Keep in mind expert speakers’ advice

Rodney Curtis, photographer, journalist, author and MSU instructor, talks to Journalism 200 students about telling stories with images.

Rodney Curtis visited the class last week to talk about visuals. He talked about the rules — and how once you know them, you can break them. They can come in handy though — so remember rule of thirds, natural framing, going high and low, close-ups, watch the horizon. And that weddings can be very lucrative for a photographer! I hope you all enjoyed seeing Rodney as much as I did. He always makes me laugh, and he really knows his stuff. Passion and talent make a powerful combination.

I also hope you carry some of the things with you as you work this last week on your multimedia projects. I look forward to seeing them.

This week, we’ll have two more guest speakers — and they are likely to be our last. Tuesday, Alan Stamm, experienced journalist, marketing specialist and Internet strategist, will talk about a variety of things, including what an editor expects of a good reporter. I worked for many years at The Detroit News with Alan, where he was one of the best city desk editors at the newspaper. He was fast, accurate and knew what questions to ask reporters to make sure they had the complete story. After leaving The News several years ago, Alan started carving out his own niche in marketing and Internet strategy.

Alan is one of the most energetic people I know. He seems to be everywhere, reading everything, keeping up with every aspect of the news, social media and the Web. He’s a wealth of knowledge about Michigan, Detroit and journalism. So ask lots of questions!

On Thursday, my colleague Dave Poulson will be talking about advanced reporting, databases and computer assisted reporting. Dave teaches CAR and advanced reporting, and he’s also the father of GreatLakesEcho.com, the online site that reports on environmental issues for the Great Lakes area. Please don’t miss this class — you are guaranteed to learn about techniques that will help you deal with databases and how to look and work with what may seem to you a giant mishmash of information.

As you finish up your public affairs stories and last projects, I’m hoping you take advantage of networking with the speakers who come to class. Some of you have already friended speakers on Facebook, followed them on Twitter and kept in contact. I highly encourage this. The more experts you add to your network, the better off you will be.

Don’t forget your news stories for tomorrow! Be sure to add links, categories and your names. And get them in the blog early enough so that Mo won’t be up all night pulling the budget  together.