Interactive workshop offers students opportunity to learn how to 'make the news'

February 3, 2011 – The McMaster Health Forum is inviting students to an interactive communications workshop that will teach them how they can advocate for positive change through public engagement with the media.

The workshop on Thursday, February 10 in the Forum’s DialogueSpace will be led by Ken Marciniec, communications officer for the Ontario Nurses’ Association, and journalist Sarah Elton, food columnist for CBC Radio’s Here and Now and author of the national bestseller, Locavore: From Farmers' Fields to Rooftop Gardens, How Canadians Are Changing the Way We Eat. It will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The highly interactive workshop will provide participants with a crash course in media relations, and practical and anecdotal advice on how to communicate effectively with the media to raise awareness for a particular cause. It is geared towards students with a background in healthcare but is open to any students who are interested.     

McMaster students are on the front lines of healthcare and have many important perspectives to share, but often lack funding to hire communications firms to effectively disseminate their views. Whether it’s through a campus newspaper, local radio station or even a blog, successfully getting the message out to the public can mean the difference between a successful event and a campaign that goes unnoticed.

The DialogueSpace is located on the fourth floor of Mills Memorial Library. The workshop has been organized in partnership with the McMaster Undergraduate Nursing Science Society (MUNSS) and with support from the McMaster Health Forum Student Subcommittee.

If interested in attending, please RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , with Communications Workshop in the subject line and your name and faculty in the email. The workshop is limited to the first 45 people to register.

Marciniec previously served as communications coordinator for the Good Jobs for All Coalition and the Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario, the provincial students’ union that unites more than 300,000 college and university students. He has also served as an

executive representative for the Canadian Federation of Students. While completing his undergraduate studies in theatre production at Ryerson University, he served as president of the campus-wide students’ union and as an elected students’ representative on the university’s board of governors. Marciniec has also been part of the working group for the Ontario Alternative Budget.

Elton writes regularly for The Globe and Mail, Maclean's and The Atlantic's Food Channel. She has worked as a city reporter at The Toronto Star, a producer at CBC Radio's Metro Morning, and as researcher and writer in documentary film and television. She is active on twitter and facebook, and writes a blog: thelocavore.ca.

She is also a volunteer board member of PEN Canada, an organization that assists writers and promotes freedom of expression.