OEP NYC Session 8/23-8/24

This past Monday and Tuesday, we had an Op-Ed Project Workshop here in New York and it was great! Here are some of the many photos taken from the day:

Also, Alyssa Best, from our DC office, came in for the day. It was great meeting her!

Alyssa & Jordan

After the session ended on Tuesday evening, we went out for a late happy hour at the Ace Hotel. It was hopping – there were so many people making so much noise that I practically had to shout to be heard! Even though it was loud, it was great to see so many interesting women and chat with some of them. In all, another fun and inspiring day here at the Op-Ed Project. And as mentor-editor Lynn Harris said, “If women can be heard in the loudest room in Manhattan, we can be heard everywhere.”

It was great meeting all of you. Good luck!

- Jordan

The OpEd Project and Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow hold second session….

Over the past weekend protest has raged over the proposed Islamic community center and Mosque that could be built near ground zero in lower Manhattan. This topic was painfully familiar to many who attended The OpEd Project seminar with Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow (MLT)  last week on August 13th.

The level of engagement and energy throughout the session was phenomenal and we were especially eager to hear from one participant,  Daisy Khan, who is the executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the founder of MLT.

Zeba Khan, one of the alums from last year’s MLT / OEP collaboration, wrote her very first op-ed after attending the session and later that fall beat out thousands of competitors in the Washington Posts “America’s Next Great Pundit Contest,” ending the competition as runner-up to the first-place position. Khan’s work has since appeared in numerous media outlets, including the Huffington Post and the Washington Post. You can read some of it here: http://views.washingtonpost.com/pundits/contestants/zeba.khan/

In light of the contention that so often characterizes our national conversations today it’s important that we have a diversity of voices contributing to the dialogue. Thank you Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow for showing up to enrich the debate!

OEP / Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow seminar, 2010

OEP / Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow seminar, 2009

Congrats Marci!

Exciting news! OEP mentor-editor Marci Alboher, one of the nation’s leading experts on career issues & workplace trends and Vice President of Civic Ventures (a think tank leading the call to engage millions of baby boomers as a vital workforce for change), will be appearing in a free web chat with Jane Pauley (of AARP & The Today Show) tomorrow, Tuesday the 17th of August! Civic Ventures CEO Mark Freedman will be joining Alboher and Pauley on from noon to 1 p.m. (EDT) as they discuss how to redefine the second half of one’s life. You can sign up to listen to the conversation here: http://www.aarp.org/ws/your_life_calling.html or read the online transcript after the interview is over here: http://www.aarp.org/personal-growth/transitions/info-03-2010/online_chat_transcripts.html

Follow-up Workshops with Katherine Lanpher

We just finished the third month of now regular Op-Ed Project workshops with Katherine Lanpher and I thought I’d update you on all the fun. For those of you who haven’t been following these blog posts, you should know that Katherine is a national radio host, author, opinion writer, and all around funny lady. It’s great – every week, the class is always bursting into laughter. One week, everyone decided to turn the class into Op-Eds anonymous – everyone introduced themselves, saying, “My name is ____. And I have an opinion – ____.” The opinions’ topics varied from BP and venture capitalists to hedgehogs and frizzy hair.

Each week, everyone came to class to workshop their pieces, get feedback on ideas, have fun, and learn new things. On one of the Tuesdays, Katherine invited Patti Greco, her editor from More Magazine, to talk to the class about her job, the industry, and the importance of a good pitch letter. Last week, we celebrated successes and progress with some wine and even more laughs.

In all, it was a great workshop – and a successful one! Since the beginning of the session, there have already been three pieces published, and two others under submission.

For those of you in the workshop, it was great working with you. Everyone else, hope to see you at the next workshop in September!

- Jordan