My first election coverage...

This week, I got my feet wet in covering an election. I was a reporter for the live KICK FM election night special.

I was stationed at Sam Katz's election night headquarters - a swishy ballroom at the Radisson downtown.

I filed four live reports for the station, each of about one minute in length, to provide colour from the the event. I was lucky enough to be stationed at the winning camp and that definitely made the night more enjoyable.

Here are the top five things I took away from the experience:

5. Reporting live is tricky - You never know what is going to happen and you never know when you are going to be needed. I had to be ready to go whenever I got a call from my instructor, Garry Moir. You need to be ready for anything and you need to believe in yourself, even when you are nervous.

4. Trust yourself - CreComm gives us the best preparation we could ever have to do this type of thing. Sure, I was a bit nervous about going live on a fairly popular radio station but I knew that I had all the skills I needed to succeed. At the end of the day, you just have to think of it like you are talking to a friend about the scene you are at. We CreComms know this stuff. Just make sure you remember that.

3. Get out and talk to regular people - Sure, I was on radio and I wasn't going on TV and doing interviews or doing having to actually quote people for a print story, but I still made sure to get around and talk to people about their feelings. This made my live reporting a lot easier and a lot more interesting. I didn't necessarily have to quote them exactly, but the fact I could say "I spoke to..." and then reference someone from the event surely made things more interesting and informative for the listener.

2. Never forget how your friends can help - First year CreComms were doing an assignment for journalism class on election night and a couple of them were assigned to the very same place as me. One of them, Chadd Cawson was a big help throughout the night. We worked together to talk to people and get information and it was just nice to have someone to talk to in the crowded room. Another, Pamela Vernaus, was also very nice and allowed me to listen in on an interview she was doing for her assignment and use one of the quotes on air. Bottom line, you should never be afraid to ask talented people for help. It is clear that the future of CreComm is in good hands.

1. Everyone in CreComm is lucky - Our program is truly great and it gives us so many opportunities to do awesome things like this. It allows us to test ourselves in tough situations, but situations that will make us desirable to employers moving forward. We should all be proud to be in the program and never take it for granted. We might be students, but we're proving we can hold our own compared against professionals in the industry. Never forget that CreComm is the reason for that.

All in all, the experience on election night was a lot of fun and something I would love to do again.

Maybe when the provincial election rolls around, I can even get paid for my work.

keith