By Tim Stephens, APSE President
Welcome to Arlington, Va., and the Washington D.C. area.
Since its founding in 1974, members of APSE have gathered each summer to honor the best of the best in sports journalism. Our conventions have helped us tackle the issues facing our industry and served as an opportunity to learn from each other through informative training sessions and discussion.
The lineup in store for us this week in our nation’s capital will serve those missions well for news organizations large and small. Some of the top names in our industry are here to participate and lead panel discussions of topics such as the revival of long-form journalism and the portrayal of women in sports media. We’ll learn multimedia skills that can be implemented in our newsrooms and other ideas that are sure to improve the quality of journalism we produce daily. And throughout the week, you’ll have the opportunity to take in some of the historic landmarks of Washington such as the White House or the Washington Monument.
Here are important things to help you navigate the area as well as things to do in the area when not in the many sessions.
We're pleased to welcome Sen. John McCain, one of the leading members of Congress on sports-related issues, as our keynote speaker during the Thursday luncheon.
The Red Smith Award Luncheon is always one of our highlights, this year honoring one of the pioneers among African American sports journalists. The late Wendell Smith joins the Hall of Fame on Friday.
In March at our Winter Conference, I outlined five priorities for APSE in the final weeks of my term as president. I am happy to report we have made some progress in these areas — membership growth, student organization and deliberate mentoring, contest evolution, website development and fundraising efforts. More on these exciting topics in our executive committee meetings.
Please welcome the new members and student members who are here with us this week. Make plans to participate in our job fair Saturday to make connections with students and potential hiring managers. The resume' critiquing session is also going to be available to students and any conference attendee interested in updating or customizing what you have now toward a future goal. You need not be seeking a job change or actively looking for new hires at the moment to benefit from this opportunity.
Don’t forget the annual APSE Craig Stanke Memorial 5K run and the 3-on-3 basketball tournament — both on Saturday — to keep a little competitive sports on the agenda. Craig Stanke was the deputy managing editor at CBSSports.com for 14 years as well as a longtime member of APSE. The 5K run was renamed in his memory in 2012 after he died in his sleep from an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of only 56. We keep his contributions to the industry in mind and remind ourselves to take care of our health when we run in his honor.
I might virtually power-walk/jog the 5K but I'm a hoops guy, so to paraphrase Larry Bird, "which one of you folks are here to finish in second place?" Challenge ON!
See Phil Kaplan if you wish to compete in the 5K and check in with Gerry Ahern if you wish to play hoops with us at Georgetown.
Then, of course, there is the culmination of our convention: the awards banquet Saturday night to honor the best work from across the nation. This year it should be noted that our annual judging took place in Indianapolis in early March, where the weather was cold but the welcome and hospitality were warm; a special thanks to all my colleaegues for their diligent, hard work there this year and to Indiana University and IUPUI for their support.
It has been an honor to serve you as APSE president. When you're in queue for the presidency, it's hard to have a sense of how fast a year can pass. I hope I have been able to serve in a meaningful way and that I will leave a legacy tied to outreach, diversity, train-behind and modernization. I'm looking forward to a great week here in DC with all of you.
Enjoy!
Tim Stephens' term as APSE president ends Saturday. He is the deputy managing editor at CBSSports.com.
2014 D.C. Conference paid attendees
ALABAMA
*Michael Cassagrande, Alabama Media Group (Tuscaloosa)
James Crepea, Montgomery Advertiser
Tommy Deas, The Tuscaloosa News
Mike and Christina Szvetitz, Opelika-Auburn News
CALIFORNIA
Todd M. Adams, U-T San Diego
Greg Gibson, Rivals.com (Yorba Linda)
Larry and Amy Graham, U-T San Diego
*Todd and Michelle Harmonson, Orange County Register (Santa Ana)
Mike James, Los Angeles Times
Al Saracevic and Jenn Kline-Saracevic, San Francisco Chronicle
Jim Seimas, Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley)
# Marcus Vanderberg, Yahoo! Sports (Santa Monica)
Gene Warnick, Los Angeles News Group (Woodland Hills)
CANADA
*Chase Kell, Yahoo News Canada (Toronto)
*Ian Denomme, Yahoo Sports Canada (Toronto)
COLORADO
Scott Monserud, The Denver Post
CONNECTICUT
John Banks, ESPN.com (Bristol)
*Ronnie Forchheimer, ESPN.com (Bristol)
Patrick Stiegman, ESPN,com (Bristol)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Kent Babb, The Washington Post
^Michael Cipriano, American University
Steve and Jordana Ginsburg, Reuters
*Marc Lancaster, The Washington Times
^Josh Paunil, American University
Matthew and Katie Vita, The Washington Post
FLORIDA
*Nick Feely, The Villages Daily Sun
*Mark Lawrence, Sun Coast Media Group (Charlotte Harbor)
Greg Lee, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale)
Jorge Rojas and Susan Robison, Miami Herald
Tim Stephens and Deborah Gibson, CBSSports.com (Fort Lauderdale)
GEORGIA
John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal
^Logan Booker, University of Georgia (Athens)
Oscar Dixon, The Associated Press (Atlanta)
# Emily Horos, Cherokee Tribune (Marietta)
Daniel Kramer, Thomasville Times-Enterprise
^Connor Smolensky, University of Georgia (Athens)
Chris White, Athens Banner-Herald
IDAHO
*Nick Ruland, Times-News (Twin Falls)
ILLINOIS
^Vicente Fernandez, University of Chicago
*Brian Orefice, STATS LLC (Northbrook)
Jim Reindl, The Associated Press (Chicago)
Jon Styf, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake)
INDIANA
Malcolm Moran, National Sports Journalism Center (Indianapolis)
IOWA
*Bobby La Gesse, Ames Tribune
KENTUCKY
Creig Ewing and Kim Parson, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
LOUISIANA
Joseph and Jessica Schiefelbein, The Advocate (Baton Rogue)/The New Orleans Advocate
MAINE
Justin Pelletier, Sun Journal (Lewiston)
MARYLAND
^Kareek Best, University of Maryland (College Park)
Bob Blubaugh, Carroll County Times (Westminster)
^Pat Donohue, University of Maryland (College Park)
Ron Fritz, The Baltimore Sun
*Beth Mechum, Povich Center for Sports Journalism (College Park)
^Kelsey Nelson, University of Maryland (College Park)
^Ben Strack, University of Maryland (College Park)
^Kofie Yeboah, University of Maryland (College Park)
MASSACH– USETTS
*Scott Leahy, The Boston Globe
Joe Sullivan, The Boston Globe
*Glenn Yoder, Boston.com
MICHIGAN
*Bill Emkow, MLive Media group (Ann Arbor)
Jeff Kuehn, Digital First Media/Michigan (Pontiac)
Gene and Beth Myers, Detroit Free Press
Chris and Jodie Stevens, Midland Daily News
MINNESOTA
*Chris Carr, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Glen Crevier, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Loren and Helen Nelson, Sport Ngin (Excelsior)
MISSOURI
Chris Fickett and Tory Macfarlane, The Kansas City Star
^Erik Hall, Columbia Missourian
^Mark Selig, University of Missouri (Columbia)
NEVADA
# Johanna Huybers, Reno Gazette-Journal
NEW JERSEY
*Jane Havsy, Daily Record (Parsippany)
*Linda Shockley, Dow Jones News Fund, Inc. (Princeton)
NEW YORK
Greg Brownell, The Post-Star (Glens Falls)
Judy Connelly, Times Herald-Record (Middletown)
Lou Ferrara, The Associated Press (New York City)
*Noreen Gillespie, The Associated Press (New York City)
Jim Luttrell, The New York Times
*Patricia Martinez, Reuters (New York City)
^Mia O’Brien, Ithaca College
Bill Price, New York Daily News
*Zach Smart, Home Team Sports News (Hastings)
Matt Traub, Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton)
Lisa Wilson, The Buffalo News
Hank Winnicki, Newsday (Melville)
NORTH CAROLINA
^Daniel Carp, Duke University (Durham)
Monica Holland and Rebecca Criste, The Fayetteville Observer
NORTH DAKOTA
*Ryan Holmgren, The Minot Daily News
*Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald
OHIO
John Boyle, Dayton Daily News
*Stephanie Kuzydym, Northeast Ohio Media Group (Cleveland)
*Dana Sulonen, Tribune Chronicle (Warren)
OKLAHOMA
# Erik Horne, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
Michael Peters, Tulsa World
Mike and Cathleen Sherman, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
PENNSYLVANIA
John Affleck, Penn State University (University Park)
^Josiah Bates, Penn State University (University Park)
Chuck and Amanda Bausman, Philadelphia Daily News
Ben and Dana Brigandi, Williamsport Sun-Gazette
^Laine Higgins, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
^Mikel Jones, Penn State University (University Park)
*Alicia Johnson, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader
^Torin Koos, Westminster College (New Wilmington)
Duke Maas, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Jerry and Cindy Micco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
John Quinn, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Jim and Stacy Reeser, The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre)
Michael Sedor, The Patriot-News/PennLive (Harrisburg)
TENNESSEE
Dave Ammenheuser, The Tennessean (Nashville)
Phil Kaplan, Knoxville News Sentinel
TEXAS
Nick Mathews, Houston Chronicle
*Greg Rajan, Corpus Christi Caller-Times
UTAH
Joe Baird, The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City)
VIRGINIA
Gerry Ahern, USA TODAY Sports (McLean)
Josh Barnett, USA TODAY Sports (McLean)
Jack and Colleen Berninger (Richmond)
Mary Byrne, USA TODAY Sports (McLean)
Carrie Cousins, Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech/Collegiate Times (Blacksburg)
^Wayne Epps, James Madison University (Harrisonburg)
Danny Finnegan, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Steve and Brenda Hemphill, The Roanoke Times
Andi Petrini, Daily Press (Newport News)
Tom White, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
WASHINGTON
Don Shelton, The Seattle Times
WISCONSIN
*Herbert Lowe, Marquette University Milwaukee)
*Jeff Maillet, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
WYOMING
Robert Gagliardi, WyoSports (Cheyenne)
* – First convention; # – Diversity Fellowship Program; ^ – College student
