On Saturday, Sept. 29, eight members of the Student Voice staff, as well as two journalism faculty members, attended the annual JACC SoCal conference at California State University Fullerton.

Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC), holds these regional conferences in order to allow students in community colleges to meet and participate in workshops and competitions. But the biggest advantage the conference offers is the ability to network with other journalism students.

Editors from across the region were welcomed to attend a round table to discuss some of the challenges that come with running a student paper and different ways to tackle them.

The day was packed from start to finish. The convention offered multiple events, allowing students to pick workshops that best suited their interests. Among these options were talks on how to increase your media outreach, tips on how to improve your sports page, and even a workshop about entering Spanish media as a bilingual student.

A highlight of the day was the talk by L. A. Times Editor Steve Padilla called “Three Ways to Better Writing”. Padilla excitedly shared his advice, while also sharing his passion for words.

The most memorable moment of the night came when Mano Baghjajian, Sports Editor for Student Voice earned an honorable mention in the on-the-spot news writing competition. Two former Student Voice members James Schaap and Julia Glass placed in mail-in competitions. This victory was followed by General Excellence award given to the Student Voice for the online edition, which was noted for the variation in stories and impressive photography.

The Student Voice staff is excited to continue to impress the judges at the state conference in the spring.