APSE’s annual summer conference is a month away. I’m looking forward to meeting and reuniting with many of you at the Marriott SouthPark in Charlotte, N.C., June 20-22. The deadline to secure the conference rate at the hotel of $174/night is THIS FRIDAY, May 24. Early-bird registration rates are good through June 14.
Click here to register for the APSE summer conference
The theme of this year’s conference is “Sports Journalism at a Crossroads.” Challenges in this industry are existential and to meet them requires reinvention, creativity, entrepreneurship and collaboration. The topics we have chosen for sessions and workshops, described below, reflect the type of tools and training we need for our future.
In Charlotte, we will also celebrate the great journalism our members have produced. On Friday, June 21, we will honor Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke at the Red Smith Award luncheon, and on Saturday, June 22, we will honor our contest winners at our awards banquet.
Thanks to our sponsors MLS and NASCAR, we have a pair of outings scheduled. For those arriving early on Wednesday, June 19, we will be attending the FC Charlotte match against Orlando City that night. And on Friday night, June 21, NASCAR will host a reception at its Hall of Fame, beginning at 6 p.m.
Throughout the weekend, the APSE Foundation will present its first silent auction to benefit our Diversity in Leadership Fellowship, featuring memorability from the NHL, MLB, NWSL, NBA and some very generous APSE members. We will also celebrate APSE’s 50th birthday at various stops along the way.
The conference has been reduced from four days to three this year to reduce the hotel costs for those attending and the overall costs of putting on such on event to APSE (if you are looking for a roommate to defray those costs, sign up here). That means those three days are chock full of programming that we hope inspires and enriches you for when you return to your news organizations.
Here is a tentative schedule of the conference program. Speakers and sessions times are subject to change. Slots are still available for panelists at these workshops. Reach out to me at njmeyers@startribune.com if you are interested in or have expertise in any of the topics below.
Thursday, June 20
1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE/GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Presiding: Naila-Jean Meyers, APSE president
3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
GENERAL SESSION
Town Hall: The chaos of college sports
With this conference in a prominent hub for college athletics, and so much of our work in sports journalism these days spent untangling the rapidly changing landscape of college sports, we will begin our gathering by discussing the challenges of covering the chaos.
Expected to participate: Luke DeCock and Andrew Carter, The News & Observer; Skip Foreman, Winston-Salem Journal/Greensboro News & Record; Perryn Keys, The Times-Picayune/The Advocate; Ben Portnoy, Sports Business Journal; Shelby Swanson, The Daily Tar Heel.
4:45 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
A CONVERSATION WITH AP
Learn more about the news cooperative’s efforts to make it easier to “localize” major sporting events for your market as well as its expanding coverage of sports betting, women’s sports and the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris. Come chat with Ricardo Zuniga, AP’s global sports editor; Oscar Dixon, deputy global sports editor; and Barry Bedlan, sports products director.
6 p.m.-7 p.m.
WELCOME RECEPTION
Happy 50th birthday, APSE!
Sponsor: Professional Bull Riders
Friday, June 21
8 a.m.-10 a.m.
COFFEE AND PASTRY STATION
From 8 a.m.-9 a.m., join an “Editor Therapy” coffee talk on soccer coverage. Stumped at how to draw readers to your pro soccer content? Let’s share some ideas.
9 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
GENERAL SESSION
Why diversity is important as ever
The APSE Foundation presents a discussion on DEI in this contentious environment and how media outlets can navigate it all when it comes to staffing and coverage.
Sponsor: APSE Foundation
10:45 a.m.-Noon
WORKSHOP 1
It’s A Live (Event)!
You know it’s coming. You see it on the calendar. But how soon do you start planning to cover that big live event? What new and fresh angles can you take on an event that’s held annually? And what if an event pops up on short notice, and you have to pivot your staff and resources? We discuss some of the tricks and tips that you need to know to make the most out of your live event coverage.
Expected to participate: Ed Reed, USA Today Sports Network Florida; Scott Thurston, Boston Globe; John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal; Tony Maluso, Baltimore Sun Media Group
WORKSHOP 2
Get to know me: Winning over readers through newsletters
Newsletters are a reliable driver of new audiences and subscription conversions. They have many forms and many purposes. They are a venue for voice and expertise.
Expected to participate: Gary Potosky, Philadelphia Inquirer; Austin Karp, Sports Business Journal; James Jackson, The Athletic
12:15 p.m.-1:45 p.m.
RED SMITH AWARD LUNCHEON
Honoring Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times
2 p.m.-3:15 p.m.
WORKSHOP 3
How to attract new audiences and subscribers
Sports editors hear the word “audience” so much these days that it might be starting to lose its meaning. So let’s share our audience development success stories. What are the best resources for learning about your audience? How have you changed your approach based on audience data?
Expected to participate: Micah Adams, The Sporting News; Steve Wiseman, The News & Observer; Jennifer Zahn, FloSports
WORKSHOP 4
Managing and Being Managed Remotely
Ongoing industry and technological changes have made it much more common to work separately from your staff – whether in remote situations, hybrid work environments or distant newsrooms. It’s never been easier to communicate virtually, but it’s a much different challenge than working together as a staff in the same office. How can we ensure that we’re managing and supporting our team when we rarely – if ever – work elbow-to-elbow? Which brainstorming methods actually work when there’s no option for an in-person whiteboard session? How can reporters feel connected to their editor and their colleagues? Whether it is project planning and execution, breaking news, event coverage or team building and support, we’ll discuss what we’ve found that works, what doesn’t and where we see this all going.
Expected to participate: Jim Pignatiello, MassLive; Josh Barnett, Sports Business Journal; Lauren Jennings, Gannett Center for Community Journalism; Evan Gerike, Asheville Citizen Times.
3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
GENERAL SESSION
Working with the robots: Understanding AI in Sports Journalism
Learn more about how newsrooms are using both GenAI and NLP technology to help with their work and generate more content, including game previews and recaps, and what the pros and cons have been around those efforts so far.
Expected to participate: Barry Bedlan and Sara Trohanis, Associated Press; Erik Hall, Alton Telegraph; Brad Weitz, Data Skrive
6 p.m.-9 p.m.
NASCAR RECEPTION
Location: NASCAR Hall of Fame
Saturday, June 22
8 a.m.-10 a.m.
COFFEE AND PASTRY STATION
From 8 a.m.-9 a.m., join “Editor Therapy” for a coffee talk on managing anxiety and morale.
9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
GENERAL SESSION
Career Development: Navigating rough seas
Things are moving quickly in the sports media business. Are you prepared to pivot to your next job? Have you been asked to switch to a new role in your newsroom? Or just reassigned? We’ll spend the morning discussing topics such as work environments, networking, internships, interviews, managing up, and investing in yourself.
Sponsor: The Athletic
1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
GENERAL SESSION
How we did it: Examining our best work of 2023
We’ll honor our contest winners on Saturday night at our annual banquet, but on Saturday afternoon we’ll gather as many winners as we can to discuss their impactful stories, columns and projects and what made them stand out.
3 p.m. – 4 p.m.
CLOSING EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
Presiding: Dan Spears, incoming APSE president
6 p.m.
AWARDS RECEPTION
Sponsor: The Associated Press
7 p.m.
AWARDS BANQUET
Sponsor: The Sporting News
9:30 p.m.-11 p.m.
CLOSING RECEPTION
Sponsor: The Associated Press
Excited yet? Here’s the registration link again. There are options to register for just one day, two days or the whole three-day event.
