Live event blog: Online portfolio workshop

By Cole Kennedy

We're just about ready to start here in 110 Lee Hills Hall (the Missourian building, in the basement) with Rob Weir, the director of digital development of the Columbia Missourian, Vivian Abagiu, the photo editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune, and Annie Hammock, the interactive director at KOMU-TV.

Annie Hammock (@anniehammock) is up first, talking about whether or not students need to learn to code. She crowdsourced the question and got some great feedback, which you can see here.

Derek Wills (@derekwillis), from the New York Times, says that students should build it themselves if they're able, but to keep it simple.

Students should look at building their portfolio as an opportunity to learn or brush up on their HTML skills.

Millions of people can build a portfolio with Weebly, Wix, etc. - set yourself apart by showing that you can work outside of those drag-and-drop ecosystems.

The most important point, from Will Haynes (@willhaynes) - forget the medium if there's no good content.

ONA Mizzou event: Building an online portfolio

By Elise Schmelzer

Although our generation is known as digital natives, many students cower at the idea of creating and updating an online portfolio. It may seem like a daunting task, but a site that collects all of your work and presents it clearly is an invaluable tool, especially in an age when prospective employees are often Google-searched before they're ever offered an interview.

There are many questions you might be asking yourself. How much personal information should I put on my portfolio? Should it function like a blog or should I use a static layout? How can I incorporate social media into my site?

Get the answers to your questions at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19 in 110 Lee Hills Hall, when ONA Mizzou hosts a panel of local journalists to discuss digital portfolios. 

Eight ways students can get started on LinkedIn

By Hannah Schmidt

Credit: LinkedIn

In an age where Twitter and Facebook dominate the social networking scene among young people, many students have ignored LinkedIn. They see it as a place for established professionals, not 20-something job seekers.

Here's some advice: Don't be one of those people.

LinkedIn is a gateway into the professional world. When you update your profile with internships completed, skills learned and degrees earned, you expose yourself to thousands of employers. It's not difficult and it doesn't take long -- but your profile won't fill out itself. Below are eight tips I've learned from professors and from a tutorial given by a LinkedIn employee that I've incorporated into my own profile. 

Building an online journalism portfolio: Where to start?

By Bridgit Bowden

A screen shot of my portfolio, made using Wix free version.

Employers today will likely Google you before even looking at your resume. For journalism students, this means it's crucial to have a thorough, easy-to-navigate online portfolio that shows up in the search results -- something that highlights your best work and proves your digital savvy.

Most students are quite comfortable working online, but creating a portfolio website still has its challenges. First, you have to hunt down all your clips. Then, you have to find the platform that's going to best show off your stuff.

There are dozens of choices, so to make your life easier, we've compiled a list of 10 choices with pros and cons of each.

Get involved with the Online News Association at Mizzou

By Cole Kennedy

ONA Mizzou chats with BuzzFeed staffer Dan Oshinsky
(Photo credit: ONA Mizzou)

The start of a new school year is upon us, and with that, another semester full of innovative Online News Association programming on campus. Our organization is dedicated to increasing the understanding of digital media and how the tools offered on the Web can help journalists do their jobs. Through the speakers the student leaders work to bring to campus and the other events we host, we hope students will be able to network and discuss the future of news.

The first opportunity new students will have to get involved with ONA is at the Fall Welcome for New Journalism Students on August 28 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Fall Welcome will have hosts from just about every student club involved with the School of Journalism, and the ONA Mizzou student leaders will be present to answer questions and meet fellow students. Oh, and we couldn't forget to mention that there will be plenty of Tiger Stripe ice cream on hand for attendees.