Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Newhouse Graduate Student Joyelle Ronan Creates Romantic Comedy Convention to Celebrate Genre

Friday, April 28, 2023, By News Staff
Share
S.I. Newhouse School of Public CommunicationsStudents

Joyelle Ronan loved romantic comedies so much that she wanted to find a way to create an experience with others who share her affinity for the genre.

The graduate student in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications came up with the idea of a romantic comedy convention, but wondered how she might be able to pull off such an event. Ronan emailed Sean Branagan, director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, for help.

A woman leads a class of students interested in learning about romantic comedies.

Joyelle Ronan (center) loved romantic comedies so much that she wanted to find a way to create an experience with others who share her affinity for the genre. The Newhouse graduate student came up with the idea of a romantic comedy convention.

The idea blossomed into “Rom Con 2023.” Sponsored by Orange Television Network (OTN), the convention will take place Saturday at Shemin Auditorium.

Ronan said the convention is also the result of research she did on romantic comedies while a student at Roanoke College.

“Rom Con is celebrating and innovating the genre,” says Ronan, a student in the Goldring arts journalism and communications program and a social media producer at OTN. “All genres have a lot of tropes but when it comes to a (romantic comedy) they are seen as predictable or a cliché. But, for some reason when these tropes happen in an action movie they are seen as really cool.”

Her current favorite romantic comedy is the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You.”

“At almost 20 years old, it has aged incredibly well,” says Ronan, who discussed the film on a recent episode of OTN’s The Review Crew, a weekly multi-camera show dedicated to discussing television shows and new and old films. “It’s very cleverly based on Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ and the chemistry between Julia Stiles and Health Ledger is amazing.”

Standing in front of TVs, Ronan (left) speaks about romantic comedies with Bob Thompson (right), director of Newhouse's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture

Joyelle Ronan (left) speaks about romantic comedies with Bob Thompson (right), director of Newhouse’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture.

Ronan said she also created “Rom Con 2023” with the intent to reflect on the genre while promoting the idea that everybody deserves to see themselves represented within a love story. She looked at the genre from a feminist perspective, while also presenting more diverse stories.

“So, I think now that the genre is having this comeback, people really want to see diverse love stories that represent everyone,” Ronan says.

Ronan appreciated Branagan’s guidance and how she was able to use the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship’s Startup Garage as a collaborative space to work on convention plans.

For Branagan, Ronan is another example of the type of entrepreneurial student with whom the center seeks to help turn innovative ideas into reality, whether it’s an event or a business. He said students seek out the center because they want to make an impact.

Branagan created the center in 2011, taking his past experiences in entrepreneurship and using them to teach and support students as they turn their business dreams into reality. He founded the marketing firm Communimigration, working with startups.

Now, his connections within the industry are helping Newhouse students. He hopes to bring more students to the center through a concentration to be introduced for television, radio and film majors that will focus on entrepreneurship and media innovation.

“I want to get good people who want to improve the world,” Branagan says of the center, which can be an avenue to stimulate the ambition and hard work of students.

Story by Alix Berman, a first-year student in the magazine, news and digital journalism program in the Newhouse School.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Student’s Mobile Upcycled Clothing Business Turns Trash Into Treasures
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • Q&A for “Will Work for Food,” a new book exploring labor and the food chain
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Ellen Mbuqe
  • Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency
    Thursday, August 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Welcome Week 2025: What You Need to Know
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By Kathleen Haley
  • How Otto the Orange Spent Their Summer Vacation (Video)
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Heartfelt Gift Recognizes Accomplished Alumna and 3 Generations of Orange

William Pelton and Mary Jane Massie have created the Barringer Pelton Public Service Graduate Scholarship to honor their niece, Jody Barringer ’95, L’98, G’08 (M.P.A.), and support future public servants. After working for a few years as an attorney focused…

Families Offer Words of Wisdom During Welcome Week Move In (Video)

Nearly 4,300 new undergraduate students arrived on campus this week, many of them with families and cars filled to the brim. As families help their children settle into their home away from home, they’re also sharing advice for the year…

Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency

With a GoPro strapped to his helmet and a microphone clipped to his bike, Chaz Antoine Barracks spent the summer pedaling through Homer, New York, transforming everyday encounters into both scholarship and art. The filmmaker, media scholar and postdoctoral fellow…

The New York State Fair: Everything You Need to Know

Late August in Central New York not only means the return of students to the Syracuse University campus, but also the return of the New York State Fair. The fair is a 13-day festival of entertainment, agricultural exhibitions, cultural performances…

Department of Public Safety Celebrates Graduation of 9th Peace Officer Academy

On Aug. 14, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) welcomed families, friends and colleagues of the 9th Peace Officer Academy recruits to a graduation event. The ceremony, held at Drumlins Country Club, was the perfect culmination of their accomplishments over…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.