What to Expect at this Year’s 40th Annual Media Day

School of Communication, Film and Media students are getting in gear for the 40th Annual Media Day held on March 8 and 9. This year’s in-person event will host panelists, workshops, awards and networking with communication professionals.        

“This is the first year that we have broken it into two days,” said Professor Kelly Williams. “Media has become this event where we try to do a lot of things for a lot of different purposes. We broke it into different days to align goals in different ways.”

            Williams is a professor who specializes in Public Relations. She has been an integral part in planning Media Day for the past several years.

The first day of the event on March 8 will feature a series of panelists, several who are UWG alumni.       Panelists will discuss the current state of their industries, describe their career paths, and offer insightful tips for students entering those fields. Students will have a chance to ask the panelists questions. Panelists represent careers from broadcast media, public relations, journalism, film and video production and social media.

 “The first day is going to [have] a focus on listening and engaging with the panelists,” said Williams.            

After the panelists and the student showcase will be the opportunity for students to get involved with different organizations on campus in the form of a mini-coaching session. Organizations such as PRSSA, The West Georgian and Wolf Radio.

After the mini-coaching session there will be a luncheon held for students that register for it. Students always look forward to free food when the chance arises, making this the ultimate deal to attend Media Day. While enjoying the meal, students are encouraged to sit with the panelists that will be presenting that day.    

“We have the luncheon which has been tradition, where we honor students and alumni,” said Williams. “It’s important to attend the luncheon because you never know who you are going to end up sitting next to. You never know what opportunity they might have for you or what opportunities you may have for them.”

The second event on March 9 allows students to network with the various employers and companies and allows students and graduate students to present their work in a Student Showcase. This is the first time the department has held this event in hopes to help students promote their own work. This ranges from video production to crisis communications plans that were written for a class.           

“Several folks will come looking for interns,” said Williams. “We have a lot of alumni who like to come back and give in the form of internships and advice. Jacob Hawkins [UWG Alumnus] is working at Georgia Power in their communications department. He is talking about revamping his internship program. He wants to come back and be a part of it because he may be looking for interns to build up that program he’s revamping.”

“We are all about growing and expanding,” said Williams. “The school has gone from a department to a school; our event is expanding even more to accommodate different needs of our different students.”