When I first joined the AAJA community more than five years ago as a novice journalist at a South Korean news media company, I was not sure what I was in for, what I could expect from the AAJA and not even sure what the AAJA was. I thought I would at least get some tips and leads for better career opportunities and maybe get to know more people in the same industry. Now, more than five N3Con later, friendship is just one piece of what the AAJA has offered to me. As the AAJA community has grown in Asia, I have grown too. Each and every year through the people at the AAJA community and the N3Con, I learned something new. I learned to keep pushing the boundaries and was reminded that great things will happen if I try to go outside my comfort zone. I met so many amazing talents, kind souls, trailblazers and people who were caring and willing to help others. I learned stories behind the great scoops that changed the world one way or another. I felt proud and grateful to be part of this industry. I found support from peers and mentors. I made new friends and deepened friendship with old friends. I found people I could seek help. And every year, I’m stunned that there are even more potentials in what the AAJA can do, if we do together. This year’s N3Con and leadership workshop was a continuation of that journey — to find more potentials in myself and in this community. Thank you for the leadership fellowship that helped me finance my travel to Hong Kong this year.

When we began planning N3Con 2018 last July – 10 months ahead of time – we vowed to set a course that would reinvent our conference, which had lost some of its momentum and creativity as it relocated to host city Hong Kong from Seoul. It was fitting, then, that we themed it #RethinkingNews, as we sought to break out of our comfort zone and rethink the way we did N3Con.