When you are a kid, you cannot wait for summer to start. The holy grail of vacation comes with countdowns, the easing up of school, and hopefully, the dreams of doing cool stuff with all the free time. Summer seems endless.
And then you grow up, BOO!, realizing that summer does not sadly last forever and God damn it, now you have to work. (Or a better rephrase, thank God I have a job, but oh how I wish I could be outside….)
I have been always so lucky that my “job” as a journalist has let me be outside, be traveling, be part of the world. If I was trapped in a cubicle, which has happened, I know my spirit would slowly die. So been lucky to be able to jump on planes and see the world.
I just got back from Berlin, after speaking/presenting at the International Association for Conflict Management’s 30th anniversary conference. It was a great opportunity to mix with scholars and professionals in areas that I am not normally immersed in. And if this world needs anything…it’s people that understand conflict and how to fix it. Discussing how the media works, fake news, social media and the acute need for news literacy was a wonderful challenge, as it pushed me to be more involved and evolved in my thinking about my field. Why do we do what we do? What are anonymous sources? Getting to explain media/journalism, and then take questions, from audience of end-users is hugely instructive. You see what they see, which may be different that what we meant. So thanks #IACM2017!
On more happy news, Back in the Game has been selected as the 2017 Clarion Award winner for best non-fiction book! We are so thrilled, excited and truly humbled by this honor from the Association for Women in Communications. Thanks so, so much!