Short and Sweet Media Job Fair

I have to give a lot of credit to our department of journalism. Not a day goes by that I don't receive some nugget of information in my e-mail inbox. If it's from Charles Harris (all UF j-students know this mysterious man, the phantom e-mailer/Director of the Knight Division), I know that I'll read about the happenings of our college. To my detriment, I've become the kind of e-mail-skimming zombie who mindlessly deletes things just so my mailbox doesn't become overwhelmingly overflowed, and admittedly, some of those journalism e-mails just do not get read (we get a LOT!). But I digress. Miraculously, instincts told me not to be so hasty the other day and check out a few, and I found this little gem of information.

Now I've only been to one job/internship fair. It was last year in our student union, and I don't think I've ever been more intimidated in my life. The Grand Ballroom looked more like one of those big spread-out office rooms you see in movies with the endless desks and cubicles. Minus the cubicles. Then throw a stone-faced editor behind each desk, all facing the entrance as you walk in and you can imagine the size of the knot that took root in my gut. I was lucky enough to snag an awesome summer internship that day with the High Springs Herald, but not after releasing a few beads of sweat.

Which brings me to why I am so amped up about South Florida's out-of-the-box idea for a job fair. Who in their right mind wouldn't rather dress up and go to a jazz club to mingle with some industry bigwigs on a more relaxed level than the stiffness and anxiety-ridden experience of a traditional job fair? It's being hosted by the South Florida chapter of SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists for all you non-JOUs who stumble on this), The New Times of Broward and Palm Beach and by South Florida Media Jobs. Plus it's on a Saturday, about a 10-minute drive from my folks' house. You'll definitely see me at this one, but I plan on leaving that annoying stomach knot at the door.