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To: Parish and school communicators
From: Maureen Smith, director, Office of Communications
The Catholic Foundation of North Georgia has graciously provided a grant to the Office of Communications to provide scholarships to this year’s Catholic Media Conference (CMC) in Atlanta. CMC is set for June 19-21 at the Buckhead Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. As a parish or school communicator, we would like to invite you to consider attending one day or all three days of the conference.
We will award four (4) full three-day scholarships and ten (10) one day passes to parish and school communicators. In order to be considered you must apply by Thursday, Feb. 15. Your pastor or principal must approve your application. You will have to check in with the scholarship committee at the conference and provide a post-conference report to the Office of Communications. You can apply for a scholarship here (https://communique.archatl.com/catholic-media-conference-2024-scholarship-program/)
The Office of Communications will not provide hotel or travel expenses to or from the conference. You and/or your parish or school are responsible for those expenses. This scholarship will only cover the cost of attendance and any lunch offered to attendees at the conference on the day(s) you attend. You are welcome to purchase additional meals when you register.
Please fill out the form below to apply for a scholarship to the Catholic Media Conference, June 19-21, at the Buckhead Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. You can apply for a full three-day pass or a one-day pass.
You must have permission from your pastor or principal to attend. Please don’t apply if you cannot attend, we have a limited number of scholarships to share. If we get more applications than we have funds, a group made up of CMC planning committee members will decide who should receive a scholarship. Parish income and available resources will be considered. We will only grant more than one scholarship per parish or school if we have extra funds available after we have granted one person from each applying parish or school. Recipients will have to complete the online registration for themselves. You will get a code to use during checkout to apply your scholarship.
The scholarship will only cover the cost of attendance. Scholarship recipients will have to provide their own transportation, housing and any meals not included in the pass. Recipients will have to check in with the planning committee when they arrive and will be asked to provide a post-conference report on their experience.
Highlights for this conference include*:
Wednesday, June 19
Keynote speaker: Bishop Robert Reed, chair of USCCB Communications Committee
Master Camps: Spirituality for Media Professionals; Faith Meets AI: Embracing Technology in Roman Catholic Contexts; Funding Sources & Models for Catholic Media; Donations, Signups and Growth Using Meta and Google Ads
Thursday, June 20
Keynote speaker: Eucharistic Missionary from National Revival Pilgrimage
Workshops: Panel discussion on communicating with and better serving Spanish-speaking communities; Follow the numbers: How can journalists use church and secular data and statistics to identify and write a news story; Your Website Could be Better: Are You Brave Enough?; Five techniques to keep your Facebook and Instagram off the ‘It Sucks’ list; The Art of Storytelling: How to craft compelling narratives that resonate with readers and advance the mission of the Church; Story Mapping/visual storytelling; Harmony in Communications: Mastering Integrated Marketing Communications; Podcasting: How to attract and grow an audience; Visual Storytelling: The role of photography, infographics, and design;
Friday, June 21
Keynote speaker: Possibly a representative from the Dicastery for Communication
Workshops: Breaking Through Spiritual Complacency in a Disinterested World; Elevate Your Digital Presence with SEO; Faith in Action: Showcasing real-life stories
*all speakers and workshops subject to change. Updated schedules will be posted to: https://www.catholicmediaconference.org/