»CurrentTV and Current.com, the youth-oriented news network based in San Francisco, is working with the Convergence sequence to produce personal vlogs (video blogs) and alternative stories from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Seven of our students -- Beth Androuais, Sarah Damian, Eric Durban, Jashin Lin, Elle Moxley, Sarah Orscheln and Beth Stanifer -- will supplement Current's coverage while also working for the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee to help English-language media reporting on the summer games.

Check out the program for the upcoming Centennial of the Missouri School of Journalism, including the Tech Summit on Friday, September 12th. Leading figures in journalism and technology from around the world are converging on Columbia for three days that will set us off on a new century.

»The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) recently announced its 2007 Mark of Excellent National Award Winners and two Missouri convergence students were recognized for their work at KBIA-FM, the university's NPR affiliate. Catherine Wolf was a National Winner in Radio News Reporting for her story, "Teens Behind the Wheel." Liz Langton received National Finalist honors in the Radio Feature category for her story, "Hunting for Tradition."

»Congratulations to Lynda Kraxberger, the new chair of the Convergence Journalism Faculty! Lynda recently returned from Guangzhou where she helped provide training to media professionals in southern China's largest city.

»Mike McKean, founder and until recently the chair of the department, has accepted the job of Futures Lab Director at the Reynolds Journalism Institute -- the J-School's think tank and experimental news testing center. Mike remains on the Convergence faculty and will supervise the program's capstone course. He travels to China this July to train journalists in Hangzhou and Shanghai.

»Karen Mitchell, the third member of the Convergence Faculty trio, recently took part in the annual Wakonse Teaching Renewal Conference in Wisconsin and has returned with new ideas and contacts to beef up our program even more.

»The Convergence Faculty are preparing for the big move. They and the Futures Lab staff are scheduled to take up residence in the Reynolds Journalism Institute in early August, just before the start of the Fall semester and the September 12th RJI dedication.

»McKean spoke late last year at a convergence curriculum workshop for educators and practitioners held at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. AUT is home to the largest and best known journalism program in the country. Prof. Martin Hirst is leading a drive to provide a stronger convergence focus for the school.

»Mike describes the first two years of the Missouri convergence program in the Fall 2007 issue of Nieman Reports available online from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. "Teaching Journalism in the Digital Age" also offers perspectives from 15 other academic leaders, including the journalism deans and directors at Columbia University, University of North Carolina and Boston University.

»Read and react to the postings of our students, faculty and followers in our blog, "The Convergency Room."

»Mac Users: watch embedded Windows Media files from KOMU.com and other sites by downloading the free WMV Player from Flip4Mac.com.