Currently working for Nielson and pursuing her part-time MBA, the alumna has mastered the skill of multitasking. Being able to switch between projects, she noted, has become a powerful tool in every industry. After all, it is the skill that enables you to relish each piece of the pie.

Coming from a sales and marketing background, the alumna first talked to me about current pressures the advertising industry is facing. Measuring return on investment in TV advertising, for instance, remains an unknown variable.

Yet, the industry is opening for innovation in other fields, such as internet and mobile marketing. The alumna was intrigued by the changes taking place in the media landscape and said she looked forward to seeing the next big thing that will attract advertisers.

While her passion for marketing fills the career share of her cake, it hasn’t dwarfed the other aspects of her life. Working out in the gym and cooking, she noted, are also important for one’s health. Spending time with family and friends deserves a big share of the pie, too.

But there is only so much space in the pie. So you’d better become a good multitasker.

Photo credit: cobalt123

One of the workshops at the Summit showed a movie of unprivileged youth from Bronx, NY advocate for their rights to high-qualtiy education resources. The students are demanding a good home for their loved school, the Leadership Institute. Naturally, media strategies play a critical role in their initiative.

Juan Antigua, the workshop’s facilitator and also a member of the youth advocacy group, explained the importance of pairing the right media with the right message. Media should be used in accordance to one’s specific goals, not just dumped in the public sphere.

“What type of media strategies to use for specific issues?” Juan asked, pointing to a list of opportunities—press releases, blogging, social networking sites, films, music, art. For recruiting purposes, for instance, social media lends itself an effective platform to organize youth. Popular blogs, on the other hand, tend to capture the attention of local media. Longer video projects will connect the specific community with a wider network of organizations with similar goals and interests.

Ultimately, multiple media channels complement one another and thrive in an ecosystem. That is why executing them in isolation cannot bring sustainable change.

As soon as he shared this piece of advice, my mind drifted away from the tennis court to test my coach’s words against different social situations. I smiled at the realization that his advice was not tennis-specific, but a life lesson.

In tennis, you hit the ball with partners whose levels of experience differ. Those who have played tennis as kids are good at the game and confident in their positions. Others, with little experience, are less comfortable with their grips and more insecure about themselves. As playing with partners at your own level might be a rare opportunity, you should learn to make the most of every game.

Similarly, life meets you with people who share your academic and professional backgrounds and others who are less in sync with your approach. To successfully communicate with all, you have to make your conversation partners equally comfortable in your company. As my coach said, you should be “in control of the ball.”

Communication is not about picking and choosing partners who you inherently get along with. It is about being in control of the conversation and making it equally enjoyable for all.

Photo credit: David H-W (Extrajection)

To author ideology-free reporting, one has to be completely removed from personal values. Ideology isn’t just about politics—it also reflects one’s traditions, beliefs and social experiences. Despite efforts to achieve complete objectivity, one will inevitably project certain ideologies in one’s creative work.

“Transparency is the new objectivity,” said David Weinberger in 2009. He introduced this notion as a juxtaposition to early 20th-century journalism’s obsession with objectivity.

Media carry the values of people who create or influence them. As Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky pointed out in The Propaganda Model of News, media reflect the “economic and ideological conditions in which news is produced.”

The information reaching audiences might serve the interests of certain parties, such as media owners, reporters, sponsors, sources and public figures. If a charitable foundation for women empowerment funds a newspaper, for instance, it will most likely demand coverage that reflects its goals. Thus, media can never be completely objective or free from ideology.

Instead of developing an obsession with the notion of objectivity, media should encourage transparency. Audiences will become more empowered to build educated opinions about the information they are receiving if they can openly see its sources. Some online newspapers like the non-profit Texas Tribune, for instance, make publicly available a list of their founding donors.

Being open and transparent about the ideologies of owners, advertisers, sources and political figures involved in the production of media can better serve the public interest. At the very least, it will demonstrate trust in the judgment of readers.

Photo credit: gromgull

A recent infographic by PSFK showed a difference of only 23% in Internet activity between users in the 18-29 age group and those in the 50-64 age group. These stats, however, fluctuate as one adds factors such as education level and location.

Based on my age, education and current location, for instance, I fall in the most active Internet usage group. My parents, on the other hand, are placed in the opposite category, that of most dormant Web users. What exactly does this mean for us as humans? An expanding communication gap as a result of totally different lifestyles.

Each morning during my summer vacation, for instance, I would check Skype to make plans for the day. That was my way of coordinating with friends and scheduling meetings. My mom, however, perceived my behavior as irrational and unnecessary. Why would I tire my eyes sitting in front of the laptop during my break? Needless to say, our interactions suffered due to our different needs and habits.

Tech lingo has also limited my communication with people from my parents’ generation. As my relatives are no native English speakers, I am constantly introducing to their vocabularies words like online, link and click. My family sometimes pretends to know what I am saying and other times gets frustrated with these “tech” terms.

It is a learning process, I tell myself, knowing that my parents will eventually pick up the new software and the lingo that comes with it. But then I wonder—what right do I have to ask of them to be as tech-savvy as people from my age group, eduction level and location?

Photo credit: elisfanclub