On what matters.

Posted on November 19, 2011

Writing is a scary thing. Putting your thoughts, ideas, observations out there for the world to dissect, discuss and dismantle isn´t an easy thing, and anyone who tells you otherwise probably isn´t doing it right or hasn´t received their editor´s notes back yet.

So what draws people back to it? To a job one friend described as “always having homework to do for the rest of your life”?

I think it´s the magic of it. Showing people worlds they wouldn´t otherwise see, asking them to imagine themselves in places or with people they wouldn´t otherwise get to know, or having them consider something new, even just for a moment.

There´s a lot of shitty writing out there too, don´t get me wrong. And like a lot of writers, I worry about contributing to that massive growing pile. I don´t want to be someone who wastes other people´s time.

But I´ve come to understand I´ll only get better at this if I keep trying to work through the crappy early days. Until I´ve done this for months and then years, on a regular basis.

Choosing this life means being around for the long-term. Even when I´m scared, even when I´m frustrated, even when I´m tempted to give up. The writers and storytellers who become great and remembered for their work all worked through their awkward phases. They kept trying to do things, listened to others, learned from mistakes and didn´t let anyone tell them to stop. Or if they did, they tried to ignore it or forget about it long enough to keep going.

If the last month of travel has taught me anything, it´s that being scared is perfectly okay. What´s important is that you don´t quit. Always keep going. That´s all that matters.

I arrived!

Posted on October 20, 2011

Karen’s first few hours in Lima, Peru through photos:

This is all the clothing I packed. Somehow I managed to colour-coordinate everything to grey, turquoise, light green and cream. It was a total accident. Also, taking photos of all this stuff helps me keep track of what I brought in case anything gets stolen.

I use Ziplock bags to organize everything. I’m kind of addicted to them.

I passed out during my flight to Miami. From Miami to Lima, I sat next to a really funny American-Japanese diplomat. We hit it off and chatted the entire time. And the airplane food didn’t suck.

This is the fruit salad I ate for breakfast in the hostel. At Loki Backpackers, I met a wonderful woman named Lizzy from London who gave me lots of tips about things to do and introduced me to other people.

Feel free to send me suggestions on things to do and see in South America. I’ll be going to Arequipa soon for the condors and hiking at Colca Canyon.

I did the crazy thing

Posted on August 9, 2011

Have you ever wanted to say goodbye to your job, jump on a place and just go somewhere? Maybe you’ve already heard about this video that’s been bouncing around the internet about an Australian travel company showing this ridiculously good-looking actor travelling around the world. Or maybe you’ve been wondering why I’ve been talking about leaps of faith and master plans on Twitter lately.

Whether it’s all of the above or none of them at all, here’s a update one what’s going on in my life right now.

1) I quit my job.
That’s right, two-weeks’ notice, officially unemployed, only money coming is in whatever I make selling off old CDs and from leftover insurance claims I haven’t sent in yet. I said goodbye to a decent salary, 4.5 weeks paid vacation, benefits, education subsidies, everything. Lots of good friends, mentors and colleagues told me if I wasn’t happy, the job wasn’t worth it, especially if I had other ideas on what to do with my time. Which led to…

2) I’m going to South and Central America for 3.5 months starting in late October.
I’m planning on hiking the Inca Trail, working in the rainforest, sandboarding down a dune, snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands, surfing in Nicaragua and learning how to speak Spanish. Over the last five years I’ve saved about a year’s salary after taxes and figure I’ll never be able to take this kind of time off for the rest of my life, so I should do it now.

3) I’m coming back to journalism full-time.
Ever since I got my communications job I’ve been yearning to come back to the industry. I love the opportunities to tell stories, I love helping and meeting people, I love going to new places, learning new things and being able to ask endless questions. I only got to do that to a small degree in my old job and the idea of doing that full-time, even without all the safety nets of benefits, steady hours and better pay, completely thrills me. Over the next two months, I plan on completing the Canadian Securities Course, learning introductory Spanish while physically training for my trip and pitching a few stories to magazines and newspapers. This way when I come back from Nicaragua in late January I’ll be fully prepared to freelance full-time and qualify for business journalism internships.

The reality of it all
I know this situation is only a dream for many. I owe a lot to my parents, who helped support me immensely during my time in university and offered to let me continue to live at home rent-free while I was working. (In addition to being located only 15 minutes away from my workplace, they said it would help me save for a house in the future.) Not everyone can be living debt-free, rent-free and virtually commitment-free at the age of 24.

But I also lived very frugally during the entire time and saved most of my salary. I rarely went out for movies, packed most of my meals, and always took public transit when going downtown from Scarborough. When I travelled on my own, I often took the Megabus to places close to home (Montreal, New York) and stayed with friends or relatives. I mostly lived like a broke student, even when I was far from it.

So that’s what I’m doing with my life. If you have recommendations for places to see in Ecuador or Peru, inexpensive ways to get to Brazil and Argentina, or the best ways to learn conversational Spanish in two months, I would love to hear them.

Reality and Kai Nagata

Posted on July 14, 2011

[The following is about former Kai Nagata's blog post "Why I quit my job" about his resignation as CTV's Quebec City Bureau Chief.]

I understand what it’s like to be 24 and in a job that seems enviable to a lot of others but that’d you’d like to quit on a daily basis. I’m sure lots of us have had daydreams of leaving jobs we hated with a great screw-you flourish.

The truth is, there are very few people I know who genuinely love their jobs, even the ones who have their idea of a “dream job”. This is especially true in journalism, where people are being told they need to do much more in less time while having a larger number of skills and accepting less pay and benefits. Even the great jobs have slog-filled moments, minor annoyances and some sort of office politics. There is no job purely made up of sunshine and rainbows. This is the mystical unicorn of employment fantasies.

The reality is, starting at the bottom involves a lot of paying your dues. Sometimes, that includes unpaid internships. Kai even admitted he got a lot of control in his position as Quebec City Bureau Chief.

That being said, I don’t know how much Kai did to try and change things internally during his time in his position. I don’t know if he had an internal mentor or manager he could reach out to regularly to ask for advice or suggestions on how to change things. Maybe he really did try to stick around for as long as he could and ended up with little motivation to stay.

Still, by writing the letter Kai seriously burned his bridges to two of the biggest media companies in the country and pissing off lots of other journalists. And while many applauded his blog post, it’s worth nothing how small and well-connected the journalism industry is as a whole in this country. Being well-known for your this-is-why-I’m-quitting letter over your notable experience on two major television networks isn’t exactly something you should or would want to put on your resume.

(Kai’s I’m-in-TV-but-don’t-own-a-TV point also strikes me as a bit bizarre. How else would you check in on how other networks are scooping you? I guess in the age of the internet, you could livestream or Youtube all your competitors instead, but that seems much more cumbersome and likely to be less thorough.)

If anything, this whole ‘saga’ (as CBC’s Kevin D’Souza put it earlier today) highlights the need for journalism students and aspiring journalists to really research what the hell they want to go into and be prepared to do what it takes.

Case in point: I’m someone who really doesn’t like wearing makeup. Bearing this in mind, I knew if I wanted to be involved in television it would only be in a role behind the scenes and that would never give my parents the joy of being able to point to the television and excitedly telling others “That’s my kid!”

Likewise, I know that even print jobs require some sort of multi-media experience. If that means watching videos of other great young journalists, investing in some decent entry-level gear and taking the time to learn video-editing, that’s a choice I make.

At the end of the day, Kai’s move definitely took guts. Doing what you think is right for you in the face of everyone else’s expectations and ideas isn’t easy. But the way he executed his resignation, with the long emotional explanation online and thrashing of his former employers, makes me sad because it is exactly what so many people think an immature 24-year-old “me-first Millenial” would do. It sets a bad example for my generation and exposes how naive and misinformed Kai was about the business of broadcast television news.

I wish Kai’s blog post had been a little bit more to the point, more humble, and simpler. It might have reduced the number of holes critics poked into his argument. But it’s clear his post set off a heated discussion about the current state of Canada’s television news that’s been growing for a long time, especially with the recent introduction of Sun TV and the “wall-to-wall coverage” of the Royal Visit. Despite his controversial delivery method, Kai does deserve some credit for bringing some serious attention to the way broadcast news is currently being delivered. And I imagine it’s a discussion that’s only going to continue and lead to more stories about the industry in the coming weeks.

My weird middle name

Posted on June 30, 2011

嘉: excellent; joyful; auspicious
韵, 韻: rhyme; vowel

For a few years now, my byline has been Karen K. Ho. I included the initial for a simple reason: it would help distinguish me from the hundreds of other people in the world with the same name in a Google search. I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be confused with a University of Minnesota professor, president of an investment firm in New York, Newmarket optometrist or the other U of T graduate who works at an interactive engagement company.

There are so many dopplegängers even in my own city of Toronto that there are seven other Karen Ho’s registered at Ryerson University and four at my rock climbing gym.

I often get questions about what the initial stands for. Most of the time, I either don’t tell people or I try to be smart and say the k is for “kick-ass”.

The truth is, the initial is just the part of my legal name I’m the most embarrassed to say out loud.

Background: My English name was chosen for its similarity to my Chinese name, which was picked by my grandfather. My younger sister Yvonne received the same treatment. My Chinese name (嘉韻) pronounced in Cantonese is GAH-wun. (First and sixth tones, respectively.) Yvonne’s Chinese name is pronounced YEE-wun. When both of us were born, my parents also followed the common practice of using our Chinese names as our English middle names. But then for whatever reasons at the time, my mother decided to spell them differently on our birth certificates.

Yvonne got the fairly logical Yee-Wan. I got Kar-Wang.

While Wang is one of the world’s common surnames, when your English name officially includes both the words “Wang” and “Ho” you are pretty much ripe for endless mockery and humiliation.

After having had the experience of “Karen the Ho” spray-painted on the dumpster outside my elementary school during eighth-grade, it’s not surprising I have tried hard to hide this fact about myself from the general public as much as possible in my adult years. Needless to say, it hasn’t worked out that well. This phonetically-incorrect middle name is on all my legal documents, often pops up in staff directories and it has been on every single academic attendance list, leading to a fresh round of cringing each time a new teacher, professor or instructor awkwardly reads it out in class for the first time.

I have often contemplated changing it to Ga-Wan or Ka-Wan or even something completely different like Clarissa to avoid future moments of shame and embarrassment. My mother has even recently admitted she has no idea why she decided to spell it that way. But being a fairly lazy person, I have determined that getting married would be the only instance I could justify the amount of time, money and paperwork needed to legally change “Kar-Wang” to something else.

Despite these annoyances, I have to give my weird middle name some credit. On the rare occasions I do tell explain it to friends, potential employers or people in the journalism industry there are always smiles and laughter. Many giggle like they’re 12-years-old. But by revealing it to them, I know I’m increasingly the likelihood they’ll remember me later.

After all, it’s hard to forget the girl with the name “Wang Ho”.

This post is part of EthnicAisle, a project about race, ethnicity and multicultural issues that I’m thrilled to be a part of. (I also stole this boilerplate from the incredibly talented Kelli Korducki.)

A brick off my chest

Posted on June 29, 2011

[The following is an updated version of a story published online in October 2008.]

Coming out to my mom was a strange experience. While I knew she was a fairly open-minded person, the only person in our family who was gay was her little brother and he was pretty much estranged from our family after he criticized my mom’s parenting style. My uncle also treated our male cousins far more favourably and this preferential treatment only made things worse.

Still, she was the first one he came out to. My mom even figured it out before her brother fully blurted out the words.

But when it came time for my own awkward moment, I still felt like I was about to throw up.

I chose to tell her the day in journalism school I decided I wanted to go back to graphic design, which at the time was one of the few subjects that didn’t make me want to throw my computer out the window everyday. But after driving her home from work, I couldn’t tell her about the other thing I so desperately wanted to talk to her about. The gay thing.

After getting inside the house I tried to distract myself by folding laundry until the subject became such a heavy, weird feeling in my chest that I just ended up blurting out the words “Mom, I’m kind of gay”. For a few minutes before that moment it felt like something was about to explode out of my chest, like a scene from Alien.

And then we had ‘the talk’.

Looking concerned, my mom asked the common question: “Are you sure it’s because you haven’t found the right guy yet?” She rationalized all my downtown trips during the summer were because of my ‘new friends’ (and I figure that is definitely not the time to tell her about the nights I crashed at strangers’ places). And she was able to say the word “bisexual” even before I had the guts to. She also pointed out the various clues she noticed during the past few months, such as me going to Pride, catching me watching Queer as Folk, my numerous stories about queer friends and my sudden request that day to contact to my gay uncle’s ex ‘about something’.

While coming to the realization of how smart my mother is, I tried to console her about the fact that I could still find a nice guy, marry him, have kids and live a relatively ‘normal’ life, but she quickly replied that she didn’t want me doing that just on account of her. Ouch.

Truthfully, the tense mood right after telling her, during dinner and afterwards was pretty bad. All I could feel was sort of a mass panic. And while talking to various friends online was comforting in a way, seeing a friend in person made the biggest difference. It made every difference.

A friend came up to Scarborough (which never, ever happens) and I found myself picking her up from the end of the train line at the local mall. I was so excited I actually parked my car, ran in through the doors and hugged her, with big fat tears in my eyes. Just like in the movies.

We end up talking in my car and at a local Coffee Time for two hours.

She tells me my mother did fine, still loves me and that I have nothing to worry about. If anything, I’m reminded of the words of another friend – this is a big deal because I can still sleep fine in my own bed and a lot of people end up committing suicide from fear of not being able to come out at all.

A day later things seemed to be relatively normal at my house. My mother didn’t treat me any differently, my dad didn’t act like he knows (though I have no idea if my mother told him) and all I feel is intense relief. And incredibly lucky I have such wonderful friends.

***

UPDATE: Years later, things are a bit different. Sometimes I wonder if I’m still considered queer. I’m a cisgender, straight-looking female who rarely hangs out in the Church-Wellesley Village and has nonchalant feelings about Pride. (But that’s because I live in the wilds of Ford Country, not because I’m post-mo.)

Complicating this further is bisexuality’s bad reputation and the less-than-stellar initial experiences I had dating women. (The first two I ever went out with came out as transmen shortly after our breakups. For a few months afterwards I worried I had some sort of extremely terrible luck in choosing potential girlfriends.)

Even though I mostly date guys now, I have never regretted coming out to my mom. I don’t have to to hide who I am from her. And in a time where many young people are still committing suicide because of bullying, unable to come out to their parents or turning to programs like the It Gets Better Project for help, I am incredibly thankful and lucky for her love and support.

This post is part of EthnicAisle, a project about race, ethnicity and multicultural issues I’m lucky enough to participate in.

Definitions of a journalist, or lack thereof

Posted on October 4, 2010

What defines a journalist anymore?

After the G20 happened, there was certainly a lot of discussion about journalist rights, or their apparently growing lack thereof.

But what about freelancers who have switched to PR? Or those whose incomes rely mostly on jobs outside of journalism? Or haven’t produced in months?

How do you measure who is and who isn’t a journalist?

Often this question is asked in relationship to newer publishing platforms – the bloggers vs. old media debate certainly doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

But what about someone like me? Do I get the right to call myself a journalist?

Sure, I went to journalism school. Did not one, but three internships, all in different mediums. Co-founded a new press club in Toronto. Live-blogged a few journalism conferences this year and have a decent Rolodex of friends in the industry. Even listed on a bunch of ‘journalist’ lists on Twitter.

But for the last few months, outside of Twitter I haven’t produced much of anything. I haven’t blogged and outside of a trip to New York in August, I haven’t taken any photos. I was at a wedding when the G20 protests were taking place. All I could do was read and retweet news stories while friends were getting caught in the rain, kettled, interrogated by police or beaten with batons.

I was still fortunate enough to get some high-profile job interviews at prestigious media companies. But I got tired of making excuses for my lack of recent clippings and it was clear my skills were very rusty. So I enrolled in night classes at Ryerson University, gave my two weeks notice at my bank job and started looking forward to a scary future filled with days pitching to editors.

And then I got a communications job.

It was entirely unexpected. But the week before I gave my notice a very kind professor from my journalism program sent me a job posting. Thinking not much of it, I applied. And not long afterwards I found myself with a voicemail asking if I could come in for an interview.

(The voicemail was due to this lovely incident, but that’s a story for another day.)

Five days after my meeting and three days before my bank job was up, I got an offer.

The job, which starts tomorrow, is in the Communications and Public Affairs department at U of T Scarborough.

It’s an interesting place to work, in that it’s where I completed my undergrad less than a year ago. And I’m excited for it, in that they’re essentially paying me to do the job I had while I was working for The Varsity. (Typical article pitch: UofT has a suburban campus! It doesn’t suck! In fact, here’s how it’s notable/crazy/weirder than St. George.)

But part of me is a bit conflicted. On the one hand, I did it. I found a job that lets me write for a living, pays a decent wage, has reasonable hours, fantastic benefits and is close to home in a time when many people are still struggling to find jobs.

But I’m not a reporter, editor or photographer. I don’t work in a newsroom. And no one would classify the work I’m about to do as journalism.

Still, trying to define myself even before my first day is a bit early and presumptuous. And there’s no telling if I was always meant to be in communications, or if I eventually attend a master’s program or find other work in magazines and newspapers.

Now if only I could figure out what I’m going to wear tomorrow…

How to be Alone

Posted on August 12, 2010

I was sent this by my friend Jenna a few days ago.

As far as viral videos go, this has to be the loveliest, most unexpected one I’ve come across in a long time. I mean, it’s about poetry. It’s about the joys of being by yourself. And it is quintessentially Canadian.

I think it’s easy to see why so many people are drawn to it. Anyone who’s recently become single, anyone constantly asked why they are single, to young teenage girls, those newly moved or separated from their loved ones. Almost everyone can relate. The comments are practically glowing. There is some serious iTunes potential here.

But surprisingly, it’s received little attention from the mainstream media. And while there have been some high-profile mentions and links from places like Slate, The Rumpus, The Guardian and The Atlantic, there have been no interviews or articles with the poet Tanya Davis or the director so far.

Still, a far as advice goes I think it compares well to popular 90′s hit Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen), as it wouldn’t hurt listeners to take its advice to heart. I think Mary Schmich would be proud.

Why Participation Journalism is Good for You and Your Readers

Posted on April 4, 2010

For as long as I have been reading news on the internet, I have been reading nytimes.com. Since my family didn’t subscribe to the dead tree version, this allowed me to read huge portions of one of the best newspapers in the world.

I even checked it during a vacation in Rome to find out about Valentino’s retirement celebrations after witnessing a public rehearsal.

So yesterday it was a bit of a surprise when I woke up to this one line email on Facebook.

“Did I just see you on a New York Times iPad video?”

And just like that, I was part of my favourite newspaper.

The process was pretty simple: well known NYTimes technology journalist David Pogue sent out this tweet:

I sent back a quick email, got the script, captured a few takes of the necessary shots (no small feat when I haven’t ‘acted’ in anything for 10+ years) and sent off a converted version of the video file.

Then I tried to forget about it.

Turns out my role in the David Pogue video is small – I’m one of 20 pre-scripted people shooting from webcams in their homes saying and doing things he instructed by email.

But in finally seeing it up on the web, where millions can access it and it can be linked, posted on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else, it’s cool to see how one small tweet can get people from around the world to contribute in a such an interesting visual way.

Yes, it may be pretty cheesy in it’s entirely pre-scripted nature. But the video clearly illustrates a few things journalists need to keep in mind when doing journalism based online and around new media.

Twitter, while not the most important tool, is an extremely useful one when looking for multiple sources of opinion and participation for a project – be it an article, podcast or online video.
The web extends your reach for participants and sources to places around the world at little to no cost and relatively low effort.
Everyone in this video saw Pogue’s tweet, sent him an email and then sent him a video – there was no long distance charges from reaching Alessandro in Italy, there was no tape to convert and all the editing was done digitally through a program like FinalCutPro.
For new journalists, these are opportunities to get your face out there (and get over being camera shy).
In October I did something similar for the CP24 show Webnation. I shot another video lasting 30 seconds from my room on my webcam, sent it to her by email and suddenly found myself on television later that afternoon. When I met host Amber MacArthur a few weeks later, she remembered who I was from that experience and encouraged me to keep trying for similar opportunities. “When I was in journalism school, we didn’t have this,” she said. “I would have signed up all the time if I could.”
This is a chance to see, interact and recognize with readers.
So often we have debates about anonymous vs. anonymous comments and the problems with getting readers and viewers to participate without the situation devolving into immature, insulting or racist remarks from people like Becky123.
But here you have 20 people (well, 19 and the Video Professor) who are willing to say their names, show their faces and take their own time to email a journalist, give them content and help complete a slightly different approach to a technology subject already covered to death.

I’m still terribly camera shy and part of me wishes I had also been given a solo part. However, I’m glad that I tried something I was incredibly afraid of and pushed myself to do something new.

And I got to check off my goal of being in the New York Times before the age of 25! Honestly, that’s pretty neat.

[This post was first published on NotJSchool, a Ning Social Network]

10 Things You Need at Journalism Conferences

Posted on January 21, 2010

Going to an industry conference can be overwhelming. There’s hundreds if not thousands of people congregated in a small amount of space for a short period of time, all trying to learn and grow in their fields.

Traveling to one can be expensive to do, especially if you a new or young professional. But the investment can pay off tremendously in ways not possible through regular networking in your local area.

Originally I wrote this in mind as a guide for other students journalists planning on going to next year’s Canadian University Press National Conference in Montreal, Canada or similar conferences by organizations like Online News Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the News Photographers Association of Canada or the Society for News Design.

But I feel that much of it also applies to gatherings in disciplines like graphic design, fine arts, film, advertising and do-it-yourself events like Maker Faire.

With that in mind – here’s the list of 10 things you absolutely need at journalism conferences:

Great business cards
Thicker card stock and good design will help cement any positive first impressions. They also greatly increase the likelihood key contacts will remember you and stay in contact long after the conference is over. Print plenty, always have them on hand and remember to ask ones in exchange.
Your portfolio
It makes sense for photographers to have great large size prints on hand, print journalists to have multiple copies of clippings (including original, unedited drafts) and broadcast journalists to have podcasts, radio broadcasts and television clips on media formats easily loadable on any computer. PDFs, DVDs and USB keys are your friends.
Original story ideas and pitches currently in consideration, research or production
The conference is a great place to get advice from peers and mentors in your field. Take full advantage of this opportunity. Doing so will allow you to refine your work before submitting to an editor, who will very likely notice and appreciate your project’s extra polish.
Full copies of your publication or program
It’s fun to show off the team you’re a part of, see what everyone else is participating in as well as observe trends and advances in your field.
Your full arsenal
This can be your notebook, laptop, voice recorder, video camera, mikes, full DSLR kit, batteries, smartphones, chargers or other tools. Always have them on hand and ready to use. That way if a story occurs in or outside of the conference, you have the resources you need at your disposal to capture it right away.These also allow you to maintain productivity away from your desk or home environment, as well as take advantage of any interactive workshops being offered.
Business casual wardrobe
Going to a conference is should be considered a step in advancing your career – treat it as such. I guarantee others will notice. Also, it makes you prepared for any sudden work opportunities that may arise.
An updated website and CV
If you’re handing out business cards with your website address on them it doesn’t make sense to have outdated information or third-choice clippings.
Booze
It helps you bond with peers and it’s cheaper than drinking at the hotel bar or pub.
A good alarm clock
Necessary for waking up on time for breakfast, efficient naps and making your flight home on time.
A smartphone
If the internet is down in the venue this allows you to still respond to messages, live-blog and stay productive.

They say luck is a combination of timing and preparation. Going to a conference prepared with these tools will pay off and allow you to seize opportunities you never expected to arise.

http://www.daniellecorsetto.com/archive.php?today=862&comic=860

10 Things You Should Bring to Journalism Conferences

1) Great business cards
Thicker card stock and good design will help cement better first impressions. They also greatly increase the likelihood key contacts will remember you and stay in contact long after the conference is over.

2) Your portfolio
It makes sense for photographers to have great large size prints on hand, print journalists to have multiple copies of clippings (including original, unedited drafts) and broadcast journalists to have podcasts, radio broadcasts and television clips on media formats easily loadable on any computer. PDFs, DVDs and USB keys are your friend and help ensure backup copies are always on hand for you to print out, show off and get valuable feedback.

3) Original story ideas and pitches currently in consideration, research or production
The conference is a great place to get advice from peers and mentors in your field. Take full advantage of this opportunity. Doing so will allow you to refine your work before submitting to an editor, who will very likely notice and appreciate your project’s extra polish.

4) Full copies of your publication or program
It’s fun to show off the team you’re a part of, see what everyone else is participating in as well as observe trends and advances in your field.

5) Your full arsenal
This can be your notebook, laptop, voice recorder, video camera, mikes, full DSLR kit, batteries, smartphones, chargers or other tools. Always have them on hand and ready to use. That way if a story occurs in or outside of the conference, you have the resources you need at your disposal to capture it right away.

6) Business casual wardrobe
Going to a conference is should be considered a step in advancing your career – treat it as such. I guarantee others will notice. Also, it makes you prepared for any sudden work opportunities that may arise.

7) An updated website and CV
If you’re handing out business cards with your website address on them it doesn’t make sense to have outdated information or third-choice clippings.

8) Booze
It helps you bond with peers and it’s cheaper than drinking at the hotel bar or pub.

9) A good alarm clock
Necessary for waking up on time for breakfast, efficient naps and making your flight home on time.

10) A smartphone
If the internet is down in the venue this allows you to still respond to messages, live-blog and stay productive.

Being prepared will pay off in spades.