By Jim Goodwin
Alumni News staff
Wonderworkshop is “curiosity and enthusiasm and lots of interesting people,” Bev Puhalla says. Puhalla and her husband, Ronald, have run the Pawnee Republican in Pawnee city for four years.
Although neither has had formal journalism instruction, Puhalla attended all four Wonderworkshops.
Wonderworkshop is an intensive three-day seminar geared for those wishing to improve their journalism skills. It has been an event every August since 1991 at UNL.
Put on by the faculty of the college of journalism and Mass Communications, the workshops are intended for all, from those simply interested in the various aspects of the field to seasoned veterans wanting to brush up on their skills.
Topics have included the newspaper trade, advertising, photography and feature writing.
Tom Allen, roving reporter for the Omaha World Herald, was featured guest instructor for the feature writing workshop.
“I have always found the best feature stories are those discovered by being willing to stoop and pick a daisy,” Allan says. “Some of my best had at first looked trivial, but all had one common denominator: they touched the hearts of readers.”
Puhalla says Allan “made you understand there is a lot of heart to our business.”
Workshop instructors and faculty Bud Pagal and George Tuck were favorites of Puhalla, as well.
“Their open enthusiasm was evident and that made it very fun,” she says.
The workshops are for some the only chance during the year to get together with other journalists. Because enrollment is between 12 and 18, the classes become much one-on-one learning, and much of that is among the students themselves.
“Networking and the exchanging of ideas are side benefits of the workshop,” Puhalla says.
Because Wonderworkshop last three days and has guests from all over the state, accommodations are provided at the Nebraska Center Hotel on East Campus.
The cost for the workshop is $150, which includes classes and room and board.
Costs are kept low thanks to the support from the Nebraska Press Association and the Hitchcock Center for Graduate Journalism and Professional Development.