An interactive media workshop for emerging museum professionals focused on press releases, storytelling, and social media strategies.

Join San Diego Emerging Museum Professionals for an interactive media workshop featuring Michael James Rocha, from the San Diego Union-Tribune. This hands-on session pulls back the curtain on how museum stories make it into the media and how you can shape that process. Through real-world case studies such as In the Curator’s Words, Fall Arts Preview, and audience engagement features, Michael will share how curatorial voices, visual assets, and clear storytelling drive coverage.

Attendees will learn the essentials of an effective media pitch, why press releases still matter, and how social media is used to showcase visual art. The workshop concludes with a guided activity where participants develop a media strategy for a hypothetical exhibition, considering assets, collaborators, and coverage goals. Participants will leave with practical tools, fresh insight into newsroom decision-making, and new skills they can immediately apply to their museum work.

Spots are limited, register now!

Featured Speaker – Michael James Rocha

Michael James Rocha is the digital creative director at The San Diego Union-Tribune. He oversees the presentation of Union-Tribune stories online and has oversight of the photo and graphics teams. He also writes a regular feature on visual art called “In the Curator’s Words.” He previously was the arts and entertainment editor. During his tenure, the Union-Tribune’s Sunday arts section was named the best in the nation two years in a row (2021 and 2022). Rocha started his career at the Union-Tribune in December 1997 as a features page designer. He eventually became the features design editor. Through the years, he has done stints as the front page designer, audience development editor and home decor editor. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications (with an emphasis in print journalism) from California State University-Fullerton. He is a founding member of the Asian American Journalists Association’s San Diego chapter, and he has taught magazine design at Point Loma Nazarene University and the University of Connecticut.