Upcoming Workshops & Events
Jan. 30, 2020 | 2 - 3 p.m.
Webinar: Classifieds 2020
The best new ideas to bring your Classifieds back to life! Why is it some papers are thriving with pages of Auto display, while others aren’t? Why do some papers have giant real estate sections or monthly tabs? Why are some papers booming in employment display? Why do some papers have pages of Service Directory ads while others have just a handful? Why is your classified revenue still going down while other papers are thriving? If you want YOUR classifieds to survive 2020, then this webinar will set you in the right direction.
Meet the trainer: Janet DeGeorge first started her newspaper career at the San Jose Mercury News over 20 years ago. She is a graduate of San Jose University with a degree in advertising and marketing and has completed all course work towards a master’s of science in mass communications. DeGeorge is a former vice president of the Western Classified Advertising Association, a key speaker at regional and national advertising conferences and has produced numerous articles and webinars regarding classified advertising. DeGeorge has been president of Classified Executive Training & Consulting since 2001. She specializes in classified sales training for sales reps and new managers, outbound sales training and the redesigns of print and online products and rate packages to uncover new revenue sources.
The cost to attend is $35.
Feb. 5, 2020 | By 5:00 p.m.
SCPA News Contest Winners Announced for Proofing
SCPA Offices | Columbia, SC
The winners of the SCPA’s annual news contest will be announced to members on Feb. 5, 2020 by 5:00 p.m. strictly for the purposes of proofing names.
Papers cannot officially release the winners on your social media accounts or your website until a later date.
Feb. 21, 2020 | 2 - 3 p.m.
Webinar: Time Management Tips of Media Sales Superstars
Where did the day go? This is a question we all ask. Ad sales expert Ryan Dohrn will share his top 10 time management tools that will help you boost your personal productivity by 35% in just one week! This is one of Ryan’s most popular workshops! From creating call zones to time-saving email templates, to making better use of your CRM tools – learn expert and well-tested tips to reclaim eight hours every week and win more business faster.
Meet the trainer: Ryan Dohrn is the host of the #1 iTunes advertising sales podcast Ad Sales Nation and has trained over 6,000 media sales people in seven countries. His 25-year media career spans newspapers, consumer, B2B, traditional, and digital media brands from Disney to PennWell. He is also the founder of Brain Swell Media, an international sales motivational keynote speaker, an Emmy Award winner, best-selling book author, and he still sells media today.
The cost to attend is $35.
March 5, 2020 | 2 - 3 p.m.
Webinar: People-Powered Journalism: Engagement Best Practices Around Elections and More
What are best practices around engagement journalism, and how can it inform elections coverage? In this webinar, Bridget Thoreson of media consultancy Hearken will share lessons learned from their partnerships with more than 250 organizations, including 50 newsroom projects specifically focused on elections coverage. This will include a detailed look at the Citizens Agenda, a model for campaign coverage that puts the public’s information needs at the heart of election reporting.
Meet the trainer: Bridget Thoreson has worked with 48 news organizations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. on public-powering their journalism, mapping audience engagement best practices to editorial projects and the business’ bottom line. She previously worked as an audience development specialist for eight digital and print brands at a magazine publisher and spent seven years as a reporter and editor at a daily community newspaper. She’s a co-author of “The Citizens Agenda,” a guide to generate more inclusive and responsive news coverage for voters, published ahead of the 2020 U.S. election.
The cost to attend is $35.
March 6, 2020
SCPA Foundation Internship & Scholarship Deadline
SCPA Offices | Columbia, SC
The deadline to apply for the SCPA Foundation Internship & Scholarship program is March 6, 2020. This deadline is for both, our 2020 internship program and the 2020 Mundy Scholarship.
Interns are placed with a member newspaper in South Carolina for eight weeks and will earn $400 per week. This is an opportunity to gain real-world experience and training with newspapers working to tell powerful stories. This opportunity can also usually be used to qualify for class credit as well.
The 2020 Mundy Scholarship is awarded annually to a student pursuing a career in the newspaper industry. It’s worth $3,000 per academic year.
Other scholarships are open to student journalists who attend a four-year college in South Carolina or who reside in South Carolina and attend a four-year college elsewhere. Rising juniors and seniors are eligible to apply.
Clicking the button below will take you to the page where you can find more information about both as well as the application.
March 8-14, 2020
Sunshine Week
Sunshine Week, an annual nationwide celebration of access to public information and what it means for you and your community, will take place March 8-14, 2020.
March 20-21, 2020
SCPA Annual Meeting & Awards
The Marina Inn at Grande Dunes | Myrtle Beach, SC
You don’t want to miss seeing more than 300 of your friends at the 2020 Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation! The Annual Meeting will feature educational sessions, networking events and more in our jam-packed schedule, plus hundreds of awards to present!
This event will feature programming for SCPA’s professional and collegiate members.
All sessions and networking events are free and open to all SCPA members. Tickets are required for meal functions.
Meeting registration and schedule of events coming soon!
Event Sponsorship:
If you love South Carolina’s newspaper industry, please consider sponsoring the 2020 Annual Meeting and Awards! The Annual Meeting is the best way to connect with the Palmetto State’s newspaper industry. Find out more and sign on as a sponsor.
Hotel Info:
The Marina Inn is offering a discounted rate of $124 for SCPA Annual Meeting attendees until March 6, or earlier, if our block sells out. We highly encourage you to book well in advance of the March 6 cutoff!
To make a reservation, call the hotel at (843) 913-1333 or make your reservation online. Here’s the Marina Inn’s main website for details about the hotel. Attendees will need to use this portal to book using the discounted group rate. Enter “SC PRESS” into the group code and password fields to get the discounted rate.
If you are booking multiple rooms, it may be easier to reach out to Ashley Schildkraut, group reservations coordinator, at (843) 913-284 or ashley@marinainngrandedunes.com.
March 30 - April 1, 2020
America East News Media Summit
Hershey Lodge & Convention Center | Hershey, PA
SCPA members are invited to attend the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s America East News Media Summit. This convention offers a full slate of engaging educational sessions scheduled that are targeted to editorial, advertising, management and production personnel. Noteworthy speakers will present valuable information on a variety of topics, including:
- How to Generate More Advertising Revenue through Contests and Promotions
- Understanding, Interpreting and Utilizing Data to Produce More Engaging Stories
- How to Find, Train, and Retain Great Salespeople!
- Website Security and Compliance – Important tips to keep your organization protected
- Effectively Managing the Trauma that Comes from Reporting on Trauma
March 31, 2020 | 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
SCPA Foundation Board Meeting
SCPA Offices | Columbia, SC
The SCPA Foundation will have a meeting on March 31, 2020.
April 2-4, 2020
MACMA/SCMA Clear Vision Conference
Hilton Garden Inn | Charlotte, NC
SCPA members are invited to attend MACMA and SCMA’s annual conference. This joint effort will be one of the largest gatherings of circulation and marketing newspaper executives in the Southeast. The Southern Circulation Managers Association (SCMA) is a non-profit professional organization serving newspaper executives for Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The Mid-Atlantic Circulation Managers Association (MACMA) is a non-profit professional organization serving newspaper executives for Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Both organizations strive to improve the newspaper industry by focusing on the promotion of professional business services, better business methods and the encouragement of familiarity, assistance, cooperation and uniformity through the exchange of ideas and assistance between members.
Contests & Awards
SCPA recognizes the best in South Carolina journalism through our annual contests. Our prestigious awards programs are open to SCPA members only. Each year, nearly 4,000 entries are received in SCPA’s News, Advertising and Collegiate Contests.
- Our annual News Contest recognizes excellence in daily and weekly newspaper journalism. We also have an Associate and Individual member division, and a Collegiate Contest. The deadline for the 2019 contest has passed. Awards will be presented at the SCPA Annual Meeting on March 21, 2020. The 2020 contest will open in Oct. 2020.
- The PALMY Advertising Awards recognize the Palmetto State’s best, brightest and most enterprising advertising professionals and advertisers, and the impact they have made in their communities! Here are the 2019 contest winners! The entry period and deadline for the 2020 contest will be in summer 2020.
Other Training Opportunities
- SCPA members can attend Local Media Association webinars for $29 because our state is a Media Association Partner. Check out LMA’s webinar offerings.
- Poynter’s News University offers more than 100 interactive on-demand journalism courses. Several courses are free thanks to grant funding.