This past weekend, Anna Maxwell, Amelia Marlow, Lydia Bennett and myself traveled to New Orleans, LA to attend the National College Media Convention. This biannual event brings students and advisers from colleges and universities across the country together to celebrate college media and learn from one another.
The convention was held over the course of three days, each filled with social activities, like a midnight snack party and birthday party celebrating the CMA’s 70th birthday, and academic sessions.
The sessions took up the majority of our days; the four of us divided and conquered attendance of the sessions so that we could bring back as much information as possible. The sessions themselves were an hour long and led by advisers from other schools, which provided a great networking opportunity to connect with professionals from other schools.
I was very impressed with the wide range of topics covered by the sessions, which ranged from journalism to photography and videography.
We were able to choose what we wanted to attend, so I was excited to choose ones that were interesting to me. Some notable ones were “Big J Journalism—How To Do The Really Big Stories Well,” “We Broke the News: How College Journalists Can Fill News Gaps” and “Radical Redesign and Rewriting.”
Anna and I were able to attend a session together titled “Building Blocks of a Great Team.” In this session, students were split into groups and given a project to complete; in this case, we had to build a Lego house. The twist, however, was that no one could talk and each person in the group was given different directions that they needed to follow. This was a difficult activity, but it provided great insights into how to be a better leader and team member. As editors, Anna and I both wanted to attend this session so that we could bring back this knowledge to the newsroom.
Not only did we enjoy our time at the CMA conference, but we were lucky enough to travel around the beautiful city of New Orleans. Our first stop was Bourbon Street, naturally, where we witnessed the infamous balconies from which beaded necklaces are thrown during Mardi Gras. We experienced live jazz music from a band called The Royal Caravan, and the sounds of the saxophone and trombone bounced off of the walls and into the hearts of everyone who stopped to listen.
We continued our journey and stopped for beignets at Café Du Monde, which left our stomachs full and us covered in powdered sugar. The beignets were light and fluffy, and the powdered sugar gave them a sweetness that was just enough and not overpowering. While resting at the café, we heard a talented man belt “Never Enough” from The Greatest Showman and “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift and enjoyed delicious pastries with a view of the Gulf of New Mexico.
On our adventure, we took photos in front of St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square, which was lush with greenery and perfect landscaping. Once we saw this, we knew we were not in Cleveland anymore. As the trip continued, we knew we had to return to Bourbon St. on Halloween night. Bella dressed as Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” and I dressed as a bottle of ketchup while we all ventured out to get a taste of New Orleans Halloween.
Every inch of Bourbon St. was covered with people in costumes dancing to the rhythms of music pouring out of every door and balconies were full of people throwing beaded necklaces at the characters below. Bella, Lydia and I all got beads and experienced the glow from LED signs while in awe of the creative costumes we witnessed.
When we left for the airport, we reminisced about the CMA conference and knew we would miss the sunny weather and interesting sights of this southern city. The beauty of New Orleans is truly in the little things: getting to see the faces of street artists light up as you share in the joy of their music, laughing with fellow tourists as you experience everything together and eating the magnificent food the city has to offer.
