ABOVE: From L-R Convention co-chairs Trang Ho and Leezel Tanglao and AAJA-LA Chapter President Jinah Kim

“I’d like to first acknowledge the AAJA founders who were able to attend because without them, there would be no AAJA. Secondly our emcee Ben Fong-Torres left a lasting impression on not just me but I believe everyone there – he provided the bridge to the generations through his humor and smooth delivery.”

– Leezel Tanglao, overnight home page editor for ABCNews.com

————

ABCNews.com’s Leezel Tanglao, a National Convention co-chair alongside Investor’s Business Daily’s Trang Ho, talks about meeting former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres, offers some words of advice for the Michigan Chapter co-chairs who will be coordinating the convention in Detroit next year, and talks about planning the convention while completing her master’s thesis and working a full-time graveyard shift at KCBS/KCAL.

AAJA: You were attending to graduate studies and working full-time for KCBS/KCAL in Los Angeles while planning the convention — where did you find the time?  Talk about pulling this national convention together in retrospect, given everything that was happening in your life?

TANGLAO: It was a crazy and whirlwind train ride – which I feel like I’m still on these days! But as one of my professors told me as I filed my thesis, ‘if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person’ – meaning that there’s no time to mess around and you have to get the task completed.

AAJA: How many national conventions have you attended, and how did this AAJA national convention distinguish itself from one’s you’ve attended in the past?

TANGLAO: I’ve attended every convention since 2002 – so that would make it a total of 9. This year is different from the rest because it was in my hometown and I participated in the planning of it.

AAJA: What was the most memorable moment of the national convention for you?

TANGLAO: By far the most memorable moment was at the opening reception, where different generations of journalists came together to see where we’ve come and look ahead to where we are going.

AAJA: Of the Asian American Journalism pioneers you were able to meet and mingle with before the Opening Reception, who left a lasting impression on you and why?

TANGLAO: I’d like to first acknowledge the founders who were able to attend because without them, there would be no AAJA. Secondly, our emcee Ben Fong-Torres left a lasting impression on not just me but I believe everyone there – he provided the bridge to the generations through his humor and smooth delivery. I’d also like to acknowledge (AAJA members) Suzanne Kai and Chris Chow who put together an opening reception to remember for many years to come – their dedication to honor those who came before us and opened doors for future generations is truly inspirational.

AAJA: Was there some advice — or something from a workshop — you pulled from this convention you would like to share?

TANGLAO: The convention’s opportunities don’t just end when the convention ends – don’t wait for next year to get involved..  Continue to network and look ahead for the next opportunity to innovate.

AAJA: Do you have some philosophical words of advice for the Michigan Chapter co-chairmen as they plan for next year’s National Convention in Detroit?

TANGLAO: Be prepared for anything and have fun.

**********************************

Leezel Tanglao is the overnight home page editor for ABCNews.com in New York City. Prior to making the move to New York, she was an online news producer at KCBS/KCAL in Los Angeles. She also worked as a multimedia/mobile journalist at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif. Tanglao recently just completed her graduate studies at UCLA’s Asian American Studies MA program. She created a multimedia website to serve Filipino Americans in Southern California as part of her research/creative thesis – which she will launch into a hyperlocal online resource.

Tanglao has also been an active member of the Asian American Journalists Association since 2002. She currently serves as local and a national advisory board member for AAJA. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a bachelor’s degree in English and minor in Asian Pacific American Studies.

]]> http://aaja-la.org/2010/09/qa-five-minutes-with-national-convention-co-chair-leezel-tanglao/feed/ 0 http://aaja-la.org/2010/07/official-aaja-la-guide-to-los-angeles/ http://aaja-la.org/2010/07/official-aaja-la-guide-to-los-angeles/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:18:12 +0000 Admin http://aaja-la.org/?p=1288 This is your official guide to the ultimate Los Angeles experience.

Within these blessed pages, you will find insider information on only the swankiest, hippest, and oh-so “L.A.” hotspots in town.

So, whether you want to be a camera-wielding tourist or a know-it-all local, this guide has everything to make your stay movie picture perfect.

***Made in sunny southern California by AAJA member Shawn Nicole Wong

Click on the following:

Introduction

Events

Outdoors

Shopping

Nightlife

Dining

Los Angelena on a Metro transit tour (HD version) from Corey Takahashi on Vimeo.

Date & Location: Friday, August 6, 2010 | 10am to Noon | The Los Angeles Times, 202 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA (RSVP required)

This is a session for local community organizations to learn how to pitch their stories to the media and how to get their news covered.

Meet with local and national journalists in print, broadcast and online media. How do these reporters, editors and producers choose stories to cover? What’s a pitch, and what should go into one? How do you pitch a local story to national media? How can you help journalists gain access to and understand diverse communities?

Learn from these journalists and hear first-hand how they make their news decisions. The workshop will include a one-hour panel discussion involving several journalists from Los Angeles and across the country. Then the session will move into small groups, with a journalist facilitating a conversation in each group. The session will wrap up with a final Q&A.

Space is limited so please RSVP by Thursday, July 15 at http://bit.ly/AAJA2010MediaAccess

PRESENTED BY THE ASIAN AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. SPONSORED BY UNION BANK

MODERATOR: Thomas Huang, Sunday & Enterprise Editor, The Dallas Morning News; Ethics & Diversity Fellow, The Poynter Institute

PANELISTS: Keith Woods, Vice President, National Public Radio; Jenny Hamel, Reporter/Anchor, San Diego 6 News; Elise Hu-Stiles, Online Reporter, The Texas Tribune; Gretchen Parker, Public Communications Manager, USC Annenberg; My-Thuan Tran, Reporter, Los Angeles Times; Victor Hernandez, Director of Coverage/ADJ Project Manager, CNN; Linda Takahashi, Freelance broadcast journalist

For more information: http://www.aaja.org/programs/convention2010losangeles/community2010/

or contact Tom Huang (tom.t.huang@gmail.com) or Joz Wang (jozjozjoz@gmail.com)

(NOTE: No shuttle service provided for this event from the AAJA Convention.)

EDITED BY JEFF YANG, PARRY SHEN, KEITH CHOW AND JERRY MA

(THE NEW PRESS)

In “Secret Identities”, editors Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow and Jerry Ma have brought together 66 top Asian American writers, artists and comics professionals to create 26 original stories centered around Asian American superheroes–stories set in a shadow history of our country, from the opening of the West to the election of the first minority president, and exploring ordinary Asian American life from a decidedly extraordinary perspective. All purchased books will receive a complimentary sketch by local artists featured in the book who will be on-site at convention.

HALF SPOON OF RICE: A SURVIVAL STORY OF THE CAMBODIAN GENOCIDE;

MEI LING IN CHINA CITY

BY ICY SMITH

(EAST WEST DISCOVERY PRESS)

“Half Spoon of Rice” presents a child’s account of life in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime in the mid–1970s. The book features vivid illustrations, historical context and photographs documenting the Cambodian genocide. “Mei Ling in China City” is based on a true story of events during World War II in Los Angeles China City. A 12-year-old Chinese American girl named Mei Ling Lee is separated from her best friend Yayeko Akiyama when she and her family were interned in the Manzanar War Relocation Center. By writing letters to each other, both young girls recount their lives in China City and Manzanar. The book depicts the hardships and cross-cultural experiences of Americans of Chinese and Japanese ancestry during the war years.

THE ECONOMY OF CHINA

BY LINDA YUEH

(EDWARD ELGER PUBLISHING)

The emergence of China since 1979 has been a hallmark in the global economy, not only in the past but also in this century. This comprehensive book provides an analytical view of the remarkable economic development of the most exciting economy in the world. China’s impressive economic growth has propelled it from being one of the poorest countries in the world to becoming its third largest economy. It is a complex economy with a mix of characteristics resulting from being both a transition economy and a developing country, which also points to the challenges that it still faces. This book explains China’s remarkable transformation from a centrally planned to a more market-oriented economy through examination of the institutional reforms necessary to support such marketisation and eventual global integration