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Jan 15, 2021 at 11:00 am – Jan 17, 2021 at 5:30 pm
RADIO BOOT CAMP
Presented with Hindenburg
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Don’t just listen to stories, tell your own!
Do you love Ira, have a secret crush on Terry Gross, or wanna be Audie Cornish when you grow up? Come to Radio Camp’s October Boot Camp and learn how to produce a radio story from start to finish. Class will cover the basics of writing for the ear (very different from print) and producing for radio. Learn interviewing and mic techniques by doing the real thing. Voicing will also be covered. Students will work on one story over the course of the weekend. Given the pandemic, class will be conducted online – we’ll still be there to hold your hand, just via Zoom, so virtually. We’ll discuss interviewing best practices for both in-person and online interviews, but in order to keep everyone safe, both students and interview subjects, unless students have access to boom poles, students will conduct interviews online.
We know this is a challenging time and when times are tough as these we like to turn to NPR’s mission statement, written by Bill Siemering in 1970. Here’s a favorite paragraph:
National Public Radio will serve the individual: it will promote personal growth; it will regard the individual differences among men with respect and joy rather than derision and hate; it will celebrate the human experience as infinitely varied rather than vacuous and banal; it will encourage a sense of active constructive participation, rather than apathetic helplessness.
We hope you’ll join us at Boot Camp to help us forward this mission.
Details
Where ?
Currently we are hosting all UnionDocs workshops online and we will meet via Zoom.
We thank you for your understanding. Stay safe and stay resilient!
When?
Friday, January 15th
11:00 am – 1:30 pm – Introductions & lectures
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Lunch!
2:30 pm – 5:30 pm – In-class lecture
Saturday, January 16th
Students work offline
Sunday, January 17th
11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Debrief & lecture
12:30 am – 3:00 pm – Students exercises
3:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Final Critique
Eligibility
Radio Boot Camp is open to everyone! Class is designed for beginners, enthusiasts and newcomers to radio.
Costs
$325 for early registration by Monday, January 11th at 6PM (ET).
$350 regular registration.
Technology Requirements
As this is an online workshop, participants must be fully proficient using and operating their computers. The software for the weekend will be provided. We’re incredibly grateful to the generous folks at Hindenburg for sharing their amazing audio editing software with us! Shortly after you register, students will be able to download a version of Hindenburg which will be theirs to use for a couple of months. That way you can get your audio groove on early! To prevent Zoom burnout we ask that students review a set of Hindenburg Tutorial videos on their own. However students will have plenty of time in-class to ask questions about Hindy.
$325 for early registration by Monday, January 11th at 6PM (ET). $350 regular registration afterwards.
To register for a workshop, students must pay in full. After the early registration deadline, course fees are non-refundable or transferable. Any withdrawals after the deadline will result in the full cost of the class being forfeited. There are no exceptions. To withdraw from the course please email [email protected].
If the workshop does not receive sufficient enrollment, it may be canceled. Students will be notified at least 48 hours prior to the start of a cancelled workshop and will be refunded within 5 business days. If we reschedule a workshop to another date, students are also entitled to a full refund. UnionDocs reserves the right to change instructors without prior notification, and to change class location and meeting times by up to an hour with 48 hours prior notice.
Q: I really like radio, but I don’t know anything about how to make it. Should I take this class?
A: Absolutely! This workshop is designed for beginners, enthusiasts and newcomers to radio.
Q: I really like radio – in fact I already work for a show/station! But I work at a talk show/in fundraising/listener relations. Should I take this class?
A: Absolutely! The focus of class is on making pre-produced radio a very different process than producing at a talk show or similar.
Q: How many students will be in class?
A: Class is limited to 12 students.
Q: Do we need any special software or equipment for camp?
A: Yes – in order to keep costs down you’ll need your laptop, but that’s it. All the software you need will be provided.
Q: What about lunch?
A: We’ll take an hour off each day for lunch.
Q: What’s UnionDocs?
A: UnionDocs is a nonprofit Center for Documentary Art. It presents over 100 events a year, runs workshops and produces original projects through its collaborative studio. We think it’s pretty great!
Q: What is Hindenburg?
A: In case you’re wondering, Hindenburg Systems’ audio production solutions are developed by, with and for radio professionals and podcasters. The unique, intuitive interface is designed specifically for story-telling, allowing journalists to focus on their story, while Hindenburg ensures consistent broadcast sound quality and levels. It’s all about the Story!
Q: Where will the ideas for the stories we’ll be working on come from?
A: There will be some flexibility in format, but the class will work on one assigned story. This allows students to see and learn from each other’s work. Pitching story ideas and professional practices will be discussed at the end of day 3, and we’re hoping to schedule a stand alone pitching workshop in the near future.
Q: I want to learn to make a podcast. Will you be covering that?
A: While we wish we had time to cover everything, we may touch on podcasting, but it’s not a set part of the curriculum.
Bios
Sally Herships is an award winning journalist who’s been making radio for over a decade. Currently reporting for American Public Media’s Marketplace she’s also produced or reported for the BBC, The New York Times, NPR, WNYC, Studio 360 and has put in many hours at Radiolab. A 2015 US-Japan Journalism Fellow with the Japan Center for International Exchange, Sally has reported from Japan and India currently teaches writing for radio at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and Sarah Lawrence College. Sally hosts the live storytelling event Stories You Can’t Tell on the Radio and when she’s not making radio or teaching it she enjoys sitting around, daydreaming, and drawing supermodels, robots and cats for sohosally.com.
Past Instructors
Elizabeth Brockway is a recent graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism where she worked on Uptown Radio. Prior to earning her master’s degree, she spent several years working as a writer and photographer in fashion and beauty at Vogue.com, Into The Gloss and i-D. You can listen to her radio work here.
Stephanie Coleman began making radio as an undergraduate studying at Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies. She has since worked for StoryCorps, The Story with Dick Gordon, and she currently produces radio independently and for Twangbox Productions. Her work has aired on All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, The Story, WBEZ’s Re:Sound, and the Vox Tablet and Distillations podcasts. She is also an accomplished old-time fiddle player and has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia with the all-girl band Uncle Earl and other stringbandy configurations.
Adrian Ma is a journalist, audio producer, and former law clerk. Since making the switch from law to journalism, he’s reported on how football’s concussion crisis is making helmets more expensive, why interest in drone racing is taking off, and how New York’s helicopter tour industry is driving residents nuts. In 2016, he graduated with honors from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. His work has aired on WNYC, WBAI, and Marketplace. Recently, he worked on Codebreaker, a podcast from Marketplace Tech and Business Insider. Years ago, he was a cook in a ramen shop. Marylander by birth; New Yorker by necessity. Listen to samples of his work here.
