Jam-packed session includes FREE Kings game the night before

By MICHAEL ANASTASI
Chair, West Region
Managing Editor/Sports, Features, Copy Desks & Photography, Salt Lake Tribune

Story posted on Oct. 7, 2008

An action-packed schedule has been finalized for the West Region's annual meeting, set for Monday, Nov. 10 in Sacramento at the offices of the Sacramento Bee.

The session is open to members, non-members (college students are particularly encouraged to attend) as well as members from outside the region. The $15 registration fee ($20 after Nov. 3) includes lunch and will be waived for non-APSE members who join the organization by Oct. 31.

In addition to Monday's full day of seminars, a social will take place Sunday, courtesy of our host paper, the Sacramento Bee. There will be a limited number of tickets for the Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors game at ARCO Arena beginning at 6 p.m. There is no charge.

The region has reserved a number of rooms at a new Fairfield Inn located near the Bee, 1780 Tribute Road. To register, go to:

https://www.marriott.com/reservation/
availability.mi?propertyCode=SACXP

Enter the code SACSACA in the group field. The special APSE rate is $79. The hotel provides a free breakfast. The hotel registration deadline is Oct. 20.

The regional has been set up to allow same-day travel. For those flying, there will be an APSE courtesy shuttle from the meeting to the airport. Details for arrivals are forthcoming.

To register, e-mail Michael Anastasi (manastasi@sltrib.com). You may pay the day of (no cash please; write checks to APSE). You will receive the $15 rate as long as you register by Nov. 3. In your registration e-mail, please provide your arrival information (we'll do our best to provide transportation) and whether you're attending the basketball game.

Schedule for Nov. 10 West Region meeting

■ 9:15 a.m.: Arrival and Late Registration

■ 9:30 a.m.: Greetings and introductions

Moderator: Michael Anastasi of The Salt Lake Tribune and chair of the West Region

■ 9:35 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Individual Web site critiques with Al Toby of Yahoo! Sports.

Schedule a 20-minute session with a member of one of the nation's premier sports Web sites. The focus will be on constructive criticism and practice advice that will get your site to the next level, no matter what level you're at now.

E-mail Anastasi (manastasi@sltrib.com) by Oct. 24 if interested.

You'll be scheduled in advance.

■ 9:35 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Individual sports section critiques with Randy Harvey of the Los Angeles Times Schedule a 20-minute session with the editor of a perennial Top 10 section. Whether you work for a large metro like Harvey does now, the smallest daily, like he used to, or something in between, the focus will be on constructive criticism and practical advice that will get your section to the next level, no matter what level you're at now.

E-mail Anastasi (manastasi@sltrib.com) by Oct. 24 if interested.

You'll be asked to provide at least three sections, examples of your best work, your worst and something that's solid.

■ 9:35-10:35 a.m.: Prep Enterprise. How to do it regularly and how to do it well Dave Allen of the Marin Independent Journal and Loren Nelson of the North County Times in Escondido explain how you don't have to have the resources of a metro to regularly execute high-caliber enterprise reporting off the high school beat. Why you do it, how you do it, and examples from throughout the region.

■ 10:35-11:35 a.m.: Managing Change: The Management Doctors speak.

Glenn Schwarz of the San Francisco Chronicle, dean of West Region sports editors, and Lisa Carricaburu of The Salt Lake Tribune, an assistant managing editor who has 20 years' newsroom management experience and an MBA, discuss techniques to keep your staff motivated, performing and excited about change, rather than fearing it. Newer managers should find this session particularly useful and are encouraged to bring questions on how to handle real-life challenges from their shops.

■ 11:35 a.m.-12:35 p.m.: What's most important? Making choices in an era of shrinking resources.

Kevin Modesti of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group and Mark Faller of the Arizona Republic lead a discussion on what to do when you can't do it all anymore. Newspapers' tacit promise used to be that we'd cover everything our readers cared about, which in sports meant having a beat writer on every professional and major college team in town. But the loss of resources has forced some editors to curtail or drop beats, signaling a sea change in the way we do business. How to decide what to leave out?

■ 12:35-2 p.m.: Newsmaker luncheon.

Lew Wolff, owner of the Oakland Athletics, and William Neukom, general managing partner of the San Francisco Giants, discuss how they see the future of media coverage of their sport and where the mainstream media fit in.

Moderator: Bill Bradley of the Sacramento Bee

■ 2-3 p.m.: Don't let your Web site suck. Quick ways to Increase traffic Informative, fun, energetic and snarky. Those are the qualities that make good sports Web sites. Al Toby of Yahoo! Sports discusses strategies to make your Web site your community's best sports hub.

Among the topics he'll cover are the importance of using data in making coverage decisions, basic organizational concepts, the hows and whys of RSS feeds, how to use non-staff blogs to your advantage, how to foster reader interaction and how to ensure your prep coverage measures up. Bring your ideas and be prepared to exchange them.

■ 3-4 p.m.: Seven ways the Web is different. And how you can capitalize.

Chuck Scott of the San Diego Union-Tribune begins with a quick, 15-minute rundown of a pre-meeting e-mail survey that provides a snapshot of West Region sports sections and their corresponding Web structures and strategy, including staffing, philosophy, platform and IT resources. He'll then launch into the heart of this session, looking at the several fundamental ways that communicating via the Web is very different than it is in newspapers. Applying print standards in areas such as news judgment, planning, the reporting and writing process or even where you acquire much of your content is not taking full advantage of the online medium. Nor is it fully satisfying the audience. And that can be fatal. Scott looks at key areas where the print content model doesn't work, and how to adapt our thinking to broaden our approach.

■ 4-5 p.m.: 25 (or more) ideas you can steal for your Web site today Lauren Gustus of the Reno Gazette-Journal presents the best innovative traffic drivers that West Region news organizations have to offer.

■ 5 p.m. Adjourn

■ 5:10 p.m. Courtesy shuttle departs Bee for airport

Michael Anastasi is the chair of the West Region. You can reach him at (801) 257-8905 or via e-mail at manastasi@sltrib.com.

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