News & Events

Venue: AUT Business School, Level 6

Date: Wednesday 28 July, 6pm – 8pm

As the close of the yMedia Challenge draws near, we invite all teams to join us for a working session at AUT Business School. 

The room will be full of professionals with technical skills, available to help resolve any difficulties you may be having with your project, the Judges will be represented to share with you what will be expected of you on judging day, and the yMedia Crew will also be on hand to help iron out any issues and to help ensure you’re ready for your final deadline.

This workshop is an opportunity not to be missed by the teams participating in the yMedia Challenge.

Who: Helen Sissons, senior lecturer of journalism at AUT

When: 6-8pm Wednesday 14th July

Where: Media Design School, Level 12, 242 Queen Street

What: In a world driven by information and news, it is often hard to get your message heard over the babble. Understanding why some stories make the cut, and some don’t, will help you on your way to gaining coverage for your cause.

In this workshop we will show you how to uncover and target your newsworthy message and grab journalists’ attention. You will also learn some best practice techniques when it comes to actually writing your story into a press release.

More about Helen: Helen has an extensive background in both the practice and teaching of News Journalism.

After working five years as a reporter for local and national newspapers in Britain and the United States she moved to the BBC where she spent 10 years reporting for television and radio news. From 1996 she incorporated her work with the BBC with lecturing in News Journalism at the University of Leeds.

In 2006 Helen published a textbook – Practical Journalism: How to Write News (Sage, London) and in 2007 she joined AUT’s School of Communication Studies.

Helen’s particular field of research is the effect on journalistic practice and news product of increased PR-isation and media convergence.

Who: Running with Scissors Creative Strategist, and yMedia Challenge Judge, Friday O’Flaherty

When: 6-8pm Wednesday 30th June

Where: Media Design School, Level 12, 242 Queen Street

What: There are always a number of ways to approach any project, and the most obvious answer isn’t always right. Friday believes that great ideas can be anything, and can come from anywhere – but there is an art to delivering ideas that meet the needs of a brief.

During this workshop, Friday will share his experience within the creative industries, talk through some of the practices that his agency now adopts to apply lateral thinking to any project and identify some techniques that can be used to assess ideas to help deliver the best possible outcome.