By Isabelle Khurshudyan
Meeting at the Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications was fitting for the APSE Atlantic Coast Region meeting.
With an initiative to bridge the gap between students interested in sports journalism and APSE, the region meeting embodied a potential future for the organization.
Students from Hampton, William and Mary, Elon, Christopher Newport and South Carolina were represented for presentations that were applicable to what students can be doing right now to position themselves for jobs later.
Daily Press Sports Editor and Atlantic Coast Region Chair Andi Petrini encouraged members to sponsor an APSE student membership for $25. During the business portion of the meeting, Roanoke Times Sports Editor Steve Hemphill was elected the region's vice chair.
APSE President Tim Stephens asked students and the sports editors in attendance for input on creating student APSE chapters in universities or regions, receiving favorable reaction from the students who want APSE as a guide in their respective areas and as a networking tool.
Stephens also presented on how students can make their cover letters and resumes stand out in a competitive job market that's at the "corner of doom and gloom," he said. He outlined tips and common mistakes, such as avoiding misspellings or errors.
At the end of the presentation, students got an opportunity to have one of the sports editors in attendance from Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee critique their resume, getting valuable advice and one-on-one interaction.
Lunch, provided by the Daily Press, Virginian-Pilot,0 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Richmond Times-Dispatch, also allowed students and editors to interact in an informal setting.
Earlier in the day, Carrie Cousins, the general manager at Virginia Tech's Educational Media Company, spoke to students and sports editors on being a web savvy reporter and editor. She applied the concept of learning how to utilize Google search to the basic motto of journalism today — being first and credible.
Understanding Google analytics and metrics for the audience and how it interacts online was also spun as a message for students needing to know their metrics for negotiation in the future. Cousins also provided tips for how to improve a social media presence and how that can help land a job.
"Just tweeting isn't enough," Cousins said. "It has to be a conversation."
The entire day felt like an intimate conversation, from the interactive presentations to lunch to the resume critiques. Students and sports editors were able to leave it with a better understanding of their place in the changing journalistic landscape and a desire to have more interaction in the future.
Isabelle Khurshudyan is a senior at the University of South Carolina and a student member of APSE.
