The Wilkes Communication Studies Department is hosting its 14th annual Tom Bigler Journalism Conference at 9 a.m. April 11, in the Henry Student Center.

The conference is an important event for Wilkes communications students, who host high school students who are interested in also studying communications.

The main goal of this event is to teach the incoming high school students about the world of journalism, which may include print, broadcast, social media and event planning.

The Bigler Conference is going to be a little different than last year. The committee is focusing on online journalism.

“This year’s theme for the conference is ‘Online Journalism,’” said junior Shawn Carey, a Bigler planning committee member. “The idea for the theme came from an advisers session that was held at last year’s conference.”

The conference started in 2000 and has been a hit since with the students since.

“I’m looking forward to attending the conference again this year,” Cara Basile, sophomore communication studies major said. “Last year I went to one event about my major and learned a lot from it.

“So this year is all about online journalism, whether it is setting a website for the first time, using social media effectively or using videos for web news,” Carey said. “As always, there is a little bit of everything for everyone.”

The committee faced a challenge when coming up with new sessions that could be different from before for students who have attended all four years of high school. The executive committee hopes not only the high school and communication students go, but any other student that is interested in learning more about journalism.