2024 Wisconsin Newspaper Association Convention

Register

Registration is now open for the 2024 WNA annual convention, which will take place March 14-15 in Madison. The deadline to register is March 8.

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association Convention brings together the state’s news leaders to explore questions shaping the future of the industry. It will feature in-depth workshops, networking opportunities, listening sessions, interactive panels and more.

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Schedule

This year’s conference will focus on building new business models to support local news, rethinking how news is produced and consumed and forging new connections.

We have provided a preliminary schedule below, but be sure to check back here often — in the coming days and weeks, we will be updating the schedule with additional sessions and speakers.

Thursday, March 14

9 a.m. – Board meeting

Noon – Registration opens

1 – 1:45 p.m. – Stop overthinking & just do it! – Mike Blinder, Editor & Publisher

2 – 2:45 p.m. – How we can collaborate to get the most important stories done – Kris Leonhardt and Taima Kern, NEW News Lab; Tannette Johnson-Elie, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service; Jim Malewitz, Wisconsin Watch

3 – 3:45 p.m. – 6 essential strategies you need to understand about retention – Richard E. Brown, The Daily Beast

4 – 4:45 p.m. – How members can save time and boost revenue with WNA resources – Kris Maggard, Customized Newspaper Advertising; Beth Bennett and Denise Guttery, Wisconsin Newspaper Assocation

5 – 6 p.m. – Cocktail reception

6 – 7:30 p.m. – Wisconsin Openness Awards dinner – Join us as we recognize outstanding efforts to protect the state’s tradition of open government through its Openness in Government awards, or Opees. (Sponsored by WisPolitics)

  • Why Wisconsin needed a Transparency Project and what it has accomplished – Tom Kamenick, Wisconsin Transparency Project

7:30 – 10 p.m. – Casino Night (Sponsored by News Tracker)

  • Join us for the annual WNA Foundation Casino Night Fundraiser. For every $10 donation made, players will receive $100 in casino chips to play poker, blackjack, roulette and craps. Exchange your winnings at the end of the night for raffle tickets that you can use to enter to win a variety of prizes!

Friday, March 15

8 – 9 a.m. – Breakfast

9 – 9:45 a.m. – Kickoff session: Public-power your elections coverage – Bridget Thoreson, Election SOS

10 – 10:45 a.m. – Breakout sessions

  • Empowering community journalists with Press Pass – Joey and Lindsey Young, co-owners of Kansas Publishing Ventures
  • Follow the Money: Campaign Finance 101 – Sarah Bryner, Director of Research and Strategy at OpenSecrets

11 a.m. – noon – Breakout sessions

  • Making podcasts pay off for smaller newsrooms – Phoebe Petrovic, Wisconsin Watch; Myles Dannhausen, Peninsula Pulse
  • Helping small newsrooms find, train and pay interns: best practices and new ideas – Kate Edenborg, journalism professor and program director at UW-Stout; Barbara Selvin, former journalism instructor and internship director at the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University

Noon – 1:15 p.m. – Student Awards luncheon (Sponsored by Multi Media Channels)

1:30 – 2:15 p.m. – Breakout sessions

  • The state of local news: What’s working, what’s not and what lies ahead – Zach Metzger, senior researcher and database manager for State of Local News Project at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism
  • Strategies for requesting open records and overcoming denials – Brian Spahn and Max Lenz, Godfrey & Kahn

1:30 – 2:15 p.m. – Career fair

2:30 – 3:15 p.m. – Breakout sessions

  • Diversifying revenue streams and why you should start now – Joey and Lindsey Young, co-owners of Kansas Publishing Ventures
  • Reaching audiences in a post-social world – Sam Cholke, Manager of Distribution & Audience Growth, Institute of Nonprofit News

3:30 – 4:15 p.m. – Breakout sessions

  • If the singularity is coming, who will write about it: Newspapers in the age of AI – Brendan Healey, partner at Baron Harris Healey
  • Revenue Ideas on Tap

4:30 – 5 p.m. – WNA Annual Meeting

5 – 6 p.m. – Cocktail reception

6 – 9 p.m. – Better Newspaper Contest awards banquet (Sponsored by Universities of Wisconsin)


Travel & Lodging

Conference venue

The 2024 WNA Convention will take place March 14-15 at the The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club, 1 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53703.

Conference hotel room blocks

The WNA has special room rates starting at $145. Book your stay by March 4 online or by calling (800) 356-8293 and asking for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association room block. The group code is 1099752.


Become a Sponsor

The annual WNA Convention draws hundreds of newspaper professionals from across the state who gather to network with peers, vendors and sponsors while attending educational sessions and celebrating industry accomplishments. To sign up as a sponsor, contact WNA Executive Director Beth Bennett at beth.bennett@wnanews.com.

Ambassador Package – $2,500

Mention of your company at the beginning of each session, inclusion in sponsor list on our website, full-page color ad in the WNA’s 2024 Member Directory, list of attendees (one week prior to convention), promotional email blast to members, opportunity to submit a one-time article to the WNA’s member newsletter, and the opportunity to introduce a session.

Advocate Package – $1,000

Mention of your company at the beginning of each session, inclusion in sponsor list on our website, full-page color ad in the WNA’s 2024 Member Directory, list of attendees (one week prior to convention).

Friend Package – $500

Mention of your company at the beginning of each session & inclusion in sponsor list on our website.

Wisconsin Newspaper Association