On Monday, Oct. 28, members of The Delphi staff attended the Fall Press Day convention at Rutgers University, hosted by The Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA).
The convention started with the GSSPA announcing the winners of their 2024 competitions. It was announced that The Delphi placed first in Overall Online Excellence. In 2023, they placed second.
The Delphi’s Managing Editor, Ella Genovese, explained what the win felt like for her, along with the rest of the staff.
“It was a fun experience, and overall, it was so exciting to win the award,” Genovese said. “We put in a lot of work last year, and to see it reflected and celebrated now feels great.”
After the winners were announced, students attending the convention watched presentations and lectures about different aspects of journalism. One of these sessions was hosted by The Delphi staff Editor-in-chief, Gianna Roberts, Managing Editor, Abby Eckert, and advisor, Brian Smith.
Their presentations focused on how to start and operate a successful podcast. The session attracted a large audience of student journalists interested in the topic.
Roberts explained what it was like to share the presentation with her fellow journalism students.
“Presenting was definitely nerve-wracking at first, especially when I saw our turnout of around 60 students,” Roberts said. “However, I think we gave a lot of good information to journalists around New Jersey, and I heard a lot of great feedback from those who attended. I hope we inspire more students to explore the multimedia aspect of journalism in the future.”
Other students on the trip took away new information from the different speakers they saw. Five total sessions were held throughout the day. The Delphi reporter and freshman Levi Buczkoski gained new ideas from the speakers.
“For me, I think it was very informative and it definitely helped me improve my journalism skills,” Buczkoski said. “For instance, I went to a session that talked about how to create stronger headlines. I think that definitely helped me because it showed how I can look through an article and choose a detail that may strike readers as interesting, and then they’ll click on it.”
The GSSPA’s Fall Press Day convention was a great experience for The Delphi staff. Members received recognition for their work, shared their talents with others and learned more from other journalists.
