Charles Apple

Are you getting excited about the annual Society for News Design workshop that begins this weekend in Las Vegas?

You should be. In a year in which our industry has precious little to celebrate, this will be an opportunity for visual journalists to brush up on the latest news design treands, to network and to enjoy a little down-time with their pals and to let off some steam.

Let’s open our coverage of this year’s workshop with our:

—
TOP TEN WAYS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF SND/VEGAS

1. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE

Yes, the presentations will be fine. Very fine.

But frankly, they’re of secondary importance. The most important reason to go to Vegas — your No. 1 task while you’re there — will be to meet people. To network.

There will be folks in Vegas who are hiring. Or who may be hiring soon. Or who don’t know it yet, but may have a number of openings this year for which they may have to hire.

There will be folks in Vegas who have the power to hire interns — if you’re looking for an internship for summer 2009. And if you want one, believe me: Now’s the time to start looking.

SND bigwigs don’t get any bigger than John Grimwade
of Condé Nast and Bill Gaspard of the Las Vegas Sun.
The latter, of course, is your host for the week. Here
they were in Boston last year. Photo by Steve Dorsey.
—

Your task will be to make a fabulous impression on these folks, one that will cause them to not only remember you and your work, but also to make them think of you when they discover they have a position to fill. Your task will be to put either your portfolio or your card — containing info on how they can find your portfolio — into their possession.

You’ll be tasked with doing this in a way that doesn’t piss them off or annoy them or the other attendees.

And just because all that isn’t difficult enough, you’ll have to do it without knowing just which editors will be doing the hiring this year!

Sound like an impossible job? It’s not. It’s simple networking 101. And you can do it. It’s a piece of cake, really. As long as you love meeting new people.

(If you loathe meeting and talking to people, then do us all a favor and change your major, willya? I mean, after all: This is the communication industry.)

So meet as many people as you can. Shake as many hands as you can. Make a fabulous first impression.

Q. Are you saying the sessions aren’t important?

A. No, I’m not saying that at all. You’ll learn a lot at those sessions. I’m just saying it’s about more than just the sessions.

* Don’t obsess about the sessions. You’ll occasionally run into a situation in which you have to choose between two sessions you really, really want to see. Fact is, very few sessions at an annual workshop suck outright. So if you have even a passing interest in the subject, you’ll get something out of the session. Believe me.

* Split up. If you’re attending as part of a group, send various folks to sessions in the same time slot. You can swap notes later.

The “Extreme Sports” session in Boston
last fall. Photo by Kenney Marlatt.
—

* Some sessions offer handouts. Some don’t. If you miss a handout, don’t sweat: SND has been really good about posting PDFs and whatnot in a place where you can download the handouts and print as many as you like. We’ll keep you posted about that.

* Management types — and those who aspire to work in news design leadership positions — might want to pencil in Monica Moses‘ presentations: “Find Your Comfort (And Joy) as a Leader” Sunday at 3:15 p.m. and “Be More Influential in Your Newsroom,” Monday at 4:30. While you’re at it, plan to attend Sara Slobin’s “Stuff No One Teaches You” session at 1:15 Tuesday and Mario Garcia’s “How Do I Look in These Jeans?” at 2:15 Tuesday.

* The big industry event of early 2009 will be the long-awaited Atlanta Journal-Constitution redesign. Get a preview of what we can expect from the AJC’s Will Alford and redesign consultant Lucie Lacava at 3 p.m. Monday.

* I hear a lot of whining from infographics types that their craft isn’t well-represented at annual workshops. That ain’t the case this year:

* “Telling Data-Rich Interactive Stories” by Andrew DeVigal, Sunday, 3:15 p.m.
* “Stories from the Wet-Brush Crowd” by Chris Morris and others, Monday, 11:45 a.m.
* “Secrets of the Stars” by John Grimwade, Monday, 3 p.m.
* “What Happened to Information Graphics?” by Roger Black and Dona Wong, Monday, 4:30 p.m.
* “3-D Tips and Tricks” by Len De Groot and Steve Wilson, Tuesday, 11:30 a.m.
* “MAPublisher and Sketchup” by Karl Gude and John Allison, Tuesday, 2:15 p.m.

* You can skip Stephanie Lim’s session at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. But I guarantee you it’ll be the most talked-about session of the weekend. Her shows are always helpful and clever. And a scream.

—

2. BRING YOUR BUSINESS CARDS

What? You don’t have business cards? You’ve never needed them before? You don’t think you need them now, in the internet age?

Wrong again, Buck-O!

Hey, feel free to bring hard copies and CDs if you like. When you see Tim Frank or Dave Kordalski between sessions, it’s easy to slip them your packet when they can toss it into their briefcase or computer bag.

But what happens when you run into Richard Curtis at the opening reception? You don’t have your CDs on you, so you can’t give him one. And he has no pockets big enough for your file folder anyway.

So bring business cards. And then give them out to everyone you meet. Everyone.

And then what?

After you meet someone, take a moment — as quickly as you can — to grab a pen and make a brief note or two on the back of their card. Anything that will help you remember them. “Gave me career advice.” “Mentioned a sports design internship.” “Said he liked my page one work and wants to see more PDFs.”

Why take the time to do this? Because if you do it right, you’ll get home to discover you have dozens of cards. And you’ll have no idea of which card went with which person. These quick notes may help you keep them straight.

Stephanie Yiu, Martin Gee and Carrie Hoover
at Chip Kidd’s keynote session in Boston. Photo
by William Couch.
—

Now, once you get home — that’s when the real work begins. Here’s what you’ll do:

1. Put all the cards in a stack.

2. Type all the info from the cards into the electronic contact book on your iBook, iPhone or Blackberry.

3. Look up everyone you met at Facebook or LinkedIn or Plaxo. Invite them to link up with you via those sites.

4. Then, write everyone a personalized e-mail. Tell them how much you enjoyed meeting them. A personal detail or two — that’s what those notes are for — help prevent these notes from reading like form letters.

5. And then, the really tough part: Keep in touch. E-mail from time to time. Wish them a happy birthday or whatever. If you see they’ve posted something nice at NewsPageDesigner, congratulate them. Or, better yet, ask them how they pulled off this or that fabulous project.

This is basic networking.

If you want to fancy up your cards in a way so folks will remember you, go right ahead. Speaking for myself, I tend to remember the unusual business cards the most. But make sure you cover the basic info.

And, of course, make sure the info on your card is accurate and easy to read. Most news design professionals will forgive a boring card. But an ugly-ass, error-ridden card? Heh…

Q. But it’s too damn late to have business cards made up! What do I do?

A. It’s never too late. Go to Kinko’s. They can design a card on the spot and print 500 of  them in about 45 minutes. If you happen to have one of my VizEds business cards, that’s where it came from. Total cost was under $30.

—

3. PROOFREAD YOUR RESUMÉS

You might bring copies of your resumé, either on disc or on dead trees, to distribute. Fine; no problem.

But the No. 1 problem I find on resumes: Typos. Poor grammar. Mistakes.

Now, some visual editors won’t mind this at all. Hell, some of the worst typists on this planet are graphic artists.

But if I were to bring you in for an interview, it’d never be by my call alone. I’d have to get my AME or my Managing Editor or my Editor to sign off on you. And, being word people, they might not like seeing dumbass mistakes on your resumé.Because the kind of candidate who distributes resumés with mistakes just might be the kind of new hire who won’t pay close attention to her business front design or her locator map or the interactive presentation she’s building for me.

So take the time to proofread any resumé or word material, be it hard or soft copy, that you distribute in Vegas.

Q. But I suck at proofreading!

A. That’s OK; I do, too. Don’t sweat it. Find a copy editor or a teacher who’ll help out. Barter some design work if you have to. But make sure your resumé is immaculate.

—

4. DON’T SLEEP

While the presentations you’ll see in Vegas are very cool — folks are still buzzing about Chip Kidd in Boston — some of the most important work is being done in what Mark Friesen calls “backchannels.”

These are conversations being had in the hallways. Among the booths in the exhibitor’s hall. At a little sandwich shop in the food court. At the bar, late at night.

Especially that last one. Believe me. You’ll be amazed at the business in this business that’s done over beer.

So don’t make the mistake of thinking that everything shuts down at 5:30 or whenever the sessions end. That’s just when things get rolling for many of the professionals you’ll see in Vegas.

I’ve had some very interesting discussions at 1 or 2 in the morning. I recall reviewing a student portfolio at 3 a.m. in Boston, although that’s a bit late for me.

Kenney Marlatt of the Indianapolis Star and Nicole
Dudka of the Chicago Tribune last fall at SND/Boston.
Photo by Martin Gee.
—

Late night at an SND workshop is basically the old-school version of social networking. Don’t waste the opportunity. Consider not going out on the town at night. There will be parties all over the building — in suites, in rooms, in the lobby, in the bar. Find one and join the discussion. If you find it boring, say goodnight and find another discussion.

And stick with it as late as you can. Sleeping is overrated, anyway. You can always sleep when you get home.

—

5. DON’T BE A DOUCHEBAG

So you see Michael Tribble chatting with Matt Erickson. You want to talk to both of them, so you run over, interrupt the hell out of them and you thrust your portfolio in front of them.

Remember the first impression thing? Well, congratulations; you just did it. Both Mike and Matt are now quite impressed with how much you suck.

Many of us see our good friends from other papers only once or twice a year. We value greatly the chance to buy Steve Dorsey a beer. So please let us have at least some time to meet and greet our pals.

If you’re hoping to meet someone, hover in the vicinity and try to catch them when their conversation is wrapping up. If you’re hoping for a portfolio review, make sure you understand that these professionals have presentations they want to see, too.

Perhaps you’ll be told that a professional won’t have time to look at your stuff right now. Most will ask you to approach them later. Some will even try to set up an appointment with you.

But nearly all of them want to see your stuff. Recruiting is one of the reasons they’re going in the first place. Blowing you off wouldn’t make sense.

Steve Dorsey of the Detroit Free Press looks over
the student portfolio of Michigan State’s Travis
Ricks while Darren Sanefski of the Syracuse Post-
Standard takes notes. Photo by Robb Montgomery.
—

Another thing: If you show your portfolio in Vegas, make sure you pare it down to the bare minimum. Folks simply won’t have time to leaf through 20 or 25 pages of your work. Keep it to five or six pages, max.

And as you hand them your book, make sure you specify why you’re showing them your work. If you’re hoping for a job or an internship, say so. If you want feedback on your pages, say that, too.

Also, keep in mind that if you ask a professional to critique your work, you might actually get a critique. If they find something in your pages they don’t like — and, believe me, they probably will — then make sure you take their suggestions with a smile. If you can’t take a critique, then for Chrissakes, don’t ask for one. (I learned this one the hard way. Ask me about it sometime.)

If you see some rudeness on the part of a professional, try to understand: Perhaps he’s under some stress at the moment. Perhaps he’s speaking in the next session and his Mac just died.

But if you find a professional being consistently rude, please let me know. I’ll be glad to have someone kick their ass. Or, better yet, I’ll ridicule them publicly in the blog.

If, on the other hand, you act rudely… believe me, you’ll only be punishing yourself.

—

6. WATCH WHAT YOU DRINK

Yes, many will be imbibing. Some will imbibe quite a bit. Some will get downright sloppy drunk.

And that’s OK for professionals. They’re over the legal drinking age. But for you job-seekers and college-types, you might want to take care.

No, Denise Reagan isn’t sloppy drunk in this photo.
She’s always like that. And I mean that in a good
way. Photo by Tyson Evans.
—

I’m not going to discuss the legalities of alcohol and folks under the age of 21 — that’s between you and your Mommy and Daddy. I will, however, point out that if you get a little tipsy and then run into a hiring editor…

Well, it could get nasty. Just member that “first impression” thing I talked about earlier.

For example…

You’ve had way too much to drink, but then you spot Scott Goldman. You trot over, grab his shoulder, spin him around, pump his arm and loudly proclaim you’re his next intern. And you belch loudly.

And then you ralph all over his shoes.

Oh, yeah. He’ll remember you.

OK, that’s an extreme example. But I’ve seen things nearly that bad.

If you’re drinking, try not to drink too much. Drink when you get home.

Q. What’s this about being underage? It’s freakin’ Vegas!

A. Yeah, yeah. I know. But you simply must be 21 to do certain things at the Red Rock Resort and Casino. And most college students won’t turn 21 until their senior years.

For instance, as you’ve already discovered: You can’t make a room reservation at the Red Rock unless you’re 21. If you make the reservation and can’t prove you’re 21 at check in, you won’t get the room.

Bill Gaspard says to contact the adviser of your college paper or e-mail him directly if you need help with this.

Secondly — and more importantly — be aware there is a casino built into the hotel. But gambling for anyone under 21 is a strict no-no.

Bill writes on the official SND/Vegas site:

You are not allowed to play any table games or slots, to be in any bars or to loiter in the gaming area. You can move through the casino to get to the pool, food court, bowling alley, etc. The way our meeting space and events are set up, you don’t even need to set foot in the casino to attend any of our sessions.

So be advised.

The Red Rock’s casino. Don’t go in
there unless you can prove you’re 21.
—

Q. But I have a fake ID!

A. Dude, this is Vegas. They’ve seen every kind of fake ID in the solar system. Don’t even think about screwing with these guys. They mean business.

—

7. LEAVE ROOM FOR THE TRIP BACK

Some papers will bring cool swag to give away. Others will have bundles of free copies of their paper. And hey, you never know when you’ll spot that gotta-have-it item in the SND Foundation silent auction.

So when you pack your suitcase, make sure you leave a little extra room for whatever you bring home.

—

8. DON’T BE SHY

Every year, I find myself compelled to defend SND against charges that the Society is too cliquish.

Well, bullshit on that.

Jonathon Berlin of the Chicago Tribune and Matt
Erickson of the Times of Northwest Indiana have
a couple of drinks at O’Connor’s, near the hotel
where SND/Boston was held last year.
—

Fact is, folks in the Society are very glad to meet you. Some of them will travel all the way to Vegas just to meet you, in fact. I don’t find them cliquish at all.

Hey, I once thought the same thing, too. What I discovered, though, is that if you go out there and make an effort to meet people and to shake their hands and exchange business cards and if you can make intelligent conversation with them, they’ll be delighted to include you in their circle of friends.

There may be a few exceptions. But only a few. Hell, if these folks will talk to a geek like me, they’ll talk to anyone.

So don’t be afraid to chat. And if you’re shy, well then, go ahead and play the wallflower game. Just don’t come crying to me later about cliques.

—

9. DON’T JUST SUCK UP — SUCK DOWN, TOO

You’re familiar with the idea of “pass it forward,” right? Consider this a variation.

You’ll be there in Vegas with a few portfolio CDs, a big mess of business cards and an eager grin painted on your face, scanning the crowd for big-name visual editors to whom you can suck up.

The irony of it is: Many of those same visual editors are doing the same damn thing — they’re looking for even bigger-name AMEs and managing editors to whom they can suck up.

And the biggest names of all? In my experience, I’ve found that they don’t always consider themselves big names. So some of them, even, are looking for someone they can suck up to.

So my message is this: Go ahead and spend time sucking up. That’s part of what networking is all about.

But make sure you spend some quality time with folks who are newer to the business than you are. Folks from smaller papers. College kids.

Or, if you’re still in college, underclassmen. Or folks from tiny colleges you’ve never heard of.

I’m a believer that if you spend time helping out smaller fish — what I call sucking down — then, at some point, the karma will even out and you’ll find yourself graced with good fortune.

Even if that doesn’t happen, you’ve made a friend for life. And who knows who that kid will grow into one day? I like to tell the story of a very young, very green college kid I met once at a Poynter seminar in 1994. Flash-forward fourteen years: That kid is now the Deputy Art Director of The Washington Post. (Hi, Dennis!)

So spend time helping out the folks below you in the pecking order. You’ll make friends, develop your leadership and mentoring skills and perhaps make a lifelong friend in the industry.

At the very least, you’ve done the right thing. And dammit, I’d like to think that still counts for something. Occasionally.

—

10. KEEP UP WITH THE BLOGS

Last year in Boston, the wifi airwaves were booming with information as it was happening. VizEds and SND itself each maintained active blogs. The SND Flickr feed was stuffed with megapixels. Folks Twittered like crazy. Mark NewsDesigner Friesen created a really cool site that aggregated all this stuff into one place.

Tyson Evans and Michael Whitley during the
banquet in Boston. Photo by Steve Dorsey.
—

And we here in the blog had a pretty productive weekend, too. Boy, I already regret not being able to attend this year.

While some of this coverage was aimed at our pals back home who couldn’t make the trip, quite a bit of it was aimed at folks on-site: Where the cool party is happening. The scuttlebut on which morning session will be the most kick-ass. Last-minute schedule changes. Who’s hiring.

So don’t forget to bring your laptop and log on often. But don’t make the mistake of living all weekend with your nose in your iBook.

—

A FEW MORE STRAY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS…

Q. My boss just decided I could go. Is it too late to register?

A. It’s never too late. Susan Santoro and her crew will register you at the door, if necessary. The only thing you lost was your early-bird discount. The fee is now $595 for both members and non-members.

It might be too late to book a room, though. You can try. But the cutoff date for the special $179.99-per-night SND rate was the first week in August.

Susan gets someone signed in on Day
One in Boston. Photo by Steve Dorsey.
—

Q. How can I save money on this trip?

A. Bill has covered much of this on the official site.

Yes, rooms are a bit pricey. But you can save a $50 taxi ride right off the bat by using the free scheduled shuttle van from and to the airport. Bill says it normally runs once every two hours. He’s trying to sweet-talk them into increasing that frequency this weekend, but it’s not looking likely.

Before you try that taxi, though, see if you can find someone with whom to share. Wear a big SND logo or t-shirt or something so you can be identified. Or make a big sign that says:

SND: Share a taxi to the Red Rock?

Bill also points out that registered workshop folks will get several free meals: the opening party, the business breakfast, the awards dinner, the closing reception.

In addition, Bill says there are cheap eats in the hotel cafe — open 24 hours — and in the food court.

We had one of those in Orlando, too. And yeah, it did help keep down costs. Plus, you never know who you’ll meet in the food court. I remember an impressive college student (Hi, Steph!) who invited me to share her table one night while I tried to catch up my carb deficit with some ice cream. Hey, any opportunity to network, right?

A “typical” room at the Red Rock.
Note the view of — ahem — red rocks.

The pool at the Red Rock Resort &
Casino. Find more hotel photos here.
—

If you’re able to hunt around and get creative, you can find other deals that could save you a bundle. My pal Darren Sanefski, for example, writes:

I’m booked at the Suncoast hotel and casino. The rooms get good reviews; the casino is average. The room is total $216 for all three nights. I was told it’s  about 2 1/2 miles away, about 10 minutes in traffic.

Even taking into account the $86 he’s paying for car rental, that’s still half the cost of staying in the Red Rock.

—

Q. We’re students on a budget. Can we double up on rooms?

A. Definitely. In fact, that’s a student tradition at SND workshops. I’m told the rooms at the Red Rock are quite large.

Ãœberstudent Bridget O’Donnell of the
University of Michigan last year in
Boston. She won an internship with
the New York Times’ graphics depart-
ment. Photo by Mark Friesen.

—

Q. I have a room but I’m looking for a roommate. Any clue how to find one?

A. Yep: E-mail me and I’ll post it here.
—

Q. Should I bring my portfolio?

A. If you want. In fact, bring it if you’re hoping to ask industry professionals to critique your work.

But keep in mind you’ll have to tote it around all day. I saw a lot of students in Boston struggling to carry big portfolio cases, laptop bags, purses and workshop swag bags.

Bring what you want. But consider your priorities.

—

Q. Each of the last two years, we’ve had a casino night. But since we’re in Vegas, a casino night seems a little silly. What are we doing this year?

A. Bowling night. Seriously. Sounds like a blast, in fact.

The Red Rock’s bowling lanes.
—

You’ll need to buy a ticket for $50. That will get you three hours of bowling — including shoes and socks, Bill says — two drink tickets and two raffle tickets. Proceeds go to the new Edmund C. Arnold Scholarship fund.

—
Q. Why aren’t YOU going this year?

A. Tell ya what: You buy my freakin’ condo in Virginia Beach and I’ll go to Vegas. Deal?

—

Q. I’m not sure I can make it to Vegas this year, either. Where will next year’s SND workshop be?

A. Heh: Buenos Aires, Sept. 24-26.

In 2010, we’ll be in Denver. And in 2011, we’ll be in St. Louis.

—

Q. This post is over? I still have questions!

A. And Bill Gaspard has answers. Find the FAQ on the official site here.

Lost among the Orlando Sentinels and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinels and the Baltimore Suns was one Tribune-company redesign that we mentioned but saw little of: RedEye.

Yes, RedEye redesigned Aug. 11. The folks at Free-Daily.com even called it a tweak, rather than a redesign:

The “R” in RedEye has gone from uppercase to lower case on the cover of the Chicago Tribune’s youthful free daily. The paper itself is 1 1/2 inches shorter than before. And the headline font has been changed to Stag Sans.

…The content of RedEye hasn’t changed, and that’s a good thing. Lots of short, snappy stories — blurbs really — that move a reader through the paper quickly.

…They’re the kind of stories you’d be apt to talk about over the watercooler.

A very nice write-up. But hardly detailed enough for you news designer-types. So we were relieved when RedEye design director Chris Courtney sent us some pages this week.

Chris writes:

It’s been hell around here with the redesign of RedEye and the launch of Mash being so close to one another. This week, we talk RedEye. Next week, you’ll see my other project, Mash.

We touched on Mash in this post, a couple weeks ago, in this post.

Like the man says, though: More about that later.

Chris continues:

The reason for a RedEye redesign, other than we just felt like doing it, was we were losing an inch and a half off the bottom of our pages due to our conversion to the 48. Take whatever size pains are felt by a broadsheet and double them for us. It simply didn’t make sense to continue in our old style once you saw what the new page size was going to do to us.

The new page one:

Before-and-after. Note the size difference:

The first order of business was to rethink the architecture, toss out the old type—which we used in a very vertical manner and find ways to not make the pages feel overwhelmed with type, yet not run everything at two inches.

Our storytelling philosophy is largely as it always has been—look for opportunities to break rules. For our brethren around TribCo, welcome to our party… you’re only 6 years late :)

But seriously, have we been here 6 freaking years? I’ve gotta go find something else to do, man.

Of the philosophies that did change, most were structural and tone-oriented.

* Don’t feel that you need to use rules when white space will work fine
* Don’t feel like that headline needs to fill out. If it does, take it down 10-20 points.
* All caps? Only on big stories.
* Screens? Who the hell needs them. They only hinder legibility. Besides, isn’t that what these 6-12 point bright red dividers are for?

Is it working? Not entirely. As with any redesign, it’ll take us a good month to get our feet under us. But with this staff, I really feel pretty good about our shot at success.

Readers have been overwhelming positive, even with a .7 reduction in type size. It’s been called first-class, punchy and cute. It’s also been called a steaming heap of ****, but I’ve already knocked that person off so its almost like it never happened.

The important thing is that we solicited comments from our readers and posted everything on the wall here in the office for the staff to read. The official approval rating is at 66%. We took an inch-and-a-half away and from them and they still like it.

I’m sure someone/everyone in the community won’t like it, but that’s the great thing about being reader-focused—I don’t care what any of you industry people think anyway. :)

In a separate message, Chris adds, as an afterthought:

Oh yeah. We changed the logo.

Chris says he’ll be covering all this — and a bit more — in his presentation next week at SND/Vegas.

—

So, your Tribune-company redesign scorecard should read:

Sunday, June 22: Orlando Sentinel

Monday, July 28: Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call

Monday, Aug. 11: Chicago RedEye

Sunday, August 17: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Sunday, Aug. 24: Baltimore Sun

Sunday, Sept. 28: Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant

No dates available:

* Los Angeles Times
* AM NewYork
* Newport News (Va.) Daily Press

I presume this is a joke…

Greg Swanson – former AME of the Quad City Times of Davenport, Iowa, and currently a fight promoter — has announced a write-in campaign for the office of secretary-treasurer of the Society for News Design.

It’s nice to know Greg has so much time on his hands. And so much foam on his gams.

Have fun in Vegas, y’all.