Convergence '10: Only Two Weeks Left To Guarantee Discounted Hotel Rooms
DURHAM, NC (June 1, 2010) – There are only two weeks left to guarantee a hotel room at the special discounted rate for the National Press Photographers Association's Convergence '10, NPPA executive director Jim Straight said today, urging members and attendees to make their arrangements now.
After June 14 there may still be rooms available, but NPPA and the Francis Marion Hotel cannot guarantee space or the special pricing provided for Convergence '10 attendees after that date.
NPPA's Convergence '10 will be held in the historic port city of Charleston, SC, from July 8-10, 2010, and the presentations, panels, and speakers' topics will range from freelance business practices and equipment selection to video editing software and finding successful niche markets.
Online registration for Convergence '10 is now available.
The first 75 people who go online and register for Convergence '10 will automatically be entered into a drawing for a free Apple iPad.
Those who have already registered for the event are included in the first 75, Straight said, and the drawing for the free 16GB Wi-Fi version of the iPad will be done at the event in July.
"You must still be registered at the time of the event to win the iPad," Straight said. "Anyone seeking a refund before the event will lose eligibility for the drawing."
NPPA also announced that Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post, whose two-year essay "Ian Fisher: American Soldier" won the Feature Photography Pulitzer Prize in May, has joined the impressive line-up of the visual journalism industry's leaders who will be speaking at Convergence '10.
“Convergence 10 chairman Mark Johnson has put together a great line-up of speakers and topics for this year’s Convergence,” NPPA executive director Straight told News Photographer magazine. “We learned last year that the more practical the topic, the more popular it was with the audience, and Mark has kept that tradition going."
Johnson was very pleased to announce Walker's addition to the speaking line-up today. "I've gone through the 'American Soldier' story about a dozen times now and every time I see something new," Johnson said. "There's a clarity to the storyline that is stunning, there's a visual richness that inspires me. And there's a demonstration of the power and importance of in-depth, locally-centered visual journalism that is impossible to deny. Walker's illustration of Fisher's odyssey is a brilliant example of how to bring an international story home and make it resonate. I, personally, can't wait to sit and listen, to learn how this story came to be and how he and his colleagues presented it in such a compelling manner."
Straight said that adding Walker to the line-up complements a great program that's already in the works thanks to event chair Johnson.
"He's brought in Scott Mc Kiernan of ZUMA Press to talk about freelance multimedia projects, and Garret Hubbard from USA Today will be covering these topics: making the choice between using a DSLR and a standard video camera; how to conduct – on your own – an interview with impact; and writing a focus statement and what it will do for your shooting and editing. Joie Chen of Branded News will talk about new niche markets and alternative outlets for your work, and CNN's director of coverage, Stacia Deshishku will speak about how to dispatch resources when news breaks.”
“We will also have a certified Apple trainer, Jim Biddle, doing hours of Final Cut Pro sessions," Straight said. "He will be covering the topics of Color, Soundtrack, and Compressor. Try to find that kind of training elsewhere at our admission price!"
And if it is editing you are interested in, award-winning video editor Shawn Montano will follow-up Biddle's sessions with his own presentation about the art and theory of editing in Final Cut Pro.
"And what's really exciting is that all of these great minds, along with other faculty like freelancer Todd Baer of Al Jazeera, NPPA vice president Sean D. Elliot of The Day, and business practice expert Stan Leary have agreed to participate in an opening panel discussion on the current state, and future, of our industry.”
“There are so many more topics we have to announce," Straight said. "We will have sessions on free and cheap tools to ease your workflow, how to measure success and progress based on metrics, today's multimedia newsrooms, succeeding financially in the new realities of our business, how to practice search engine optimization, delivering content on mobile devices, pitching multimedia to corporate clients, one-man-band reporting, and how to work for alternative outlets.”
Convergence '10 will be held July 8, 9, and 10 at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, SC. For travel planning, the educational portion of the event will open at 8 a.m. EST on July 8 and will conclude at 6 p.m. on July 10. The annual awards reception will be held on July 10 after the education portion of the meeting ends. Also going on during the entire weekend will be a shoot-out contest with prizes, and individual portfolio reviews.
Special hotel rates at the Francis Marion Hotel (www.francismarionhotel.com) will also be offered to attendees for a limited time and these will be available on the Convergence '10 Web page, Straight said. "In an effort to make this as affordable as possible for people to attend, given the challenging economic climate, NPPA also announced that the workshop price will remain the same as 2009. This is only possible through the generous support of our Convergence '10 sponsors, Canon and Nikon."
NPPA's Convergence '10 is officially sponsored by Canon and Nikon. For more information, please see www.nppa.org/convergence.
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