KPA convention to go 'virtual'

Posted July 16, 2020

The year 2020 has been a year like no other in our history, so it seems fitting that the Kansas Press Association’s annual convention in August should continue that unusual trend.

And that’s exactly what’s going to happen as the KPA rolls out a “virtual” lineup of educational presentations and awards ceremonies on Aug.     13 and 14 and again the next week on Aug. 20 and 21.

Emily Bradbury, KPA executive director, said this change may even allow the convention to reach more of our members and friends.

“This pivot to virtual was done due to COVID-19, but it became clear in our conversations with members that our in-person convention was inadvertently excluding certain members due to cost, location and other factors,” Bradbury said.

“While we look forward to our next in-person event in June 2021, I also believe that a hybrid convention model is here to stay because it will allow more of our members to be involved in our educational offerings.”

To increase access to the various offerings, the decision was made to expand the convention to two consecutive weeks.

In addition, many of the presentations will be recorded and made available later.

“This is our current schedule but we reserve the right to add even more sessions as we get closer to Aug. 13,” Bradbury said.

Click here to register and see a more detailed schedule.

Thursday, Aug. 13

10 a.m. - 11 a.m.  - “Rebranding Your Newspaper to Get New Customers,” with Jeff Cott, Derby Informer.

11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. — “Taxes and Other Related Matters for Publishers,” with Debbie Coan, CPA.

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. – “Ask the Media Hotline Attorney,” with Max Kautsch, KPA consultant.

3 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. – “Selling Your Total Audience with Digital,” with Thad Swiderski, eType Services.

7 p.m. - 8 p.m. – President’s Presentation and Hall of Fame and Special Award Presentations.

Friday, Aug. 14

10 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. – Kansas Farm Bureau panel on what is happening in farming and ranching in the state.

11:15 a.m. - noon – “What’s Working and What’s Not at Newspapers,” with Kevin Slimp. Conducting research for the North Dakota Newspaper Association and the Texas Center for Community Journalism, Kevin discovered unique revenue streams that were working while identifying the things that weren’t.

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. – “Getting People to Pick Up Your Paper,” with Kevin Slimp, with new information for 2020.

3 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. – “Grow Revenue by Designing More Effective Ads,” with Kevin Slimp.

6:15 p.m. - “The Future of Journalism in Kansas: Why You Should Care” – a community event. The KPA and Newton Now will co-host as a panel of journalists discuss their thoughts on where our industry is headed.

Thursday, Aug. 20

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. – Community Journalism Training (Part 1), with Doug Anstaett. Join Doug as he teaches participants about the basics of covering a community well, starting with the basics.

11 a.m. - noon – “Exploring Trends and Opportunities with Subscriptions,” with John Montgomery. Join John as he discusses the shift within the industry to a higher reliance on subscription revenue.

1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. – “Social Movements and the Press: What Journalists Can Learn from History,” with Teri Finneman.This session will address the history of suffrage in America, how journalists covered it and what can be learned from their mistakes.

2:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. -  Best Management Practices, with Ken Knepper. Join Ken as he explores strategies that newspaper managers can use to recruit the best team members and retain them.

Friday, Aug. 21

10 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. – Roundtables. Join us for an update on topics of interest to you and before breaking out into daily and nondaily groups.

1 p.m. - 2 p.m. - Community Journalism Training (Part 2), with Doug Anstaett. Writing basics and journalism ethics discussion will be included in this class.

3 p.m. -  4:15 p.m. – Our annual Awards of Excellence presentation. Plaques are being mailed (along with a goodie bag) and publications will have the awards soon.