By Layne Bruce
The remarkable speed at which vaccines were developed in late 2020 and early 2021 was truly a wonder of modern science, but when most of us were getting our first doses last year we probably thought a return to normal was much closer than it turned out to be.
At the Association, we were able to pull off a summer convention in July 2021 — albeit it smaller with a more condensed agenda — that fell into the “sweet spot” before the emergence of the Delta variant of Covid again put a clamp on in-person events. Going into the holidays of 2021, it appeared we’d be able to host our annual Mid-Winter Conference in conjunction with the annual Foundation Celebrity Roast and McDavid student media conference in person during January.
Then the aggressive Omicron variant emerged and quickly upended all plans for the first quarter of 2022.
Those three major Association and Foundation events were all supposed to happen on the dates of Jan. 20-22. But Mid-Winter ended up being delayed a month; McDavid was rescheduled for March; and the Roast of Sen. Roger Wicker landed in late April to accommodate his schedule.
To put it simply, we’ve become experts at “rolling with it.”
The Wicker Roast, though three months delayed, was particularly gratifying to pull off. It raised enough money to cover the budget for the annual MPA Education Foundation Intern program, and the whole evening was fun and lively for the honoree and for Association members and the public who attended.
If you weren’t able to join us, you can view a replay of the roast here.
Now we turn our attention to other upcoming events important to the Association and our members.
AFTER A COUPLE of Covid-related false starts, our plan to host a series of Community Forums across the state is back on the front burner.
The first of these is planned for June 8 in Cleveland and will be hosted in conjunction with the Bolivar Bullet. The second is a day later in Tupelo hosted with the Daily Journal team.
These forums will focus on a local topic and seek to position newspaper media as the trusted platform for the discussion of important community issues. MPA’s involvement is part of a national coalition called the Relevance Project, founded in 2020 to help strengthen the image of local newspaper media and help them reinforce their franchise’s role in the “town square.”
You can read more about the Community Forum concept here. It’s spearheaded by Tom Silvestri, executive director of the Relevance Project and the retired longtime publisher of the Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch. Tom is acting as a coach for local papers who are bringing the concept to their communities.
Whether these forums draw 20 people or 200 to attend, they’re a vital step in helping newspaper media preserve their local franchise and promote them as critical in discussion of community issues.
SOON AFTER THE June forums, we’ll gather in Memphis for our first Tri-State Press Convention since 2010. We are fortunate to be working again with the Arkansas and Tennessee press associations to build a strong agenda that will include beneficial programs focused on industry tropics with a large representation of newspaper media partners and vendors on hand.
Such leading industry speakers as Kelly Wirges, Russell Viers, and Bill Ostendorf will present programs on topics such as newspaper marketing and branding, freedom of information, and the latest technology.
Registration for the event is now open, as is the room block at the host hotel, the Sheraton Memphis Downtown.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Layne Bruce is executive director of the Mississippi Press Association. His email address is lbruce@mspress.org.
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