media Summit is now in its tenth year, it is safe to say the purpose has been more than satisfied.

With all the events at the 10th Oswego Media Summit, students at the school were expecting a lot from this year since Steve Levy, Al Roker, and Charlie Rose were going to speak. Students with communication, journalism, and broadcasting majors gathered in the Marano Campus Center to learn, connect, and hear what professionals had to say.

Jean Louise Bernhoft a double major in broadcasting and meteorology said advice and knowledge from Charlie Rose and Al Roker is what she is looking forward to the most hoping that these professionals can help her.

[su_audio url=”http://oswegonow.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Jean.wav” width=”50%”]

Broadcasting student Matthew Kraut said he was hoping to learn as much as possible from the media summit.

[su_audio url=”http://oswegonow.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/matt.wav” width=”50%”]

Derek Sexton a journalism major said that he was hoping to learn more than just the basics from the media summit panelists this year. The behind the scenes things like ethics and censorship was what he was looking forward to.

[su_audio url=”http://oswegonow.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/d.wav” width=”50%”]

The common theme that students were expecting to get out of the media summit was knowledge about how to business of media is changing and what students can do to stay on top.  The Media Summit did live up to the expectations of the students.  Meeting with Matthew Kraut after the day’s events he said that it is never at a dull moment at the Media Summit from the Cleveland panel this year to the main event but all of them were interesting and knowledgeable.

He went on to say that he will need a day to process the information he learn and cannot wait until to see what can be done next year.  Mia Sampson a freshman broadcasting major with a minor in business said that she was not expecting the main panel to work the way it did but was pleasantly surprised by the discussion especially that students were able to ask questions.

[su_audio url=”http://oswegonow.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Mia.wav” width=”50%”]

From freshman to seniors, the 10th Oswego Media Summit helped the students learn about how the media industry is changing and students are excited to see what can be done next year events and for more to come.