2019 WNA Convention & Trade Show Schedule

At A Glance

Our convention would not be possible without our sponsors and exhibitors. Thank you for your support of the WNA Foundation!

Thursday, March 7

10 a.m.

Kickoff Speaker – Alex Lasry
Milwaukee is among the finalists to host the Democratic National Convention, but do you know who’s behind that push? In an interview-style discussion, Milwaukee Bucks senior vice president Alex Lasry will talk about his work with the team and why he wants to bring the convention to town. Lasry, who directs the team’s digital marketing, was instrumental in the team’s rebrand and played a major role in the building of the Bucks’ new arena, Fiserv Forum. Former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editor Marty Kaiser, who currently is the Howard Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Maryland, will explore these topics and more with Lasry.
– Alex Lasry, Milwaukee Bucks & Marty Kaiser, University of Maryland & the Democracy Fund

11 to 11:50 a.m.

Improving Your Ad & Page Design
You’ll laugh and learn a lot during this session. Kevin will cover the gamut from space to fonts to content to help you improve the design of your newspaper.
– Kevin Slimp, Institute of Newspaper Technology, NewspaperAcademy.com & Market Square Books

Reporting in Sound: Minding the gap between print and audio
Around 60 print reporters and one audio producer walk into a room, and: miraculously, they have a lot in common. Independent journalist Natasha Haverty (NPR, NYTimes, formerly North Country Public Radio, New Hampshire Public Radio) talks about how to join daily news and investigative journalism with sound production and storytelling. From embedding audio features in a print story to starting a podcast, bringing a sense of sound to our work can help newspapers reach new audiences and embrace this exciting moment in journalism.
– Natasha Haverty, independent journalist

Starting Over: Building the ideal newsroom
What would your newsroom look like if you built it from scratch today? Does the beat structure still work? How many multimedia journalists, desk people and assigning editors would you need? What exactly would they cover? What would your business model(s) be? We often talk about thinking entrepreneurially, but it’s hard to engender that mindset in an entrenched industry. In this session, we’ll start by offering frameworks, potential rosters and budget limitations but then collectively work toward building the ideal newsroom of tomorrow — small, medium and large.
– Chuck Melvin, Marquette University
– Chris Murphy, The Cap Times

Noon to 1:30 p.m.

WNA Dine Around
Facilitators will kick off the discussion at nearby restaurants, where attendees will have a chance to discuss their experiences, gain new ideas and foster new relationships.

1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Getting Your Photos to Pop Off the Page
Kevin Slimp has been training photo editing and color correction for “longer than he likes to admit.” You will learn simple and advanced skills to improve the reproduction of photos in your newspaper and make your photos pop right off the page!
– Kevin Slimp, Institute of Newspaper Technology, NewspaperAcademy.com & Market Square Books

Digital Revenue Solutions For Any Market
Milwaukee-area based Wehaa has become one of the fastest-growing digital solution partners to newspapers and media groups across the U.S. & Canada. In this session, National Director of Digital Marketing & Sales Mike Martoccia will provide best practices for monetizing digital ads and reclaiming auto and real estate sales revenue. Mike will also discuss some of Wehaa’s turnkey solutions and provide case studies that will leave you with ways to implement them back in your markets.
– Michael Martoccia, Wehaa

Solutions Journalism
What is solutions journalism? Why is it so important? Susan Smith Richardson, who is Solutions Journalism Network’s editorial director, and David Haynes, editorial page editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, will discuss this valuable reporting approach and how to make it happen in your newsroom, from conceiving of an idea to writing the story.
– Susan Smith Richardson, Solutions Journalism Network
– David Haynes, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Best Practices for Digital Journalism
This session will focus on reader engagement, including using analytics to track digital results in measures such as page views, time on site and bounce rate. It will also offer suggestions for high-impact locally produced content and digital strategies that resonate with the audience.  
– Teryl Franklin, Wisconsin State Journal

3 to 3:50 p.m.

Facebook & Instagram tools to enhance your storytelling (Part I)
This session will provide attendees with tips for newsgathering, storytelling and connecting with audiences by leveraging Facebook and Instagram products and tools, including Live, Groups, the Creators app and CrowdTangle. This session will walk you through how to use the tools while providing examples from journalists all over the world who are producing engaging content using these storytelling formats.
– Rachel Piper, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

How (Whether?) College Students Consume News
How do college students get their news? Facebook? Mobile? … Not at all? It’s been a topic of discussion in the news industry for years. In this panel, we’ll attempt to answer the question by going to the source. Moderator Chuck Melvin will ask a panel of college journalists and their peers about their news consumption habits, discuss why they do it that way and whether they feel they have surrounded themselves in a bubble that reinforces their own political, entertainment, spiritual and moral approaches to life. We’ll also hear from the student journalists about how they believe their careers might play out in today’s bumpy news landscape.
– Moderator: Chuck Melvin, Marquette University
– Panelists: Jennifer Walter, Executive Director, Marquette Wire; Sydney Czyzon, Managing Editor, Marquette Tribune; Alyssa Allemand, Editor, On the Edge News (Edgewood College); Sammy Gibbons, The Daily Cardinal

WNA Annual Meeting
Wisconsin Newspaper Association members will hold a brief meeting beginning at 3 p.m. All are welcome and WNA members are especially encouraged to attend this annual meeting, during which new officers will be elected.

4:10 to 5 p.m.

Facebook & Instagram tools to enhance your storytelling (Part II)
This session will provide attendees with tips for newsgathering, storytelling and connecting with audiences by leveraging Facebook and Instagram products and tools, including Live, Groups, the Creators app and CrowdTangle. This session will walk you through how to use the tools while providing examples from journalists all over the world who are producing engaging content using these storytelling formats.
– Rachel Piper, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Great Idea Exchange
Enjoy drinks on us while sharing your best ideas with colleagues.

Accessing Court Records
Court records can be a valuable source of news stories and compelling features. In certain circumstances, however, a judge will decide to seal certain documents or close hearings that would ordinarily be public. This session will discuss access sealed court records in both state and federal courts. It will also provide attendees tips for dealing with court access issues, such as the ability to take still photos and videos and the use of social media.
– Brendan Healey, Mandell Menkes

Art of the Interview: How to get the goods
Great interviews and the information they provide are a critical component of newsgathering and also open the door to superior writing and storytelling. In this reporting session, veteran journalist Bart Pfankuch and will share a blueprint for improving the quality and depth of all interviews, from breaking news reporting driven by immediacy to lengthy sit-down discussions that go deep. Bart will present tips and tactics gleaned from 30 years of getting sources to open up.
– Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watc

5 to 6 p.m.

Better Newspaper Awards Banquet Welcome Reception
Toast your friends and colleagues, unwind and discuss the day’s events, and enjoy entertainment from the WNA Band before settling in for the annual awards dinner.

6 to 9 p.m.

Better Newspaper Awards Banquet
The Better Newspaper Contest Awards Banquet is an annual WNA convention event saluting the achievements of Wisconsin newspapers. We’ll highlight the best work of Wisconsin’s news photographers, memorialize newspaper veterans we lost over the last year, announce raffle basket winners, winners of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Golden Gavel Awards, our Better Newspaper Contests, Best of Division and the Daily and Weekly Newspapers of the Year.

Friday, March 8

8 a.m.

Breakfast
Check-in and pick up your name badge at the registration desk. All are invited to partake in a complimentary continental breakfast. Don’t forget to come early enough to visit with exhibitors at the Trade Show.

9 to 10 a.m.

Friday Kickoff: What Do We Really Know About the Modern Reader?
Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute digs deep into what API has learned about readers, how that is changing and what a new analytics app is saying about audience and funnel segments.
– Tom Rosenstiel, American Press Institute

10:15 to 11:30 a.m.

Getting Your Camera Out of Automatic
Learn camera settings to “get out of automatic” and composition techniques to make better pictures for print and online. Veteran community photographer C.T. Kruger will give examples and approaches to create better news, feature and spot news photos.
– C.T. Kruger, Now Newspapers

Quick-hit investigations for any newsroom
Who really has time to do investigative journalism these days? You do! In this session, Dee J. Hall, managing editor of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, will discuss ideas for finding quick-hit watchdog stories that can be turned around on deadline.

Dealing with the Aftermath of Newsprint Tariffs
Even though newsprint tariffs have “gone away,” newspapers are still feeling their effects — and likely will be for some time. During this session, panelists will discuss how they have survived in the aftermath of newsprint price increases. They will also share tips on how to cut costs and grow revenue to position your newspaper on stable ground so it can better weather any future storms.
– Moderator: Andrew Johnson, Dodge County Pionier, Campbellsport News & Kewaskum Statesman
– Panelists: Tony Smithson, The (Janesville) Gazette, Jeff Patterson, Adams Publishing Group, Steve Fisher, Woodward Communications, Inc.

11:30 a.m. to Noon

Flash Sessions

Turnkey Website Production
– Tecnavia

A Better Way to Mail Your Newspaper
– Interlink

Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Student Honors Luncheon
Gov. Tony Evers, who previously served as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, will welcome attendees to the Student Honors Luncheon before we honor some of the best work produced by Wisconsin’s student journalists. The program will also feature a special competition of the Wisconsin Civics Games — students vs. members of the WNA & WNAF Boards in a test of civics knowledge.
– Gov. Tony Evers
– WNA Civics Games team: Mark Stodder, President, Xcential Legislative Technologies; Heather Rogge, Publisher, (West Bend) Daily News; Scott Peterson, Editor, Now News Group South; Kris O’Leary, Publisher, The (Abbotford) Tribune-Phonograph
– Madison Memorial High School team: Cory Forbes, Alex Blue

1:45 to 3 p.m.

Job Fair
Representatives from Wisconsin newspaper companies will be on hand to meet and interview aspiring young professionals and other job seekers. Bring your resumes and portfolios to share with potential employers.

1:45 to 2:45 p.m.

Pushing Photography to Video
This session will continue with more advanced photography techniques for low light and sports, image selection for photo pages and online galleries, and Mobile Journalism techniques using smartphones for photos and video.
– C.T. Kruger, Now Newspapers

Watchdog 101: Using Open Records Laws to Uncover Secrets
During this session, Dee J. Hall, managing editor of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, will break down how to use the state’s open records law, provide tips for prying records loose and show how to effectively use public records in your stories.
– Dee Hall, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Words That Click: Writing for Digital
With newsprint shrinking and mobile screens offering only a few lines to capture a reader’s attention, it’s more important than ever to make every word count. Bright, tight writing is essential. So is choosing which background to include and which can be jettisoned without harming the understanding and fairness of a story. Headlines, once left to the copy desk, are the responsibility of every journalist — and they’re the single most important element of a mobile story. This hands-on workshop will share tips for telling stories compactly without stripping them of emotion, quotes, fairness and clarity. We’ll also put on our SEO hats, rewriting some digital headlines and then ranking our collective work.
– Chuck Melvin, Marquette University

3 to 4 p.m.

Student Media Idea Exchange
Network and share your best ideas with fellow college journalists.

Email Newsletters: Strategies & tools to grow your audience
During this session, Chris Juzwik, audience engagement manager for Madison.com and the Wisconsin State Journal, will discuss why email newsletters can be a valuable tool in engaging readers. He’ll provide tips and best practices for handling breaking news, embracing analytics, growing your lists and the “automagic” approach. Plus, there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.
– Chris Juzwik, Wisconsin State Journal

Profile Writing: Capturing the soul of your sources
The probing, piercing profile is somewhat of a lost art in modern journalism, but it shouldn’t be. In this high-spirited reporting and writing session, experienced profiler Bart Pfankuch will provide methods of selecting great profile subjects, capturing those subjects in 3D depth and color and writing profiles with authority and flair that make a subject come to life.
– Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch