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BOOMERPDX MEDIA DAY

PODCASTS AND GOOGLE HANGOUT WITH OREGON SPORTS NEWS

GILL (aspie?) COLISEUM

GILL (aspie?) COLISEUM

You’ve heard this: Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

It means make a plan, map a path.

You know about maps?

They’re on paper and show a route from where you are to where you’re going.

Or it’s on your GPS or smart phone.

Without a map you can still start your car, fill up the gas tank, and drive until it’s empty without arriving at your destination.

Baby boomers around the nation know the feeling all too well.

Portland baby boomers, not so much. Oregon is their destination of choice.

Road maps and career maps have lots in common.

For instance, you want to be a writer, the kind your friends say “Her, she’s a writer.”

But instead of Emily Dickinson in the attic, you find yourself writing about sports.

In our digital world you find more to do with sports to match your writing.

First you find a good sports blog, like oregonsportsnews.com, and submit your work.

Since Oregon Sports News has media partners, you find your work on oregonlive.com, the web presence of The Oregonian, the state’s newspaper of record.

One of the contributors to the sports page may invite you to join their podcast, and you do.

The editor/founder asks if you’d like to take part in a video idea on google hangout, and you do.

From writing, to talking, to talking on screen follows no map. It feels like walking through the woods on the darkest night.

You believe each step heads the right direction so you keep going.

If you need a map, you can try these steps.

You may not like the way your voice sounds, or how you look on a screen, and that’s normal. Expect to sound whiney. Expect the web cam to add twenty pounds to your face. Then get over it.

Use the platform you create to push what you feel strongly about.

For instance, the Oregon state high school wrestling championships are this coming weekend. If you’re a wrestling fan, mention it.

A high powered group called Restore College Wrestling Oregon works to raise the awareness of college wrestling in Oregon? Talk about it.

The wrestling world takes aim at the International Olympic Committee for cutting wrestling from the 2020 Olympic Games? Address the problem, sportswriter.

 

 

 

 

About David Gillaspie

I am a writer. This is my blog story day by day.