Get your hands dirty
Spend an extra day in the nation’s biggest city – and attend our smallest sessions.
ProCon offers small-group, hands-on workshops that are as practical as they are personal. Whether it’s shooting video, redesigning your website, or writing grants, our coaches will work with you on practical projects you can take back home.
Our pre-convention workshops are from 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Attendance for each workshop is capped at 10. Sign up when you register for ProCon 25. There’s an extra fee of $75.
Learn-and-win grant-writing workshop
Learn grant writing specifically for news media from someone who’s just won six figures for her own newspaper. Maybe you’ll leave Manhattan with a $500 grant yourself. Details here.
Nicole DeCriscio, Owen County News executive editor
Paper Money: Earn more for your news outlet
Paper Money was a grant-funded program that helped a dozen student newspapers bring in more ad revenue – by 150% at the University of Washington. While we can’t guarantee you that result, we’re confident you’ll go back home and out-earn what you’re doing now. The Paper Money secret? Individual attention and personalized solutions. You’ll get both at this intimate pre-convention workshop.
Paige Ladisic, Flytdesk account director
Crafting content that resonates: Building trust and growing audience like a content creator
In an age of information overload, how your newsroom communicates can be as important as what you communicate. This session explores how to build trust by tailoring your tone, style, and formatting to align with audience expectations while also leveraging personal branding strategies. Designed for journalists who are considering moving from traditional settings to creator journalism, we’ll discuss how to:
- Match your tone to your audience’s needs, balancing professionalism with relatability.
- Use formatting techniques that make your content easy to consume and share, from scannable headlines to engaging visuals.
- Adapt your style while staying authentic to your newsroom’s voice or personal brand.
- Identify your unique value and content focus while choosing the right platform
- Build and maintain trust as you transition to platforms like Substack or YouTube.
You’ll leave with actionable tips to enhance your content’s engagement, credibility, and alignment with your goals as a journalist or independent creator.
Lynn Walsh, Trusting News assistant director
Liz Kelly Nelson, former Vox vice president
Avoid August angst: Prep for student media training now
The No. 1 request on CMA’s listserv is for student media training materials and advice. Some advisers have full websites, detailed manuals and coordinated guest speakers. Many others scramble each year. Wouldn’t it be great to have everything prepared in advance? We’ll discuss the basic elements, needs specific to your organization and how to make training fit the schedule you have. By the end of the day, you’ll have a training curriculum – with exercises – ready to go.
Kelly Messinger, Capital University
Hillary Warren, Otterbein University
ProCon 25 