Annual conference brings together student publications from across Canada
149 student journalists from across Canada took part in the NASH85—Revolutionise conference in Hamilton from February 17 to 19.
The Canadian University Press (CUP), a cooperative of student publications, organises this annual gathering along with a different member every year. McMaster University’s student paper, The Silhouette, hosted the 85th iteration and organised 31 delegates to lead seminars on topics ranging from “Printing 101,” to “Sports reporting roundtable,” to “Changing the way we cover suicide.”
Andrew Mrozowski, the NASH85 Planning Director and Executive Editor of The Silhouette, told The Strand, “I think it went better than expected. The hard part was that there was no expectations since the conference hasn’t happened in three years in an in-person environment. So we were that reset.”
Sponsorships and tickets priced into the low hundreds footed the bill. “If I lost money I would not be doing my job,” Mrozowski said. “We ran a successful conference with a budget of about $50,000, and we didn’t have to put a dime of McMaster student money into it.”
Amarah Hasham-Steele, the News Editor of The Silhouette and Logistics Coordinator of NASH85 told The Strand about enjoying it as a participant apart from her planning role, saying “I think the thing that has been most valuable has been getting to be in rooms with student journalists from across the country.”
Hasham-Steele also praised their logo’s design, saying the “additional lines throughout the logo are in reference to additional perspective and additional voices.”
Last-minute logistics also took up the time of organisers. Nisha Gill, the NASH85 Logistics Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Silhouette told The Strand two speakers called out sick and “our parking lot was being uncooperative and our speakers couldn’t park.”
On the second day of the conference, the winners of the John H. McDonald Awards for Excellence in Student Journalism were announced.
48 articles were nominated in categories such as Arts & Culture Writing, Humour, 2SLGBTQIA+ Reporting, Disability Reporting, Racialized Reporting, Feature Writing, Investigative Reporting, The CWA Award for Labour Reporting, News Reporting, Op-Ed, Sports Reporting, Indigenous Reporting, and Data Journalism. Other categories included Graphic/Illustration of the Year, Photo of the Year, and Cover/Layout of the Year. Member publications were able to nominate two entries into each of the other 26 categories before judges decided on the winners.
The University of British Columbia’s The Ubyssey emerged victorious in the main three categories, with their Coordinating Editor Charlotte Alden winning Student Journalist of the Year, Photo Editor Isabella Falsetti winning Student Photojournalist of the Year, and the overall outlets winning the title of Student Publication of the Year after newspaper representatives voted for it during the ceremony.
Conference tickets included six meals, merchandise, and transportation to the Sheridan Hamilton Hotel located in the city centre, where attendees had the option of staying for an additional price.
