2008 Program
All speakers subject to availability

11th Annual Freelance Journalism Convention

Saturday March 15 – Sunday March 16, 2008
Venue:  State Library of Queensland, South Bank, Brisbane

Opening drinks: Friday March 14, 6.30pm
Venue: Powerhouse Museum, 119 Lamington St, New Farm
Guest speaker: Tony Koch, Walkley Advisory Board member and 2007 Walkley Award-winning journalist, The Australian

DAY ONE

9:00am
Keynote speech
Investigative journalism – keeping the bastards honest
Hedley Thomas, 2007 Gold Walkley winner

10:00am
Forum plus Q & A
Interviewing: tricks of the trade
Cathy Border, Network Ten, on broadcast interviewing
Vanessa Gorman, freelance, Australian Story
Anna Broinowski, film-maker, Forbidden Lie$

11:00am Morning tea

11:30am
Workshops: pick one

1a. The basics: setting yourself up for success
Everything you need to know, from cash flow planning to marketing.
Alan James, freelance radio broadcaster

1b. Taking your business to a new level
Margaret Simons, award-winning journalist and author

1c. Performance consultant: Getting the most from yourself
Mark Moore, www.epi-learning.com

1:00pm
Lunch

2:00pm
Stringer/strong writer: making money all over the globe
Chair: Candida Baker, freelance journalist and creativity coach
Heather Stewart, Award-winning broadcaster and journalist
Sean Leahy, cartoonist, The Courier-Mail & The Black Stump

3:00pm Afternoon tea

3:30pm
Copyright master session: global rights and the digital age
What to know before you sign a contract
Karen Pitt, Copyright Agency Limited
Representative from Copyright Council
Richard Harris, NSW branch secretary, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance
Brian Cassey, Award-winning freelance photographer

4:20pm
Cooking a book and publishing
Helen O’Neill, author and journalist
Kate Eltham, chief executive officer, Queensland Writers’ Centre
Michael Campbell, director, Brisbane Writers’ Festival
Madonna Duffy, Publisher, UQ Press

5:00pm finish

6:00pm Lion Nathan Freelance convention dinner
Decks restaurant, Southbank Parklands
Guest speaker John Birmingham - Yarns from the back of a beer coaster
PLUS beer appreciation tips with Rory Gibson, beer writer for The Courier-Mail, & Bill Taylor, chief brewer for Lion Nathan

DAY TWO

9:00am
Opening address
Media: the future tense
David Higgins, editor, NEWS.com.au

9:15amPanel with Q&A
The newest of new media
Learn what new technologies such as aggregation, satellite imagery and web 3.0 can do for your journalism.
Chair David Higgins, NEWS.com.au
Margaret Simons, author and media writer, Crikey
John Cokley, academic, UQ
Sally Eeles, Nine Network

11:00am Morning tea

11:30am Specialty round tables: pick a genre
Speak to specialists in one of these areas:
•    speech writing with Tony Malcovic
•    business writing with Bronwyn Hope
•    travel writing with Tim Richards, Lonely Planet et al
•    subbing & editing skills with Jennifer Wright
•    layout with Lara Burke, designer, Frankie Magazine
•    broadcasting rates and rights with Alan James
•    creativity coaching with Candida Baker
•   science & environment writing with Don Alcock, Keytext
•   sports writing with Phil Lutton, Brisbane Times
•   health & medical writing with Melissa Sweet

 

12:30pm Lunch

1:30pm

Plenary sessions

Media law update: ethics and defamation
Andrew Shute, Media lawyer, Minter Ellison

2:15pm
Tax and finance: everything you need to know
Brian Richards, partner, BDO Kendalls
David Rey, JUST Super

2:40pm
Photography: rights, technique and gear
Digital tagging, laws, lenses. All you didn’t know you didn’t know about photography
Eddie Safarik, freelance photographer
Brian Cassey, freelance photographer

3:00pm Afternoon tea

3:30pm Speed pitching
Pick an editor’s table, pitch an idea, then move on.
Helen Trinca, Wish / Weekend Australian Magazine
Sally Breen, Griffith REVIEW
Rob Pegley, Alpha
Katarina Kroslakova, Limelight
Peter Lewis, Landline
Mark Muller, RM Williams OUTBACK Magazine
James Tuckerman, Australian Anthill Magazine
Editor, Australian Story, ABC tbc

 ……and more yet to be confirmed

5:15pm Close of convention

Please check back soon for further details.  We look forward to seeing you there!