CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Digital Project Management and Social Media Marketing.

DETAILS

The words project management are cropping up on job listings, as companies need dedicated overseers to keep complex projects on track. Knowing the skills and processes that successful project managers use can help you get your next job or move ahead in your current role.

In this course, you'll learn how to successfully manage an existing project or new product launch from conception to completion. We will cover the creative, analytical, and organizational skills you need to connect the dots between different departments and keep projects on task.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Understand the roles and responsibilities of a project manager
• Oversee new product development from conception to execution
• Create specs, wireframes, and other key project management documents
• Collect feedback and implement improvements based on analytics, beta and A/B testing, and focus groups
• Manage an existing product or project

By the end of class, you will have:
Hands-on experience creating project management documents using Microsoft Project and Visio, and an understanding of best practices used to manage new or existing digital projects.

DETAILS

Travel writing is a conduit to other genres, from food and art to politics and technology. The skills and experience you'll gain covering travel can be applied to any writing project you take on.

Throughout this class, we'll extensively workshop your pitches and articles, and you'll finish with a series of solid pieces ready to sell.

With the guidance of James Sturz, Vanity Fair staffer-turned author, students will dissect the anatomy of travel pieces, from travel-related news items to service round-ups to personal essays. Each week, you’ll produce an article and pitch letter, and will be expected to investigate unfamiliar neighborhoods, seek out experts in the field, and demonstrate the highest levels of research and reporting. Students will have the option to create a travel blog or website showcasing their work.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Understand the rules of reporting, interviewing, and finding sources
• Know what travel editors look for 
• Find travel story ideas and pitch them successfully
• Turn one trip into dozens of story ideas
• Know where to pitch outside of travel publications

By the end of class, you will have:
Two salable travel pieces and pitch letters.

This course generally requires a commitment of at least eight hours a week of outside work.

DETAILS

Learn how to write video scripts and story outlines, shoot and edit it, and broadcast your work on video-sharing sites like YouTube.com. We'll explore excellent examples of online video, discuss the cameras and microphones you'll need, and teach you to shoot, edit, and encode.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Improve content with video
• Understand which programs you need to know
• Tag your entries to attract new viewers
• Know which formulas you can count on to work for this medium
• Develop a style that keeps viewers coming back for more

By the end of class, you will have:
The skills to shoot, edit and encode video for the web. You will get hands-on experience with a Canon HDV camera, a walkthrough of Final Cut, and skills in shooting and editing.

Note: Equipment will be provided. Students do not need to own cameras.

DETAILS

Remember The Glass Castle? It's time for you to write your New York Times bestseller.

This class is geared towards anyone ready to write a memoir but needs to learn how to tell it -- and sell it. You'll participate in a stimulating, supportive environment where you can workshop your memoir-in-progress and receive invaluable feedback. 

Through weekly assignments and lectures, you will learn how to turn your idea into a book deal and produce up to 50 pages of text and an outline. You will also learn about craft, style, and the development of your unique voice.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Find your authentic voice and unlock memories
• Know what the 'theme' of your story is
• Find the most effective structure for your story
• Approach literary agents
• Understand techniques for selling a memoir before you have finished writing it

By the end of class, you will have:
An outline, 50 pages of a memoir, and a plan for approaching literary agents and publishing houses. 

Students who have taken this class have published with:
Crown, Random House, and have gotten agents at William Morris and Brandt & Hochman.

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Ad Copywriting or Public Relations.

DETAILS

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Digital Marketing.

DETAILS

In order to run a successful online marketing campaign, you need to understand how to conceive, structure, and measure your efforts across several different outlets -- from landing pages to social media to mobile. In this course, you'll learn how to create an online marketing strategy, identify the appropriate distribution platforms, and use the Web to successfully deliver your message.

We’ll review the fundamentals of online marketing including search engine marketing, keyword optimization, targeted display advertising, and mobile outreach. You'll develop the key components of a successful online marketing campaign while learning how to create display ads, distribute email newsletters, and develop a social media marketing strategy. We’ll also discuss how to measure ROI and track the effectiveness of your campaign.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Apply the four pillars of marketing to an online campaign
• Use paid search and search engine marketing
• Create successful display ads and track ROI on landing pages
• Launch successful email marketing campaign
• Identify the appropriate social media and mobile applications for your marketing strategy

By the end of class, you will have:
An understanding of best practices to launch an interactive marketing campaign and how to use online channels to achieve measurable results.

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Ad Copywriting.

DETAILS

In this class, you'll learn essential copywriting terms and techniques. If you're already working as a writer or copywriter, you'll learn from a new perspective while you complete creative assignments to expand your portfolio. Class will mimic working in an ad agency to build a varied portfolio.

Class will also include two visits from a graphic designer who will show you how to render your work into professional-looking, portfolio-ready ads.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Work with graphics and photos to make a complete ad
• Write benefit-driven headlines and body copy 
• Write for various advertising media: print, collateral, web, outdoor, and direct mail
• Write and work from a creative brief
• Jumpstart your ad portfolio and look for jobs

By the end of class, you will have:
Experience drafting copy in a fast-paced environment, and polished ad writing examples to include in your copywriting portfolio.

DETAILS

Discover how to work as a writer in a changing industry by completing two publishable pieces. This class will show you where opportunities are and which are right for you. You'll workshop two pieces in any format including news stories, roundups, services pieces, listicles, profiles, personal essays, interviews, and features.

In addition to writing and reporting exercises, we'll also show you the business side of getting published: where to pitch, how to query a publication, and how to work with editors so they'll want to work with you.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Create captivating stories editors will want and readers will love
• Know which magazines and sections will buy your story
• Craft compelling pitch letters
• Approach editors and build relationships
• Create content for online publications

By the end of class, you will have:
Two polished articles with corresponding pitch letters.

Students who have taken this class have been published in:
Wired, In Touch Weekly, ESPN the Magazine, Time Out New York, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Cookie, Town & Country Travel, Boston, Woman's Day, Family Circle, Psychology Today, Paste, and Bust.

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Ad Copywriting.

DETAILS

From information gathering to shopping to wanting to connect or be entertained, more and more of our daily interactions take place online. This class will focus on the craft, style, and strategy of writing compelling brand copy for the web.

Through weekly assignments, you'll learn how to carry concepts past headlines, recreate real-life sensations online, and craft copy that lingers in the consciousness long after the user has left a site. Copywriters new or seasoned will find techniques to move effective communication from the printed page to the Web and mobile devices.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Write benefit-driven web copy that's both engaging and succinct
• Create copy for social networks and curated content for branded communities
• Talk with art directors about new digital options
• Figure out which media (traditional or new) is best for your marketing message
• Adapt your style for social media messaging, mobile content, or a proper landing page

By the end of class, you will have:
Experience (and portfolio samples) to apply to web, mobile and social media copywriting.

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Copy Editing.

DETAILS

This course is for anyone who wants to break into copy editing or feel more confident wrangling words. We'll cover the basics, from understanding copy editing marks to avoiding rookie grammar mistakes. You'll have the tools needed to enter the field and an understanding of how to create smooth, readable copy. And you'll have another skill you can add to your resume and put into action.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Determine when a sentence needs tweaking or is best left alone
• Understand copy editing lingo, including proofreading symbols and common terms
• Navigate stylebooks and prepare for a copy editing test
• Find the best reference materials for a copy editing assignment
• Tailor a resume and find copy editing jobs

By the end of class, you will have:
The tools to get work as a copy editor.

DETAILS

From Anna Quindlen to Adam Gopnik, the work of personal essayists is increasingly filling the pages of magazines and websites, offering readers a glimpse of inner worlds and casting a light on the larger world around them.

This class will focus on writing and selling first-person narratives, starting with short opinion and slice-of-life pieces appropriate for The New York Times op-ed page, and moving on to longer, reported pieces written in the first-person. Assignments will be workshopped and ready for pitching.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Find a narrative voice to anchor your essay
• Tell a personal story without being whiney
• Tell someone else's story
• Know what to leave in and what to leave out
• Self-edit and assess your voice, style, and tone

By the end of class, you will have:
At least two complete and salable personal essays.

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Digital Marketing, Ad Copywriting, Digital Journalism, and Digital Project Management.

DETAILS

Remember when people cared about website hits? Now that that's over, we can focus on tracking the website metrics that can drive sales, engagement, and traffic.

In this class, we'll cover the plethora of web analytics data available today, and how you can use those metrics to build a multifaceted digital strategy for your brand or business. Through weekly assignments using Google Analytics, you'll learn what to look for in analytics reports, what the data means, and how you can use your findings to improve your online initiatives.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Read an analytics dashboard
• Gather information about your site visitors from analytics data
• Identify your best performing Internet marketing channel
• Understand your lead generation or sales funnel
• Know what drives conversion to improve results

By the end of class, you will have:
The ability to analyze your data and a firm understanding of its impact on your business.

Note: We recommend students have access to Google Analytics to get the most from assignments. Email us with questions.

WHEN: July 30, 2013

WHERE: New Yorker Hotel, 481 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10001

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Public Relations.

DETAILS

In this course, you'll learn how to create successful events from conception to completion. You'll discover how to think, plan, problem solve, and produce like a professional event planner.

Through weekly assignments, you'll write essential event documents including production reports and timelines, proposals for strategic collaborations and partnerships, and new business presentations. This class will follow the process of planning an event from beginning to end.

In this class you'll learn how to:

• Create production documents including production reports, timelines, budgets, and event recaps
• Develop invitations, advertisements, calendar listings, and media alerts 
• Create and manage an event budget
• Write effective sponsorship decks
• Think creatively to build strategic collaborations

By the end of class, you will have:
The skills to create successful events for a brand, business, or client.

CERTIFICATE Use this course to earn a certificate in Copy Editing.

DETAILS

Remember sixth grade English class? We don't either.

Get a grammar refresher and learn the rules that matter and those you can break. This course will help you navigate best grammar and style practices to produce clear, concise and engaging copy for editorial, business, or creative writing.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Understand the various parts of speech
• Make sure your subjects, verbs, and objects agree
• Ensure that punctuation serves the sentence
• Craft a perfect sentence
• Define of exactly what style is and why it differs from style guide to style guide

By the end of class, you will have:
Training in the fundamentals of grammar to improve your current and future writing projects.

DETAILS

Great public speakers aren't born; they're trained.

In the first part of this course, we'll focus on nuts-and-bolts tips and techniques for becoming a more confident and competent public speaker. In the second part, students will be assessed on their abilities to apply the learning to specific presentations and coached to address areas of improvement.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Captivate and engage an audience
• Use "Power Periods" and oral techniques to project competence
• Walk, gesture, and position your body to convey strength
• Interact with displays, notes, and PowerPoint presentations
• Come up with customized ways to improve your own personal public speaking style

By the end of class, you will have:
The skills to speak confidently and with authority to engage any audience.

DETAILS

In this intensive course, join fellow editors, writers, and bloggers to learn how to implement SEO writing techniques immediately to ensure your content reaches your intended audience. We'll cover how to improve your organic page ranking to drive traffic to your website, the anatomy of a search engine, and link-building techniques to maximize the visibility of your content.

Students will conduct keyword research to analyze their audience and develop a search strategy for increasing page views.

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Identify your audience and conduct keyword research accordingly
• Use Google Trends and the Google Keyword Tool to understand keyword densities
• Use social networking sites to distribute your work and build your authority for search engine ranking
• Apply techniques for effective tagging
• Navigate through the ever-changing landscape of Search to maintain visibility

By the end of class, you will have:
The skills to use keyword research and analysis to drive traffic to your blog or website.

Requirements:
Students must bring their own Mac or PC laptop to class.

DETAILS

DETAILS

To land a job as a TV reporter, you need a demo reel. Period. 

In this course, you’ll learn the fundamentals of television reporting while you manage tight deadlines, draft news scripts, and deliver news content. You'll prepare two taped appearances to add to your demo reel -- shot by a professional news camera operator. We’ll review piece-structuring techniques, how to deliver live coverage, and how to set up and conduct an on-camera interview. 

In this class, you will learn how to:

• Draft a TV news script that’s informative and entertaining
• Write and speak for a television audience
• Deliver a news stand-up
• Set up feature pieces
• Understand the editing process and translate your needs to editors

By the end of class, you will have:
Two taped appearances.

Students who have taken this class have landed reporting jobs at:
CBS Interactive, Fox Business Channel, Fox Philadelphia, and News 12.

DETAILS

We live in the golden age of young adult literature, with young people buying books at the fastest rate in decades. Think Hunger Games, Twilight, or Harry Potter. YA novels are now respected as important money-makers at publishing houses, and they win honors such as the Printz, Newbery, and National Book Awards.

The goal of this class is to finish your YA or middle grade novel in 12 weeks.

In this class, you will learn:

• How to write a proposal that doesn't end up in the slush pile
• What topics are teen cliches, and how to stay away from them
• Whether or not you need an agent and, if so, how to get one
• How to write for teens without being condescending
• How to evaluate your story arc for a teen audience

By the end of class, you will have:
A complete first draft of your YA or middle grade novel.

Students who have taken this class have published with:
Simon & Schuster, Razorbill, Viking, Random House, Simon Pulse, and Grosset & Dunlap, and sold 4-book deals to Penguin and 2-book deals to HarperCollins.