Alumni return to campus for annual D.O. Palooza

With a Sharpie in his hand and a smile on his face, Andrew Garcia Phillips (’97) carefully touched up his signature on the filing cabinet in the management office of The Daily Orange.

“You’re good for another 10 years,” joked Mara Corbett, who is now serving in the position Phillips once held at The D.O.

Phillips, editor in chief from 1996-97, was one of more than 30 former D.O. staffers to attend D.O. Palooza from Feb. 5-7. The annual event brought alumni together to reflect on their respective times at the paper, catch up on changes and connect with the current staff.

As it has in years past, Palooza kicked off with a meet-and-greet Friday night at the D.O. house. For three hours, current and former staff members traded stories, advice and D.O. lore. Alumni shared memories — from favorite stories to tales of crashing the D.O. van — as groups of students gathered around. Other alumni snapped pictures of the ducks hanging in the management office, taunting former co-workers who weren’t there.

On Saturday, alumni and staff took part in a dozen interactive panels. The event began with speakers highlighting the art of “moving the rock” — how to push yourself and the paper to be better. Participants then broke off into section-specific panels for news, sports, feature and visuals.

With about 20 panelists speaking in person and via Skype, the staff was able to get tips from those already working in their respective areas of interest.

A panel on data visualization was a unique offering at this year’s event. Attendees were inspired to think about new ways to present data after seeing interactive graphics from Chartball. While the “words people” sat in on a law slammer, photographers and designers broke into small groups to receive personal portfolio advice. The one-on-one nature of the critiques provided staffers with an opportunity to pick the brains of alumni, and see what decisions they would have made.

A cocktail hour at a nearby restaurant capped the day, and alumni and students said their goodbyes over brunch at Rachel’s Restaurant on Sunday.

Here’s to the memories and another great Palooza next year.