Workshops
Training at Community Media Workshop
What’s on the calendar right now?
All Upcoming Scheduled Workshops:
Public Media Relations (PMR), Begins Friday January 22, 2010. Continues every Friday up until February 19th, 2010.
Register and learn more about the trainings here! Request that we schedule a workshop by emailing Senior Trainer Diana Pando
Have you attended one of our workshops? Stay connected and join our online social network and continue the discussion online Adventures in Nonprofit Communications!
Free Brown Bag Lunch Series
Nuestros Medios: Latino Media Meet & Greet, Tuesday, November 17th
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Making Media Connections Conference 2007, Photo by Bob Black
What will I get from attending a communications training at the Workshop?
Who should attend?
How do you set the prices for your workshops?
What if my organization wants a custom workshop -- to have Workshop trainers come out to us, to do a session on an evening or weekend day?
Where are the workshops held?
What will I get from attending a communications training at the Workshop?
Learn to tell your stories better, using all the tools of communications, advocacy, outreach, and marketing, such as: media relations, using new media/technology, developing print materials, planning strategy, holding events, and other types of public relations. We are known for:
- Hands-on, practical training
- Emphasis on how to create compelling stories to increase visibility among media,funders and other audiences
- Providing tools to integrate Web 2.0 and social media into your communications and fundraising efforts
- Leading workshops that honor the ways adults learn, are interactive, and engaging
- Providing handouts you can use, not put on a shelf
Learn more about real people's successes using what they learned from us by viewing some recent success stories
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Who Should Attend?
Making Media Connections Conference 2007, Photo by Bob Black
Our workshops are for nonprofit communicators--staff and volunteers responsible for telling their organizations’ stories. They come from grassroots and community organizations, arts groups, hospitals and universities, social-service agencies, philanthopry, and other types of nonprofit.
While we do not turn for-profit communicators away, for popular workshops we may wait-list them to make sure there are seats for all the nonprofit communicators who wish to attend. If you are in corporate communications or at a for-profit PR firm, we encourage you to visit the sites of our colleagues in PR, such as Ragan Communications, the Publicity Club of Chicago, PRNewswire, or the Public Relations Society of America.
To learn more about our participants, you can download a list of groups who accessed our services last year.
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How do you set the prices for your workshops?
We are half grant-funded and the rest of our revenue comes from selling workshops, trainings, and our Chicago-market media guide, Getting On Air, On-line, & Into Print to other nonprofits.
This allows us to keep the costs of our workshops at a fraction of the price of equivalent sessions in the private sector. Workshop prices take into account fees for our trainers (typically much-reduced from what they typically charge as a service to the nonprofit community), other fixed costs such as serving coffee, water, and meals during workshops.
Scholarships are always available to organizations with budgets under $100,000—please view our Scholarship Policy. You may also want to check the details of our Cancellation Policy.
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What if my organization wants a custom workshop -- to have Workshop trainers come out to us, to do a session on an evening or weekend day?
We are happy to provide custom sessions that respond to specific needs or to reinforce core messages at your organization.
Organizations we have worked with recently include ACCESS, Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University, Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Latinos Progresando, Local Initiatives Support Corp., Michigan Nonprofit Association, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Progressive Technology Project, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
To learn more, download a one-page backgrounder on our custom training, and contact Gordon Mayer, Gordon@newstips.org or Diana Pando, Diana@newstips.org, or call us, 312-369-6400.
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Where are the Workshops Held?
Unless noted elsewhere, our trainings take place in our classroom at our walk-in location at:
Community Media Workshop
at Columbia College
218 S Wabash
Chicago, IL 60605
Tel: 312-369-6400
Fax: 312-369-6404
Email: cmw@newstips.org
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