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February 5, 2014

NABJ-MU Takes DC For #MediaTour2014

Mizzou NABJ Media Tour

If you happened to be at the IAD arrival gate late last night, you may have seen a large group of young, ambitious Midwesterners eagerly chatting (or tweeting!) about the advent of their long-awaited tour of the nation’s capital.

Who are these young go-getters, you ask? They are the student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) at the University of Missouri! For more than 10 years, NABJ-MU has maintained its reputation as an organization on campus that provides professional development for hundreds of students — and this group isn’t here for just any old tour of the White House (although, we recommend carving out some time for that, too)! The group ranges from students of freshman to senior standing, but all are here for the same reason: their annual destination media tour.

Hang on— destination media tour?  What a cool idea! A recent grad myself, this concept really got me thinking back to my own career planning at the University of Maryland just two short years ago… and how I didn’t take advantage of such opportunities on campus. While textbook quality has increased and the Internet has opened up a whole new wealth of information, these tools alone are not enough to set a jobseeker in motion. Students can learn a lot more about companies and agencies by experiencing them in the actual trenches which, in turn, will allow them to answer with an air of confidence when asked [interview spoiler alert] “So where do you see yourself in five years?

It is important that we — as agencies — always remember that investing in our industry begins with investing in our colleges. We hold a set of keys that can’t be duplicated through curriculum or standardized tests.

That said, we warmly welcome the NABJ-MU #MediaTour2014 to the Delucchi Plus offices this afternoon. We look forward to meeting all of you!