The 13th edition of Wordstock will be held on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Ryerson School of Journalism, at the corner of Gould and Church Sts. in Toronto. Its theme is "Journalism tools in the new universe."

The program has been altered from the format of the past 12 years. We're bringing in one of the world's most popular new media experts, Robb Montgomery, CEO of Visual Editors Inc. in Chicago. Montgomery has travelled around the world putting on seminars on video journalism. Instead of an hour-long keynote and then a string of seminars to start the day, Montgomery will have a two-hour seminar on multi-media and social media reporting and on twittering for journalists.

By the way, you don't have to be a journalist or a wannabe journalist to appreciate the new universe of communicating.

We'll break for a free barbecue lunch at a nearby pub and then resume at 1 p.m. with two streams of five seminars each, some of them on traditional subjects, some on online issues and another on career transitions. The day ends at 4:15 p.m.

In keeping with the economy, we've reduced the cost of Wordstock by $5 from $80 to $75. If you're a bona fide member of the Ryerson Journalism Alumni Association (RJAA) or an accredited journalism student, the cost is $50.

The preferred method of payment is by cash or cheque, payable to the Ryerson Journalism Alumni Association. We can accept VISA credit card payment (no other credit cards can be accommodated) by completing the registration form on the program's PDF. It can be downloaded from the RJAA website at www.rjaa.ca.

We also accept registrations online by PayPal on the RJAA website.

This event is being supported by the Canadian Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. Information will also be available on their website at www.cna-acj.ca.

The day kicks off with a registration and welcome from 8:30 to 10 a.m.

SESSION ON THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM ON OCT. 2 PRECEDES WORDSTOCK

Wordstock is also connected to a special discussion the night before (Oct. 2) on the future of journalism in Theatre LIB72 at 350 Victoria St. (NW corner of Victoria and Gould Sts.)

The Ryerson School of Journalism and the Ryerson Journalism Alumni
Association are hosting "What Next for News: A Conversation about the Future of Journalism" on Friday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. It will feature renowned media futurist Clay Shirky of NYU; Andrew Keen, author of the international hit Cult of the Amateur: How the Internet is killing our culture; and Mathew Ingram, The Globe and Mail's communities editor, blogger and Ryerson grad. It will be held in a lecture theatre in the university's Library building. Go to the RJAA website at www.rjaa.ca for details.

Here is the program for the traditional Wordstock on Saturday, Oct. 3

Registration 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Rogers Communications Centre/School of Journalism. 80 Gould St. (NE corner of Gould and Church Sts.)

Assembly in the Eaton Lecture Theatre at 9:45 a.m.

10 a.m. to 12 noon
Journalism tools in the new universe
Chicago new media journalist and the CEO of Visual Editors, Robb Montgomery, trains journalists in more than 20 countries and will present a two-hour keynote seminar on the Social Media techniques that can improve your reporting and the connection to the communities you serve. His lecture will be a live interactive demonstration of some key social media tools and techniques.

Learn the culture and best practices for creating digital media to work better with the real-time Web.

Examples will include Twitter for journalists and Delicious for reporting, researching and auto-publishing.

Check out his blog at http://www.robbmontgomery.com

This session will be held in the Eaton Lecture Theatre on the second floor at the Rogers Communications Centre.

12 noon to 1 p.m.
Free barbecue Lunch in the Ram in the Rye Pub, SE corner of Gould and Church Sts. (3-minute walk from Rogers Communications Centre)

1 to 2:30 p.m. (Choose one)
Great features 1,000 words or less
So, what are the tricks to writing great short features? Don Gibb, one of the country's best and most popular writing coaches and a former Ryerson journalism professor, offers practical advice on the art of writing a short, tight feature story that's loaded with rich detail and colour.

Life after the newsroom... or any job, for that matter
Whether you've left (or want to leave) your job, how do you take your skill sets and equip yourself for a new field, whether it's in communications or some other line of work. This panel will give you inspiration. Speakers include: Mark Franklin, president and practice leader of Career Cycles in Toronto; Ian Harvey, ex of the Toronto Sun; others TBA. Moderator: Peter Haggert, ex-editor, Fredericton Gleaner.

Audio: the most valuable multimedia to master
Improve your sound slides, video, and podcasts by improving your audio. This session offers an update of the latest in technology and technique for recording in hostile environments. Speaker: Robb Montgomery

(re)Discover the joy of creative writing
If you're an aspiring writer or an experienced writer looking for a little spark, Paul Lima helps you rediscover the joy of creative writing. This session touches on the content in a book of the same name that Lima has written and published. The session includes many tools and techniques to get you writing novels, short stories, poetry and serials.

Place blogging is attracting eyeballs
Some news blogs have captured the imagination and attention of a whole new generation of news consumers in ways that mainstream news websites have not. Panelists talk about their strategies and their business models. Speakers: Bill Dunphy, Hamilton Spectator; Tim Shore, blogto.com; David Topping, torontoist.com; others TBA

2:30 to 2:45 p.m.
Refreshment break for 15 minutes

2:45 to 4:15 p.m. (Choose one)
Freelancers: Finding corporate markets
In this workshop on "Conquering Corporate Markets", successful freelance writer Paul Lima explains how to use five specific marketing tools to find corporate writing assignments. He discusses how to submit a quote and how to price work for corporations.

Opening your eyes to stories worth telling
Are we telling stories in our community that will attract eyeballs to our websites? This session offers ideas on how to improve multimedia storytelling, including routine community events, in ways that are simple but effective. Speaker: Marissa Nelson, senior editor, digital news, Toronto Star.

The top "1,000" Internet tools for writers
Bill Dunphy of The Hamilton Spectator leads a group discussion of everyone's top Internet tools for searching, writing, file/data sharing, news aggregation, web/information filtering, free publishing, free audio/video editing, video hosting, etc.

Doing more ...with way less
The reality is that journalists in all media, especially at small daily and community newspapers, are being asked to do more with less. Phil Andrews, managing editor of the Guelph Mercury, has gone through tough downsizing too but Phil seldom loses his sense of humour. He talks about how to maintain a vigorous and fun newsroom after it becomes a lot smaller.

First person journalism is not about you
When should you give in to the temptation—in a column or a feature—to slip into first-person? How much should you reveal? Magazine writer and former Chatelaine editor-in-chief Kim Pittaway shares the secrets to successful first-person journalism. Hint: it’s not all about you.

For more information, contact Bryan Cantley at bcantley@cna-acj.ca.