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Forgot your laptop? Lighten upBy MASHAUN D. SIMON Monitor Staff Journalists, like many others in the techno-hyped 21st century, live on e-mail. So, it is no surprise that for the past few years the CyberCafe has been a mainstay during NABJ’s national conventions. The CyberCafe, sponsored by Hewlett-Packard for the second year in a row, is back with some upgrades. HP will provide 20 to 25 laptops networked to four printers in the center of the Job Fair in Marsalis Hall. CyberCafe will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Convention attendees can access the Internet and their favorite productivity software, including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Nisa Islam Muhammad, a staff writer for The Final Call, the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper for the Nation of Islam, attended NABJ conventions in Orlando and Milwaukee and loved the CyberCafe. “For professionals who are usually tethered to their computers, the CyberCafe gives you a chance to participate in workshops but never be that far away from a computer to be in contact with the world,” Muhammad said. Attendees pop into the CyberCafe to check e-mail and surf the Net, and job hunters use it to prepare résumés and make copies. Robert S. Anthony, editor of Stadium Circle Features and a computer and technology columnist for Bloomberg Markets magazine, has also frequented the CyberCafes at NABJ conventions. “I have my e-mail service set up so that I get an alert on my cell phone when my editor at Bloomberg Markets sends me an e-mail,” Anthony said. “I remember that my phone buzzed [last year] on a day that I wasn’t carrying my notebook, and I needed to read the entire e-mail.’’ He made his way to the technology center, went online, checked the full version of the e-mail, downloaded and reviewed a draft of his column and sent back the corrections. “It was all fairly painless,” Anthony said. David Albritton, HP’s public relations director, said a company representative would be available to help in the CyberCafe. NABJ President Condace Pressley said, “The NABJ/HP CyberCafe provides our members with a great opportunity to stay connected with work and family while at the convention. In addition, if a member is in the market for a new computer, they have a great opportunity to test drive some of the HP products.” The Monitor, the convention’s student newspaper, NABJ TV and NABJ Radio and the NABJ national office also use donated HP equipment, Pressley said. Gregory Lee, Jr., NABJ’s secretary, said, “I believe in giving the students the best possible technology. Having a partnership with HP has been not only beneficial to the students, but it also helps the association save money and divert funding to other areas.” Because of its NABJ experience, Pressley said, HP is establishing similar relationships with other minority organizations. Staff writer Mashaun D. Simon can be reached at mashaunnabj@hotmail.com. |
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