In any other year of the Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit, there would be chaos running around campus trying to make sure everything was set up correctly, and panelists and career connectors were in their correct classrooms to talk to students. Then, the 3 p.m. panel would begin with hundreds of people in Waterman Theater, followed by the career connector session immediately after.
Instead, co-event director Mikayla Green and I sat socially distant in The Oswegonian’s newsroom at different computers making sure all of the Zoom calls ran smoothly. Eventually we made our way up to MCC 201 with Professor Brian Moritz to host the actual summit on Zoom. Then we went home. Like that, it was over.
We watched seven months of Zoom calls, strict deadlines and numerous questions about keeping the legacy of the Media Summit intact all come to a close in less than 24 hours.
As much of a walk in the park as this sounds, technology errors popped up all day. People were kicked from Zoom meetings, the typical Zoom “trolls” came into rooms and microphone and internet issues arose. As I watched the summit alongside Mikayla, I realized our hard work that began in March came out to be one of the best panel discussions in the four years that we have been at SUNY Oswego.
But at the end of the day, this experience of hosting one of SUNY Oswego’s premier events for the School of Communications, Media and the Arts was an experience that I will never forget. It is impossible for me to think of one favorite moment from the last seven months. From random bursts of screaming in the group chat of Mikayla, Moritz and myself; to Moritz and I both agreeing that Mikayla was truly in charge of this two-bit operation, there are too many moments that I can look back on and laugh at.
Choosing this year’s theme was special to Mikayla and I. As we said in the summit’s opening speech, some of the professionals on the front lines of the First Amendment, covering what 2020 has become for a newspaper, radio or TV station, are our friends who have graduated before us. Both of us want to enter the media field after graduation, and this is what we are getting ourselves into. We see what these professionals are doing everyday: telling others’ stories and reporting on them. But we had not been able to hear directly from them, learning what it is like to be on the “front lines,” which is something very special and advantageous to students and young journalists or broadcasters.
The thank-you list that I have to everyone who made the 16th Annual Media Summit possible is far too long for this column. But every single person that attended the Media Summit or had some part of its physical appearance or piece of coverage was crucial to the success of keeping the same legacy that “Doc” had established, even if we were virtual this year.
Seeing the interaction between students, alumni and professionals at this event gives me hope that the Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit will continue to run strong and will be a sense of pride for SUNY Oswego and the School of Communications, Media and the Arts. Even though the summit was virtual this year, imagine what can and will be done in future years when it will be back in Waterman Theater.
Graphic provided by the Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit
