{"id":94,"date":"2016-03-03T17:47:53","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T17:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/?p=94"},"modified":"2016-03-30T21:28:41","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T21:28:41","slug":"ona16-suggestion-box-what-makes-for-a-great-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/2016\/03\/03\/ona16-suggestion-box-what-makes-for-a-great-pitch\/","title":{"rendered":"ONA16 Suggestion Box: What Makes for a Great Pitch?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>This is the first\u00a0in a three-part series of posts on our <a href=\"http:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/suggestion-box\/\" target=\"_blank\">Suggestion Box<\/a> \u2014 your opportunity to pitch session ideas and presenters for ONA16. Check out part 2\u00a0to find out <a href=\"http:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/2016\/03\/21\/ona16-suggestion-box-what-topics-will-we-discuss-at-ona16\/\" target=\"_blank\">what we&#8217;ll discuss at ONA16<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Part 3 describes\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/2016\/03\/30\/ona16-suggestion-box-i-submitted-my-pitch-now-what\/\" target=\"_blank\">what happens to pitches once they are received<\/a>.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Our Suggestion Box, which closes March 31, is your opportunity to pitch ideas to ONA to\u00a0ensure we cover the most important trends and topics in digital journalism. It also represents the best opportunity to present at ONA16, as most of our sessions are selected through this process.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Have you dreamed of presenting at the Online News Association Conference, sharing inspiring ideas or best practices with your favorite colleagues? Now is your moment to shine!\u00a0Let us know what important topics and trends you&#8217;d like to discuss at ONA16. <a href=\"http:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/suggestion-box\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Suggestion Box<\/a> is open through\u00a0<strong>Thursday, March 31<\/strong>, so be sure to submit early and often.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone is welcome to submit &#8212; journalists, executives, educators, students, technologists,\u00a0Beyonc\u00e9 (please?) &#8212; we&#8217;ll take good ideas anywhere we can find them.\u00a0Submissions will\u00a0account for the majority of our ONA16 educational programming, so this is your best chance to get involved.<\/p>\n<p><i><\/i><i><\/i>Once the Suggestion Box closes, ONA staff and a <a href=\"http:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/program-team\/\" target=\"_blank\">volunteer Program Team<\/a>\u00a0will review each submission and select the very best to be included at ONA16.<\/p>\n<p>We are often asked, \u201cWhat makes for a good pitch?\u201d Below, we\u2019ve outlined tips for creating a strong proposal.<\/p>\n<h3>Top 10 tips for proposing ideas to ONA16:<span id=\"more-152\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>1. Your idea is inspiring, instructional or both.<\/b> We think most good pitches fall into one of two categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They should be inspirational or aspirational, representing emerging trends in journalism, or describing our field at its absolute best.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>OR<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ideas should be about sharing expertise, with clear, specific aims for what attendees might learn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Inspirational or aspirational sessions make up about \u2153 of ONA programming. For examples from last year, see <a href=\"http:\/\/ona15.journalists.org\/sessions\/scheherazadetosnapchat\/\" target=\"_blank\">Amy O&#8217;Leary&#8217;s talk on ancient storytelling practices<\/a> and how they can inform writing for the web or our <a href=\"http:\/\/ona15.journalists.org\/sessions\/revenuereview\/\" target=\"_blank\">review of what&#8217;s working in current revenue models<\/a>. Practical tips and training elements make up the remaining \u2154 of our programming. For examples, see <a href=\"http:\/\/ona15.journalists.org\/sessions\/graphicsforsmallteams\/\" target=\"_blank\">how to create interactive graphics on the fly<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/ona15.journalists.org\/sessions\/podcastingbasics\/\" target=\"_blank\">a workshop on creating your first podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b><b>2. Your idea is specific and solutions-oriented<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>There are many intractable problems in any field, journalism included. We look for people proposing solutions to these problems, even if they are imperfect. Simply saying, \u201clong-form stories don\u2019t get enough social media traction\u201d isn\u2019t enough. Complaining about an issue for an hour doesn\u2019t make it go away. Instead, we\u2019d be more likely to accept an idea like, \u201c3 basic improvements to your audience engagement tools can boost traffic to long-form pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Your chief aim is to share knowledge with the community.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Newsrooms create hundreds of cool digital projects every year. We already have a mechanism for rewarding the best ones with our <a href=\"http:\/\/journalists.org\/awards\/\" target=\"_blank\">Online Journalism Awards<\/a>. The conference itself is focused on learning and networking with peers. What did you learn in creating your tool that others might be able to replicate? Better, what didn\u2019t work at all \u2014 can you spare others this pain point?<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. You and any co-presenters represent diversity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We ask our program team to consider 30 factors related to diversity. Chief among these are race, gender, age and professional experience of presenters. But this list also includes geographic diversity, fresh faces v. past presenters, size of newsroom or team, and other factors. Describe how your proposal will contribute to the overall diversity of the conference.<\/p>\n<p><b>5. You have remembered there will be an audience.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Nobody wants to sit through a conference session with someone droning on about their accolades or reciting a list of talking points. You will have a live audience before you, so tailor your message to a target group and engage with them! We\u2019ve seen presenters create games or quizzes for the audience to complete, field questions via Twitter, ask the audience for specific ideas or input into certain topics, or offer to provide constructive advice on how to make news stories go viral. Be creative. Sessions that include any kind of interactive component are given a higher priority.<\/p>\n<p><b>6. You have included peers from other organizations.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>ONA is about community and collaboration. Submissions that have multiple speakers from the same organization are often perceived as sales pitches by both ONA and conference attendees, and are usually categorically denied. Submissions including presenters from multiple organizations have a significantly higher likelihood of being accepted. Solo speakers, of course, are exempt from this requirement. <b>Note:<\/b> If you have presenters from two organizations within the same parent company, such as NPR member stations or Gannett publications, this is fine. Just remember, we do look for diversity in terms of region and medium that you work in.<\/p>\n<p><b>7. Your idea feels inspired.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We hear the same topics proposed year after year. It makes it difficult to distinguish between some submissions. There are certainly ongoing challenges in journalism, but what makes your idea a fresh approach? A new technical tool? New research? A potential new revenue stream? A different framework for thinking about an issue?<\/p>\n<p><b>8. Your pitch is specific.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We often get vague pitches. For example, \u201cNew ways to address managing social media traffic.\u201d This <i>sounds<\/i> like it might be fresh and solutions-oriented \u2026 but how? Can you share examples? Is there research you\u2019ll draw from? Have you been testing something but feel the results are replicable? A vague proposal makes us worry you\u2019ll wing it on the day of the conference, whereas specifics suggest you\u2019ve thought this through and will prepare.<\/p>\n<p><b>9. You are including resources for reference and sharing.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Let us know if you\u2019ll be creating resources, such as slides, a list of references or a guide book. These are seen as high value by the community and as such make for a strong proposal.<\/p>\n<p><b>10. Your proposed presenters are experienced speakers or trainers.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We are continually revising our requirements for presenters to ensure session quality. If you have a great idea but are not a strong presenter or have limited training experience, consider inviting a colleague with this strength to join you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the first\u00a0in a three-part series of posts on our Suggestion Box \u2014 your opportunity to pitch session ideas and presenters for ONA16. Check out part 2\u00a0to find out what we&#8217;ll discuss at ONA16.\u00a0Part 3 describes\u00a0what happens to pitches once they are received. Our Suggestion Box, which closes March 31, is your opportunity to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"start_time":0,"end_time":0,"moderators":[],"hashtag":[],"soundcloud":[],"scribble":[],"viafoura":[],"youtube":[],"vimeo":[],"facebook":[],"trint":[],"slideshare":[],"livestream":[],"resources":[],"video_embed":[],"first_name":"","last_name":"","title":"","organization":"","website":"","twitter":"","_sponsor_url":"","_sponsor_tagline":"","_sponsor_level":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaWsZ-1w","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353,"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ona16.journalists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}