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Travel Journal Photos |
In the hot seat at the United Nations Yesterday morning, Colin Powell made his case for invading Iraq to the United Nations Security Council. While I did not see his speech, I was next door in the UN's General Assembly room. They were using it for the recruiting exams I was taking. About 400 people were there from various countries, such as Israel and Australia. Yesterday morning and the day before, I completed four-hour written examinations testing my expertise in world policy and my specialty of information technology. Other specialties ranged from accounting to chemical engineering. It was a lot like your basic university blue book final exam. I didn't find the questions too difficult, but I won't get the results until September! I found it really cool that we were in the General Assembly room. In high school, I once won a gavel for representing Syria in a faux General Assembly. All I did was stick up publicly for my buddies in the axis of evil. Seriously. During the recruiting exams, they seated us randomly and had left out the the country signs. For the first day, I was one of my favorite countries, the Czech Republic. Ten feet away was Iraq. "Dude! You're in the Axis of Evil! How cool!" I told the girl sitting there. I stared at the Iraq placard, thinking about the eBay potential for the original sign from the very last place on Earth that Iraq still has the opportunity to be heard. But as a gracious tourist, I take nothing but pictures. So I pulled out my point and shoot camera and got my picture taken sitting in the hot seat. Now that I am getting ready to fly home, I think I've finally completed a full set of business cards from the visual staff at Newsweek--where on Tuesday, I had yet another big hookup within their newsroom. Two weeks ago when I was in New York, my buddy at the magazine gave me a copy of their direct dial phone list. With it, I could bypass reception and call the science editor to find out how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood... not that I would dare to actually do it. However, the phone sheet didn't say who did what for photo--it only lumped them together as a list of names and numbers. So when I was shaddowing my friend at the Daily News in pursuit of the Newark gogo dancer crack addict fatal babysitter, I called my buddy to see who would be the best person to offer pictures. I didn't realise it, but he referred me to their national photo editor. I didn't get to meet her on that trip. I didn't talk to her except to offer those pictures, which she didn't need. When I was previously at Newsweek, I had only met the deputy photo editor and didn't get to meet anyone below him who handled the actual assignments. So on this trip, I got my shit together in advance and made an appointment with the photo editor that my buddy had referred me to. I came in and showed her my portfolio book. It was then that I found out she was national editor and lo and behold--they have oodles of photogs in NYC and DC, but nobody in Chicago/Detroit--my home base. But that isn't the coolest part. After I showed her my work, she sent a broadcast e-mail to all the various photo editors telling me to come over and meet me. One by one, I chatted with them, finding out which area they edited for such as international ("Tell us when you go somewhere.") or business ("I need lit portraits.")and learned what kind of pictures they needed most and swapped business cards. Last night, I attended an "official" networking party sponsored by Mediabistro.com They host them once a month in several cities. Next week, I'll be at one in Chicago. Yet last night I didn't meet very many people that were useful to know. A lot seemed to be people vaguely interested in the publications industry and not actually part of it. Most of the connections I have across Manhattan are a result of "warm calls" after meeting people from various NPPA and SND press conventions over the past three years. Most of their publications have very large staffs and they've been invaluable for connecting me to the best colleagues to meet. If I ever get an apartment in New York, I'm temped to host a DavidBistro party for all the people I know, some of whom actually want to meet my friends at other publications. One of the graphics people at the Times online edition would like to meet my friend at Newsweek. My friend at Newsweek really wants to meet my friend at the Daily News. (He wants to collaborate on a mentoring program to start kids in visual journalism.) I've actually had a little success in networking media people I know. My firends I put together in Montreal like to brag that they've now "moved in together" after knowing each other for a year. In reality, they're sharing office space. He reports on Montreal for the NY Times, she does commerical photography. My distance record is connecting press friends in Berlin, Germany and Sydney, Australia. When I was visiting my friend at Die Welt in Berlin, I found out he was planning a trip to Australia. I told him that knew several people there from the Olympics, including one photog who spoke some German. My Aussie friend took him out and they had a great time around Sydney. However, my fear for trying to put everyone I know at the Times, Daily News, Post, Newsweek, etc into my apartment (should I get one and attempt a housewarming party) is that with rents being the way they are, it might be like trying to fit 30 people into a phone booth. If they were circus clowns instead and I lived in a Mini Cooper, it might just work. For my last night in NYC, I stayed out until 4am with four Danish girls from my hostel. As I write this, they are in the studio audience for the Ricki Lake show. It's hilarious that they have a love-hate relationship with American culture. They hate the dumbing down of entertainment, including reality TV, but like Americans, they can't compel themselves to turn off the TV. Being a country of only 5 million, almost all of Denmark's TV is imported from the US. Almost exactly a year ago, when I was in Europe for a job in Berlin that fell through, I stayed in Copenhagen and called up the Danish broadsheet Politiken, which wins many awards internationally. I met one of their photo editors the summer before in the US. Like I've been doing around NYC, I met with their design and photo people, showed them my work and gained some ideas on how to make it better. Peace, love and Nikon David McCreery |
