Beach Media, the business team that represents the Daily Forty-Niner, flew out to Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend the College Media Business & Advertising Managers conference from Oct. 13 to 16.
The two organizations met with other business teams from across the United States to share their experiences and insight on what it’s like working in student media.
“I think a lot of the emphasis in student media is placed on editorial. That’s what our classes are in journalism. We learn how to write, we learn how to interview, we learn how to lay out a paper, and do the production,” said Jennifer Newton, the business advisor for Beach Media. “We don’t really learn a lot about the business side, but CMBAM is really trying to grow that aspect in journalism now.”
The Daily49er and Beach Media teams gave presentations at the conference with topics ranging from teamwork and ad sales to analytics and distribution.
“Kaitlyn, the PR & promotions manager, Jasmine, the creative director and I did a presentation about bridging the business team and editorial teams,” said Kristina Agresta, managing editor at the Daily49er. “We found that there is not much contact between the two on college campuses and that can create problems for both. Things can get lost or mistranslated, so our biggest goal was to emphasize the importance of communication through our team at CSULB.”
Aside from representing CSULB, the students took time to gain more knowledge and network with the other business teams in attendance. Rowell shared that CMBAM helped her understand the balance of relationships in the newsroom.
“I learned a lot about how we can have a better environment in the newsroom and create a space for people to develop boundaries and function in the newsroom,” said Rowell. “We also learned about advertisements and sponsorships. That’s something we’re really excited about implementing for the 49er.”
Newton shared that the conference was held in the fall semester rather than the spring. The idea was that it would allow student media organizations to learn from each other early on and take this experience to start working on new ideas and projects for the rest of the academic year.
“I definitely feel refreshed and inspired to do more,” said Rowell. “At the beginning of the semester, I’m super pumped and I want to do all these things, and slowly as time goes on, that fire in me diminishes. So after [the conference], I felt my spark and am ready to take on stuff again.”
Outside the professional workplace, there were moments when students could get together and build connections and closer relationships. Newton saw a change in the team when they were taken out of their normal setting.
“I think when we’re here [in the newsroom], we’re working,” said Newton. “Even though we may go grab lunch or something of the sort, it is different when you are with everyone 24/7. You get a completely different perspective on people. I don’t want to say everyone becomes more human, but you do have a better connection with one another.”
Coming back, new plans are in store for CSULB. Other than introducing new sales techniques and implementing more events for the public, Rowell wants to build a future for media organizations internally.
“Most of us are seniors on the team and I hope that what we do now helps, people can build off that in the future, and that I can come back as an alumnus and see that Beach Media is solidified and Daily 49er’s thriving and everyone as a whole is doing what I imagine them to or more.”