PRESS Association of Jamaica president Dionne Jackson-Miller will headline the list of accomplished journalists from Jamaica and overseas who will participate in the annual Communication Symposium hosted by the Department of Communication Studies at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) next week Wednesday, March 25.

Jackson-Miller will deliver the keynote address, while BBC broadcaster Neil Nunes; Radio Department Manager at Jamaica Information Service, Lorraine Walker-Mendez, Wayne Marsh of Branditise, and digital media company Trend Media will share with students in the afternoon session.

The symposium will culminate the activities for the department’s Week of Excellence which will begin on Saturday, March 21 with a church service at the Life in Abundance Centre in Newport, Manchester, and will be held under the theme ‘Positively Impacting your Space’.

On Monday, March 23, the department will host its second animation workshop, which animation experts such as president of Jamaica Animation Nation Network, Kevin Jackson; Pandosoft’s Carlton Gordon and Stephen Williamson; and Reel Rock GSW’s Michelle Vernal and her team are expected to attend.

The itinerary for Tuesday will feature the department’s first motion picture workshop, which will be hosted by US actor, producer and scriptwriter Atif Lainer.

Department chair Rhoma Tomlinson says the week is designed to expose her students to best practices in motion picture and animation.

“Animation is no longer the next big thing. It is currently the big thing and persons in media must understand what the industry is all about,” she said.

She added that exposure to both animation and motion picture will make students more marketable internationally.

The symposium’s opening session will begin at 9:00 am.