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Workshop Presenters 2015

    2015 Workshop Presenters

    AllisonTravis Allison Workshop: Building Community Through Social Media Travis Allison is a driven, passionate and charismatic multi-media professional. He is active as professional speaker, marketer, consultant and photographer catering to diverse clients, including summer camps and private schools. Hailing from Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, Travis has gained extensive know-how and expertise in community-building, blogging and online marketing, providing PR and marketing services for his customers. Find out more about Travis Allison and feel free to get in touch for further details: www.travisallison.org

     
    FergusonSue Ferguson Workshop: Reporting Controversy Objectively

    Dr. Sue Ferguson is an associate professor and coordinator of the Digital Media and Journalism program at Wilfrid Laurier University. She is also cross-appointed to the Youth and Children’s Studies program, and is a member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, affiliated with the Social Justice and Community Engagement program. She holds a PhD in Political Science from York University and has close to two decades of experience in Canada’s magazine industry.

    As senior writer and associate editor at Maclean’s, she covered a wide variety of issues. More recently, she has written on the boycott, sanctions and divestment campaign against Israel for This magazine, and contributed to the Canadian Journalism portal, www.j-source.ca as a section editor and columnist.

    The focus of Dr. Ferguson’s scholarly work has shifted over the years. Her current research focuses on: media, public discourse and democracy; political discourse and journalism on Israel-Palestine; and childhood culture and capitalism.

    Rick Hemistra Workshop: A Portrait of the Canadian Church

    krotzLarry Krotz Workshop: Telling Better StoriesLarry Krotz is a Toronto-based writer and filmmaker. His books, journalism and documentary films explore how our actions shape our world. Widely traveled, he is well-acquainted with Canada’s north, including numerous First Nations communities, and the African countries of Kenya, Zimbabwe and Angola. Over the years his films, includingSearching for Hawa’s Secret for the National Film Board of Canada, have won numerous awards and been aired on Canadian and American television.

     

     

    MartensCynthia Martens Workshop: Monetizing Your Website Cynthia Martens is currently the Senior Director of Circulation and Production at Sojournerswhere she has been on staff at Sojourners since 1995. Cindy has 30 plus years of publishing experience primarily in circulation management, production, and marketing. Cindy currently serves on the ACP Board as the Vice President. Cindy is an ordained minister and co-pastor of Festival Church, a small, ecumenical faith community in inner-city Washington, D.C.

     

     

     

    OstensenKristin Ostensen Workshop: Building a Successful Social Media Campaign

    Kristin Ostensen is associate editor, staff writer and social media co-ordinator with The Salvation Army’s editorial department, contributing to Salvationist andFaith & Friends, and editing Just for Kids. Kristin co-ordinates Salvationist‘s day-to-day activities on social media and has seen the magazine’s followers nearly double in the past year. Last year she also co-ordinated a highly successful weekend-long live social media campaign during the Army’s territorial congress.

     

     

     

     

     

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    Graham F. Scott Workshop: Finding and Keeping Readers on the Web Graham F. Scott is Managing Editor, Digital at Canadian Business magazine, and teaches “The Online Publishing Toolkit” at Ryerson University’s Chang School for Continuing Education. He is a self-taught freelance web designer and his writing has appeared inMaclean’s, the Globe and Mail, and University of Toronto magazine.

     

     

     

    shanleyKevin Shanley Workshop: Monetizing Your Website Kevin Shanley is the principal of Shanley and Associates, one of the leading marketing agencies in the country serving religious publishers. Shanley and Associates brings the strategy and know-how for generating new revenue. The services include direct mail fundraising, periodical audience development & fulfillment, and advertising sales Kevin is regular speaker at many marketing conferences and started his career as the marketing director for Claretian Publications. Kevin’s client list includes: The Christian CenturySojourners, Presbyterian Church(USA), Franciscan Media, The Presbyterian Outlook, The Mennonite, Mennonite World Review, Bayard Publishing, Commonweal, Liturgical Press, Presbyterian Women, the Living Church Foundation, Our Sunday Visitor, The Sun, plus many others.

    simsSandra Sims Workshop: What makes a Great Media Kit Sandra Sims has been with Sojournerssince March 2012. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas in Denton, TX and a certificate in Nonprofit Management from Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, TX. As Sojourners Director of Advertising Sales she works with many faith based organizations, seminaries, book publishers and other companies who want to reach Sojourners’ highly-engaged audience. This includes our award-winning Sojourners magazine, email newsletters like SojoMail, website advertising, and conference sponsorships.

     

     

    smithJoyce Smith Workshop: Covering Diversity Joyce Smith is an associate professor at Ryerson University’s School of Journalism. Previously, she was features editor and a member of the founding breaking news team for the globeandmail.com, and has worked for the Toronto Star as well as freelancing for a number of secular and denominational papers. For four years Joyce served as the director of Ryerson’s Master of Journalism program, and has taught research and visual resources courses, online, diversity, religion reporting, and creativity classes to undergraduate and graduate students at all levels. She hosted the 7th International Conference on Media, Religion and Culture at Ryerson in August of 2010.

     

    vanderhornSalina Vanderhorn Workshop: Trends in DesignSalina is a designer, art director, and thinker. She lives her dream passionately solving problems and executing her creative vision every day. She began her career at The Kit magazine, evolving from intern to designer and ultimately Assistant Art Director all in less than three years. In 2013, Salina made the jump to Holt Renfrew, where she continues to design and art direct for both content and corporate initiatives. In efforts to keep herself intrigued and creatively challenged, Salina also moonlights as a freelancer, primarily designing for the Presbyterian Record alongside Art Director Caroline Bishop. Salina is known to be an epic problem solver and dedicated internet nerd, quoting “work hard, be nice, stay curious,” as her philosophy to live-by.