APSE’s summer conference will be held July 16-18 at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, Va. Click on the link below to register for the conference.
Click here for the registration page.
Here is a look at the conference schedule.
Wednesday, July 15
Sports events in the D.C. Area
It is the MLB All-Star break, and there aren’t any live sports going on as people arrive. However, there is plenty to do near the hotel, including:
Crystal City Sports Pub – https://www.ccsportspub.com/
Lucky Strike Bowling – https://www.luckystrikeent.com/location/lucky-strike-arlington
Thursday, July 16
OFFICERS MEETING
When: 10 a.m. Where: Crystal Boardroom
REGISTRATION
When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Where: Grand Registration Desk
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
When: 12-1:45 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
Presiding: Paul Barrett, APSE president
GENERAL SESSION | Washington Post layoffs: Where do we go from here?
When: 2-3:30 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
The gutting of the Washington Post sports section sent shockwaves through the industry. What went wrong, and what does it mean for the future of sports journalism? If The Post got rid of its sports section, is there hope for any of us?
Moderator
Jason Murray, who served as Sports Editor for The Washington Post, is a Deputy Editorial Director at The Athletic, helping to drive daily news coverage across all North American sports. Before leading The Post’s sports section, Jason oversaw coverage of the NBA, WNBA and college athletics.
Panelists
Ava Wallace is a senior tennis writer for The Athletic. She joined in 2026 after 10 years at The Washington Post, where she covered the NBA, WNBA, women’s college basketball, tennis and the Olympics. She hails from the Washington, D.C., metro area.
Emily Giambalvo is a data reporter for The Athletic. She previously worked at The Washington Post, where she wrote data-driven stories and covered college sports, gymnastics and the Olympics.
Joe Tone is a senior editor at The Washington Post, where he oversees a team of sports reporters who produce investigative reporting, narrative storytelling and other enterprise work. His work has been honored by IRE, ONA, APSE, PEN America and more. He joined The Post in 2019.
Matt Rennie is the Senior Managing Editor for Rapid Investigation at The Athletic. Previously, he worked for 26 years in the sports department of The Washington Post, the final 16 as deputy sports editor. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
GENERAL SESSION | Time management: How to maximize our most precious resource
When: 3:45-5:15 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
Moderator
Tommy Deas is Sports Director/Senior Sports Strategist for the Center for Community Journalism in the USA TODAY Co. He oversees sports coverage for more than 120 markets across the country. He won a Pulitzer Prize while at The Tuscaloosa News for its team coverage of the 2011 tornado that killed more than 40 people and devastated the community.
Panelists
Amie Just is the sports columnist at the Lincoln Journal Star. Since graduating from the University of Kansas, she’s earned 27 APSE Top 10s across nine categories in four divisions (A, C, D and student). Before returning to her native Nebraska, she worked in Montana and Louisiana, covering all sports at all levels while specializing in features and explanatory reporting.
Rod Beard is the Senior Sports Editor for pro/college sports at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, joining the team after 23 years at The Detroit News, where he was the sports editor, after serving as Pistons beat writer for seven years, Michigan basketball writer for five years and several roles before that.
Chris Thomas is Executive Editor, Sports, of the USA TODAY Network. He’s an East Tennessee native whose previous stops include the Detroit Free Press, USA TODAY Network South Region, Alabama Media Group, Knoxville News Sentinel and the Clarion Ledger (Jackson, Miss.).
WELCOME RECEPTION | Portland Fire at Washington Mystics
When: 5:30-7 p.m. Where: CareFirst Arena, 1100 Oak Drive SE, Washington, DC 20032
Friday, July 17
REGISTRATION
When: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Where: Grand Registration Desk
SILENT AUCTION
When: All day. Where: Salons A-B
The third annual APSE Foundation silent auction to benefit the APSE Foundation Fellowship. Come by and bid on memorabilia and special merchandise. The auction will close Saturday. Special thanks to those sponsors and APSE members who have donated items.
COFFEE TALK and PASTRY STATION | Investing in high school sports coverage
When: 8-8:45 a.m. Where: Salons A-B
Moderator
Maria McIlwain is the women’s sports editor (among other roles) at The Philadelphia Inquirer. She’s held that role since 2022 and directs coverage of women’s sports and women in sport from preps to pros in Philly and beyond. She is APSE’s incoming Second Vice President.
Panelists
Jim Pignatiello is MassLive.com’s Deputy Editor of Content. He has worked as the sports lead at the Advance Local media group since 2013. Jim is the outgoing APSE Northeast Region chair.
Lyzz Stallings is a regional sports director for the USA Today Co. in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She earned an undergrad degree from Towson University and a master’s from Millersville, both in sports management with a concentration in coaching.
GENERAL SESSION | NIL legislation: Where we’re at
When: 9-10:30 a.m. Where: Salons A-B
Moderator
Ross Dellenger joined Yahoo Sports in 2023 as its senior college football reporter after five years as a national college football writer for Sports Illustrated. Dellenger, who lives in Washington, D.C., also spent several years as a newspaper beat writer covering Auburn, Missouri and LSU.
Charlie Baker assumed the duties as the NCAA’s sixth president on March 1, 2023, after his term as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts. Baker is a graduate of Harvard, where he was a member of the men’s basketball team.
Maria Cantwell serves as a United States Senator for the state of Washington. She was a successful businesswoman in Washington’s hi-tech industry before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, 2006, 2012, and again in 2018.
Eric Schmitt is serving his first term as a United States Senator from the state of Missouri. He has served in various roles in Missouri’s state legislature, including State Senator, State Treasurer and Attorney General.
Lori Trahan represents Massachusetts’ Third Congressional District. A former volleyball player at Georgetown, she is Co-Chair of the Democratic Policy & Communications Committee.
WORKSHOP 1 | Vertical video: Best practices
When: 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Where: Salons D-E
Fans are increasingly relying on video to get their news — on Tik-Tok, Instagram or even a publication’s site or app. But how can a news site cut through the noise and actually get users to watch? We’ll present strategies to help your organization stand out (in the right ways) amid the chaos — and maybe even drive users to subscribe.
Moderator
Chris Korman is the Sports Editor of The Banner, a nonprofit newsroom covering Baltimore and D.C. sports. He has worked at USA TODAY’s For The Win, The Baltimore Sun, The Herald-Times in Bloomington, Ind., and what was then known as The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.
Panelists
Paul Mancano is an audience engagement editor at The Baltimore Banner, specializing in sports coverage. He manages The Banner’s sports social media accounts, creates social videos and graphics, hosts and produces Ravens and Orioles podcasts and writes stories. Mancano also spent six years at the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).
Krishna Sharma is an award-winning audience engagement editor at The Banner. He creates and appears in social videos that accumulate millions of views each year. Since The Baltimore Banner’s launch in 2022, he’s helped grow its TikTok account to more than 90,000 followers and its Instagram account to more than 200,000 followers.
Madison Eades is a recent graduate from the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. During her time there she served as an audience engagement editor for a digital student newspaper, The Diamondback. She is currently interning at The Athletic as a video production intern.
WORKSHOP 2 | Q&A: Best practices for FOIA requests
When: 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Where: Salons F-G
You have a tip, an ongoing story or a hunch that there’s a deeper story to tell with a public records request. But how do you get it to the finish line at a time when resources are stretched amid constantly competing demands in your newsroom? Here’s how to own your beat and hold power to account through public record requests. The panel will emphasize how to follow the money in college sports in a way that yields meaningful results.
Moderator
Oscar Dixon of The Associated Press manages a global footprint that includes more than 100 staffers and more than 400 freelancers. Before arriving at the AP in March 2008, Oscar worked at USA Today, the Omaha World-Herald and with the San Antonio Spurs. He was the NBA editor at USA Today, is a former military journalist and has worked nine Olympics.
Panelists
Josh Hoffner is the global sports editor for The Associated Press. He was named to the position earlier this year after four years as the U.S. News Director, overseeing the AP’s 50-state newsroom and a team of more than 200 reporters, photographers and video journalists. Before that he served in newsroom leadership roles in Arizona and New York.
Steve Berkowitz worked for USA Today for 25 years, first as the sports projects editor and then as a reporter with the department’s enterprise and investigations group. He began his career at The Washington Post, where he worked as a news aide, copy editor, reporter, night editor and assistant sports editor.
WORKSHOP 3 | Reporting with accuracy and respect on LGBTQ+ issues in sports
When: 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Where: Salon J
Moderator
Dan Spears is the deputy sports strategist for Gannett’s Center for Community Journalism, focused on high school sports strategy for more than 100 mid-size and small newsrooms around the country in the USA TODAY Network. Dan has been involved in APSE for more than 15 years and is a past president.
Panelists
Katherine Fominykh has covered high school and college sports for Capital Gazette since 2018 and has won numerous APSE awards, including top Short Feature in Division C for 2025. She previously was a sports reporting intern for The Baltimore Sun and The Boston Globe.
Monica Lewis is a communications strategist with 30 years of experience leading media relations, executive communications, and strategic storytelling across higher education, government, healthcare, nonprofit, and media organizations. She currently is Senior Director of Athletics Communications at Howard University.
Jonathan Lovitz is the senior vice president for campaigns and communications for the Human Rights Campaign. A nationally recognized leader in public affairs, economic policy, and strategic communications, he previously was Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Commerce and an executive for the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
RED SMITH LUNCHEON
When: 12:30-2 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
Sponsor: The Boston Globe
Presenting: Tim Kurkjian, ESPN MLB analyst and senior writer
Honoree: Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe
Presentation of the Jack Berninger Award for service to APSE
Repeats of Workshops 2 and 3
When: 2:15-3:30 p.m.
GENERAL SESSION | Sports entertainment, and how we cover it
When: 3:45-5:15 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
Sponsor: TKO
Moderator
Tommy Deas is Sports Director/Senior Sports Strategist for the Center for Community Journalism in the USA TODAY Co. He oversees sports coverage for more than 120 markets across the country. He won a Pulitzer Prize while at The Tuscaloosa News for its team coverage of the 2011 tornado that killed more than 40 people and devastated the community.
Panelists
In his fourth match, Ethan Page captured the WWE NXT Championship, then dethroned Ricky Saints to claim the North American Championship. Page made an impressive Raw debut in April, showing he’s a contender by winning his match. With a razor-sharp wit, there’s no telling what the self-proclaimed “most entertaining” star from Ontario will do next.
At a family funeral, 14-year-old Moria Novakoski met a cousin who talked about riding bulls. Three weeks later, she climbed onto a bull – and never looked back. Now 15, the former national gymnast is pursuing an ambitious goal: becoming the first woman to compete in PBR.
UFC athlete TBD
Billie Jean King documentary screening
When: 5:30-7 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
Sponsor: APSE Foundation
ESPN Films presents a documentary capturing the remarkable story of Billie Jean King. The legacy of one of America’s first women’s sports stars is unrivaled, yet few people know the real Billie Jean: charismatic, mischievous, indignant, hopeful, stubborn, and determined as ever. This is the unfiltered, untold story of how she broke the rules and proved her critics wrong.
(This is embargoed as the documentary has not premiered on ESPN)
Saturday, July 18
REGISTRATION
When: 8 a.m.-noon. Where: Grand Registration Desk
PASTRY STATION
When: 8 a.m. Where: Salon A-B
SILENT AUCTION
When: All day. Where: Salon A-B
The third annual APSE Foundation silent auction to benefit the APSE Foundation Fellowship. Come by and bid on memorabilia and special merchandise. The auction will close Saturday. Special thanks to those sponsors and APSE members who have donated items.
GENERAL SESSION | Career Development
When: 8:30-10 a.m. Where: Salons A-B
Sponsor: The Athletic
The APSE Career Advancement committee will lead a session in which journalists of all experience levels and backgrounds can discuss how to get better at what they’re doing, and what they’ll need to do next. Resume critiques, interview advice, job hunting tips. Let’s help each other grow, improve and reach our career goals.
Moderator
Lisa Wilson is the editorial director for Talent and Development at The Athletic. A past president of APSE, Wilson is the chair of the career advancement committee and the executive director of the APSE Foundation.
GENERAL SESSION | Ask the students
When: 10:15-11:45 a.m. Where: Salons A-B
Sponsor: APSE Foundation
Student journalists take the dais for a reverse panel as editors, reporters and others ask about how they consume news, the opportunities they see to reach younger audiences, etc.
Moderator
Katie McInerney is the senior assistant sports editor at The Boston Globe. She manages a team of producers responsible for Globe.com/Sports, as well as the Globe’s women’s sports coverage. She has worked in journalism for more than a decade in newsrooms around the country and is a graduate of the APSE Foundation Fellowship.
LUNCH BREAK
Registrants are on their own for lunch before the program resumes at 1 p.m.
GENERAL SESSION | How we did it: Examining our best work in 2025
When: 1-2:30 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
Moderator
Perryn Keys is incoming APSE president and executive sports editor of The Buffalo News, whose department won a Division B Triple Crown in his first full year there in 2025. Before that, he spent six years as executive sports editor of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., and The Acadiana Advocate in Lafayette, La.
Panelists
A career that has spanned four decades at three media outlets in central Pennsylvania has allowed Shelly Stallsmith to meet high school, pro athletes, and everything in between. Stallsmith, a York native, has been at the Daily Record for nearly 10 years and loves being able to write for the outlet that provided her first professional paycheck as a high school sophomore.
Mike Sielski has been a sports columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Inquirer.com since 2013. A co-host on WIP 94.1 FM and formerly a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, he is the author of five books, including the international bestseller The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Story of ROCKY, which will be published in November.
Kevin Armstrong is an enterprise reporter for NJ.com. His work often focuses on the intersection of sports with business, education and legal affairs. Previously, he worked for the New York Daily News and Sports Illustrated. He was also an executive producer for “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez,” a Netflix Original Series.
Staff, Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism
The Shirley Povich Center’s winning entry in Division D projects was a series of stories about where and how high school athletes can cash in on name, image and likeness deals across all 50 states, and the impact NIL is having on high school athletics in the U.S. The Shirley Povich Center is part of the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
CLOSING GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
When: 2:45 p.m. Where: Salons A-B
Presiding: Perryn Keys, APSE incoming president
AWARDS DINNER RECEPTION
When: 6-7 p.m. Where: Sky View
Sponsors: MLS, NHL, ESPN
SILENT AUCTION
The third annual APSE Foundation silent auction to benefit the APSE Foundation Fellowship. Come by and bid on memorabilia and special merchandise. The auction will close Saturday. Special thanks to those sponsors and APSE members who have donated items.
AWARDS DINNER AND BANQUET
When: 7 p.m. Where: Salons C-E
Presiding: Erik Hall, APSE second vice president
Sponsor: NASCAR
CLOSING RECEPTION
When: 9:30-11 p.m. Where: Sky View
Sponsors: MLS, NHL, ESPN
