Magazine – Chicago Entertainment Assistant Editor – VOLUNTEER
10+ hours/week
Picture This Post magazine, www.picturethispost.com, alerts time-strapped readers to cultural offerings that are the best match for their interests in art, books, dance, film, museums, music, theater, as well as travel with a focus on culture. We not only cover culture creators and venues with high name recognition, but also delight in helping to showcase bold, creative strokes by fledgling artists in all genres.
As an Chicago Entertainment Assistant Editor for Previews, you will learn the skills involved in creating previews from press releases—with a focus on learning the difference between journalistic vs. promotional language, how to implement inverse pyramid editing, how to do layouts of your stories and social media posts about them using our automation, and also ensuring that all events are properly listed in the Picture This Post READERS’ CALENDAR.
YOU ARE A KEY PART OF THE EDITORIAL TEAM—You write previews of events in Chicago.
Here is a link to the Picture This Post Chicago Section—where you click a picture to read a story. Keep clicking “Read More” to find earlier reviews, previews and interviews in our magazine.
https://www.picturethispost.com/chicago/
Please also spend some time exploring related videos on the Best Plays in Chicago Playlist of the Picture This Post YouTube Channel –
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcM-1fSIyLHGLZIWHdTy3iOsyZj71dwpw
You will be tasked with collecting related previews into roundup articles—such as COMING SOON TO CHICAGO, BEST PLAYS, and NOW PLAYING.
Your first job/s will be to attend training sessions and use self-study guides that will allow you to master the prerequisite skills to fulfilling this role: editing press releases to previews; editorial correspondence to line-up images required for our picture-rich format; layout; social media; uploading news events to the READERS’ CALENDAR; and networking via social media with the various culture creators your stories report on.
This student volunteer position is designed to immerse you in the processes of online publication. While not listed as an “internship” position, most of our past and current student volunteers concur that the training and educational opportunities in this and other Picture This Post volunteer positions far exceeds that of most internship jobs. The more time you put into this experience the more you will get out of it. Many volunteers take on multiple roles and more responsibilities that give them more to show at the end of their time at Picture This Post – a fat portfolio of published articles among other lists of accomplishments.
Requirements:
- Commitment to fulfill tasks for all Picture This Post staff members—to remain in good standing (estimated time commitment of 30 – 60 minutes/week.) See EXPECTATIONS/REQUIREMENTS ALL STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
--Commitment to study and adhere to the Picture This Post Guidelines for Preview Editors and other guidelines relevant to your role.
-Minimal time commitment of 10 hours/week--- except during exam and other highly demanding school schedules, which we EXPECT you to prioritize over your volunteer work.
What You Will Do:
-You will write previews of Chicago theater, dance, museum, gallery and other Chicago cultural events for Picture This Post readers.
-You will be responsible for all steps of creating previews—from identifying appropriate content, procuring images sufficient for a picture-rich layout, completing layouts, social media, and correspondence with the organizations/people your stories cover.
-You will upload events to the Picture This Post Readers’ Calendar
-You will use our Blog2Social automation to promote the stories you create; you will use private messages in social media to network with the various people showcased in these Picture This Post preview stories.
-Student volunteers in this position, once trained, are expected to consistently have 3+ previews in progress at any one time.
-You will join in shared staff duties outlined in Expectations/Requirements of All Student Volunteers tasks: completing social media posts; keeping up with the writer/editor feedback system ( a key Picture This Post editor/writer training tool); joining writer/editor rotations for shared tasks such as sending newsletter opt-in emails and uploading events to the Picture This Post Readers’ Calendar
Note: these miscellaneous tasks take about 30-60 minutes a week.
-You can add on to your Chicago Editorial Assistant role with other Picture This Post Jobs—your schedule permitting. **The top recommendation is to also get training on conducting email interviews.
