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Region 5 Spring Conference

April 13-14, 2012 | Indianapolis, Ind.

Register | Schedule at a glance | Fees | Hotel Information | Detailed Saturday Schedule | 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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Detailed Saturday Schedule

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

8:00 a.m. | Check-in and Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m. | Region 5 Business Meeting

Meet Regional Director Liz Hansen and discuss Society business taking place in Region 5, made up of Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

9-10:15 a.m. | Sessions

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

Social Media Ethics

Sure, we've all got a good grasp on media law and how not to commit libel, but when it comes to social media, things aren't so black and white. Face it, after hearing about a new Twitter-related firing every week or so, we're all likely a little terrified. In this session, we'll show you some examples of how to traverse this vast universe of gray area — with some examples of what not to do and how handle each of those situations the best way possible (and to avoid the Twitpocalypse along the way).
Moderator: Dr. Elizabeth Hansen, Eastern Kentucky University
Speakers: Amy Bartner, social media editor, The Indianapolis Star and Mike Reilley, online journalism instructor, DePaul University

10:30-11:45 a.m. | Sessions

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.
Speakers: Tara Puckey, freelance writer; Marc Allen, freelance writer; Robyn Davis Sekula, freelance writer

Making Sense of the Census

In the old days, journalists would turn to the U.S. Census Bureau every 10 years for a headcount. But now, the Census Bureau can be a source of data and story ideas almost every day. The bureau is still slicing, dicing and releasing data from the 2010 census, and it is supplementing the decennial count with a rolling survey called ACS — the American Community Survey. Moreover, the Census Bureau regularly churns out reports and data on government spending, business patterns and other topics — down to the local level. The amount of data can be daunting, but if you know how to mine it, you can find and tell compelling stories about your community and how it is changing. This session will help you understand and tap the Census Bureau's treasure trove of data.
Speaker: Jeff South, Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University

Noon-1:30 p.m. | Mark of Excellence Awards Luncheon with Keynote Speaker Dave Lindquist of The Indianapolis Star

This event will recognize exceptional work by student journalists from across the region. The Dick Goehler First Amendment Defender Award will also be presented.

The Dick Goehler First Amendment Defender Award was established by Regions 4 and 5 of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2011 to honor the work and memory of Cincinnati attorney Dick Goehler of Frost Brown Todd in defending the First Amendment rights of journalists and citizens in Ohio, Kentucky and elsewhere.

1:45-3:00 p.m. | Sessions

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

The Business of Sports

Sports is big business and that can generate big stories.Don't just follow the ball, follow the money: contracts, non-profit tax returns, corporate filings, spend & expense records, even political contributions can help crack open the finances of sporting events and teams. The Lexington Herald-Leader, for instance, recently showed that the 2010 World Equestrian Games, long-touted for its economic benefits, actually finished in the red, despite some last minute help from big donors.
Speaker: Janet Patton, reporter, Lexington Herald-Leader

3:15-4:30 p.m. | Sessions

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
Speakers: Travis Gettys, reporter, WLWT.com Cincinnati; Joe Long, engagement editor, Cincinnati Enquirer; and Amy Bartner, social media editor, The Indianapolis Star

Crisis Coverage

Session description coming shortly.
Speaker: Kevin Finch, news director, WRTV

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Meet the Speakers

Dave Lindquist, Mark of Excellence Luncheon Keynote Speaker

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.

Marc Allen

Marc Allan is associate director of public relations for Butler University and an active freelance writer. Since joining Butler, he has written for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Writer’s Digest, the Indianapolis Business Journal, Indianapolis Monthly and Nuvo, among others. Before that, he spent 24 years as a full-time journalist, the final 16 years, eight months and 20 days of that time at the Indianapolis Star.

Amy Bartner

As the first social media editor of The Indianapolis Star, Amy Bartner had the opportunity to create a process for increasing The Star's presence in the ever-growing digital community — as well as working in a trial-by-Twitter-fire in this non-scientific world. Before she took that job in July, she bounced from a community journalist position (school board meetings, woo!) to online editor for The Star's entertainment site, Metromix. She graduated from Michigan State University in 2005, and joined The Star's staff in 2006 as a Pulliam Fellow.

Jeff Cutler

In 1992, Jeff Cutler was delivering words to MacConnection, HomeQuarters Warehouse, the Boston Herald and the Mariner Newspaper chain. From there he expanded into projects for Fidelity Investments, WearGuard, Talbots and a host of other respected businesses.

These days, in addition to his new-media presence, Jeff's a credentialed reporter covering events like major golf tournaments and sporting events, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and film festivals and lifestyle events all over the world.

His current project load includes articles and features for Gatehouse Media, a slew of social-media projects including blogs and podcasts, columns and editorials for a variety of clients, as well as the completion of marketing and branding initiatives for recognized names like Brookstone, TJX and UNO Restaurant Group.

Mary Cupito

Mary Cupito teaches news writing, editing, ethics and multimedia reporting at Northern Kentucky University. She has taught journalism courses since 1988, first at Ohio State University and later at NKU. Cupito has been a reporter for the Cincinnati Post, The St. Petersburg Times and The Columbus Dispatch. She is co-author of two books, The Writer's Market Companion and Newspapers: A Complete Guide to the Industry. She has also worked as a freelance writer in public relations and for commercial Web sites.

Michele Day

Michele Day teaches a variety of journalism and communication courses at Northern Kentucky University. Michele worked for newspapers for more than 20 years, including 17 years as an editor and a reporter for the Cincinnati and Kentucky Post. She is the founding director of the Journalism in the Digital Age Summer Workshop, an NKU program that works with high school journalists to develop news for the Web, and she is the faculty adviser for the NKU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Michele earned her Master's in Communication degree from NKU. She received her B.A. from Western Kentucky University, where she served as editor of the award-winning College Heights Herald student newspaper.

Travis Gettys

Travis Gettys is digital editor for WLWT.com, where he's covered several high-interest trials as a courtroom blogger. He's also worked as a reporter for the Kentucky Enquirer, covering everything from local government and neighborhood issues to high school sports. Travis lives in Newport, Ky., with his wife, son and newborn baby.

Dr. Elizabeth Hansen

Dr. Elizabeth Hansen was named Chair of the Department of Communication at Eastern Kentucky University in May 1, 2011. She had previously served as Interim Chair since July 2010. She is a Foundation Professor in the Department of Communication where she has taught since 1987. As a member of the journalism faculty, she has taught a variety of courses, including Community Journalism, Media Ethics, Media Law, Writing and Selling Nonfiction, Writing and Reporting News I and II, Public Affairs Reporting, and Feature Writing. She also supervises journalism and public relations cooperative education students.

Joe Long

Joe Long is the engagement and social media director for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Before taking on this role, he was heavily involved as the social media director for famed internet radio station WOXY.com, where he was also a DJ and blogger. Speaking of blogging, Joe has his own website, eachnotesecure.com, that he has run for the past nine years and now also runs emptygrowler.com, a site dedicated to craft beer.

Tara Puckey

Tara Puckey is a freelance journalist based in Indianapolis, Indiana. She always enjoyed writing, premiering her work at the age of three with “Blue Dot, Yellow Dot,” a story about two colors that befriended each other. Later, she participated in the Young Authors competition and wrote an article for American Way magazine. Sadly, there's no link to that since it was written before the Internet existed. Later in life, after choosing journalism in a list of alphabetical majors, she fell in love with the business. In 2011, she graduated from IU School of Journalism at IUPUI with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with High Distinction. At that point, she had been freelancing for four years and won several national awards. Part of a military family, Puckey originally focused her freelance business on military media. Later, she expanded to offer web design, branding, editing and other services. She is especially fond of working with small, local businesses and non-profits.

Mike Reilley

Mike teaches several classes at DePaul University, including Online Journalism I and II, News Editing, Multiplatform News Editing News Now, Reporting for Converged Newsrooms, Online Sports Reporting and Intro to Journalism.

In January 2010, he and his Online II class launched The Red Line Project, a community news website that focuses on neighborhoods along Chicago’s Red Line El stops. Students in his other classes continue to update the site. The site won three SPJ Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky) awards in its first few months.

Mike also serves as DePaul's SPJ faculty adviser. The student group, which has 59 members, was named DePaul’s Most Outstanding Student Organization in its first year. It was chosen from more than 225 student groups on DePaul’s campus.

Robyn Davis Sekula

Robyn Davis Sekula is a Twitter addict (@itsRobynwithay), iPhone-a-holic, music junkie, writer, blogger and social media consultant. She has long been active in SPJ, first joining while in college at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and more recently serving on the board of the Louisville Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She spent most of her pre-freelance career as a newspaper reporter, working as a crime and courts reporter in North Carolina, a business editor in Missouri and as a reporter at Business First in Louisville. She now primarily consults with organizations and business in public relations. She counts among her clients Asher Agency in Fort Wayne, Ind., restaurant group Eddie Merlot’s, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, a law firm in Bowling Green, Ky., and several non-profits. Sekula writes advertising, brochure and web site copy, press releases and manages Twitter feeds and Facebook pages for her social media clients. She also writes editorial pieces for magazines and blogs. You can find her web site at www.robyndavissekula.com. If you want to get her attention, show her a new gadget.

Jeff South

Jeff South is an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he joined the faculty in 1997 under the mistaken impression he’d have summers off. Before moving into academia, he was a reporter and editor on newspapers in Texas, Arizona and Virginia.

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