Are workshops really worth your time?
You have to apply, make travel arrangements, and then sort through a massive amount of often technical information packed into just a few hours or days, all while under pressure to produce. Journalists can leave with mountains of research papers, stacks of cards, heaps of data – but wondering if anything really can come from all of it.
For Texas-based freelance writer Laura Beil, the answer is a resounding yes.
Before AHCJ’s Rural Health Workshop had even ended, she had an assignment in hand for The New York Times. While listening to a session at the day-long seminar in Fort Worth last summer, she was hit by inspiration. One slide from one presenter got her thinking – is there a story here?
It took weeks of research, dogged source building and some travel, but a few months later her piece ran on the front page of The New York Times’ Health & Science section.
To find out how she did it, read her essay here.
