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Region 5 Spring Conference

April 13-14, 2012 | Indianapolis, Ind.

Register | Schedule at a glance | Fees/Registration | Hotel Information | Speakers and Sessions | Sponsors

Spend the day with fellow journalists in Indianapolis! Meet new people, network and hear some of the industry’s best and brightest on topics ranging from social media to sports journalism.

The event will kick off on Friday, April 13 with a welcome reception at the Circle City Bar & Grille Restaurant at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to meet conference participants and start networking in advance of Saturday’s professional development sessions.

The Indianapolis Marriott Downtown will also be the location for Saturday's professional development programming. Student journalists will be honored at the Mark of Excellence Luncheon on Saturday. David Lindquist from The Indianapolis Star will serve as the keynote speaker for the luncheon. Lindquist was writing a concert review at the Indiana State Fair the night the stage collapsed in August 2011.

The day will be filled with professional development programs to strengthen your career and reboot your skills. Please contact Heather Dunn with any questions about the event.

Schedule at a glance

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Fees  Register Online

Fee includes Friday night reception, continental breakfast and Mark of Excellence Luncheon on Saturday.

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Hotel Information

A small block of rooms has been reserved at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown (350 West Maryland Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46225).

The room rate is $99/night for single/double occupancy, plus any local taxes and fees. Please call 877-640-7666 to book your stay and reference Society of Professional Journalists to receive the special rate. Reservations may also be made online by following this link. Reservations must be made by March 18 to qualify for the conference rate. Please make your reservation early. The hotel is not obligated to offer the special rates after the rooms sell out or after the official cut-off date of March 18 whichever comes first.

Hotel Parking

— Self-Park: $28 per day
— Valet: $34 per day

The hotel is connected via skywalk to the Government Center Parking Garage. The state owns and operates this garage and typically offers guests a discounted rate of $10 per vehicle for weekend events.

Additional parking options may be found online by following this link.

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Speakers and Sessions

Additional announcements regarding Saturday's sessions and speakers, as well as a detail session schedule, will appear here as it becomes available!

Mark of Excellence Luncheon Keynote with Dave Lindquist of The Indianapolis Star

Dave Lindquist has served as The Star's pop music writer since May 1998.

He graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1991, and he has worked at newspapers in Glens Falls, N.Y., Springfield, Ill., and Northwest Indiana. The first rock concert Dave ever attended was a mid-'80s show by Survivor ("Eye of the Tiger") at the Illinois State Fair.

Not a memorable start, but things have improved.

Personal Branding: Using Social Tools to Promote Yourself

Are you everywhere? Do you need to be? With the changing face of media, all journalists need to focus on how they are positioned electronically. This doesn't mean carrying an iPhone on your hip or lugging a Mifi station around, it means how well are you positioned in the digital world when it comes to your brand? How easily can editors, readers and others find you? How big a footprint have you projected and have you protected your presence correctly. In this interactive session, Jeff Cutler will cover the ways in which any journalist can establish, reinforce and benefit from a proper online brand. Tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn will be discussed, but he'll also delve into Klout, location-based services, blogs, Google, Wikipedia and more.

Trainer: Jeff Cutler, Content Specialist and Social Media Trainer, JeffCutler.com

Freelancing for fun and profit

In this day of layoffs and downsizing, freelancing is becoming the position of choice for many journalists. It’s not as simple, though, as declaring yourself a freelancer and waiting for work to flow your way. This panel of talented, experienced freelancers will share the stories of their success, how they’ve gotten their best jobs and how they find new clients. You’ll leave with a better understanding of how to construct your own freelance business — and a sense of whether or not you even want to.

Trainer: TBA

Rules of engagement for the social journalist

Panelists will share best practices for using social media to interact with the people formerly known as the audience. They’ll reveal tips on balancing your personal and professional roles, making the journalism process more transparent, managing community conversations, and ethically enlisting the crowd’s energy to drive page views, to provide collective intelligence and to build your brand.

Moderators: Michele Day and Mary Cupito, Northern Kentucky University

60 Sites in 60 Minutes ... More or Less

When you emerge from this session, your head will be spinning with new resources to leverage in your day-to-day work. The session is a fresh look at the technology landscape and the tools that are being used by journalists all over the world. Citizen journalism contribution sites, professional development sites, information repositories, social media tools, aggregators and much more will be covered.

Speaker: Jeff Cutler, Content Specialist and Social Media Trainer, JeffCutler.com

Using Census Data

Session description coming soon.

Speaker: Jeff South, Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University

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Sponsored by