Chris Lee, executive vice president and publisher for the Deseret News (Salt Lake City), will address upheavals in consumption, costs and culture of the news industry during the HSPA and HSPA Foundation Annual Meetings.
Lee’s presentation during the event Feb. 16-17 in Indianapolis will include a focus on ideas for cost reductions.
Other features of the annual event include the Legislators’ Luncheon, the Governor’s Reception, free hotel accommodations on Feb. 16 (one per paper) and reduced registration rates.
Annual Meetings & Government Conference
When: Thursday-Friday, Feb. 16-17
Where: Indianapolis Marriott Downtown
Registration: Click here to download a form to fax or register online.
Hotel reservations and information: Shawn Goldsby, sgoldsby@hspa.com or (317) 803-4772
Newspapers have received registration information by mail.
Note the change to a Thursday-Friday format at the request of publishers who had conflicts with the event’s previous Wednesday-Thursday schedule.
Publishers can register to attend the conference at a reduced rate of $175 if they sign up by Jan. 20. Fees increase after that date.
Each HSPA-member newspaper receives one free night’s hotel stay (Feb. 16 only) at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, where the Annual Meetings will be held.
Lee, a Harvard Business School graduate with a
master’s degree in business administration, previously was chairman and chief executive officer at Heritage Makers, a marketer of web-to-print personalized photo products.
From its launch in 2005 through 2010, Heritage Makers was one of the fastest-growing companies in America, listed among the Inc 500 in 2009.
Previously, Lee was director of new business development for Ancestry.com, from 2004 to 2005, and director of product management for MyFamily.com, a unit of Ancestry focused on building a social network for families, from 1999 to 2002.
During his tenure, MyFamily.com was honored by PC Magazine and Fast Company as one of the best websites for families.
From 1994 to 1997, Lee was a management consultant for Monitor Company in Cambridge, Mass., where he worked with clients in the telecommunications other industries.
Other speakers include Daniel Byron of Indianapolis law firm Bingham Greenebaum Doll, who will address libel; Tonda Rush, chief executive officer of the National Newspaper Association, who will speak about postal changes affecting newspapers via Skype; and Stephen Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, who will update publishers on state legislative issues affecting newspapers.
Indiana publishers including Henry Bird (CNHI), Karen Crotchfelt (Star Media), Brandon Erlacher (The Elkhart Truth) and Terry Housholder (KPC Media Group) will take part in a panel discussion on actions they plan to take in the next five to 10 years to position their papers for greater success.
Roundtable sessions designed to facilitate idea sharing will culminate in an iPad 2 giveaway for the owner of the best idea.
Facilitators will be Indiana publishers Patrick Lanman (Vevay Newspapers Inc.), Randy List (Rust Communications), Jon O’Bannon (O’Bannon Publishing Co. Inc.), Bird and Tina West (The Courier-Times in New Castle).
The meetings will also include information on Media Sales Basics, a web-based advertising training program available free for HSPA-member newspapers in 2012.
Publishers should plan to invite their state representatives and senators to the Legislative Luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 16, when HSPA presents the Frank O’Bannon Sunshine Award.
HSPA will provide invitations for newspapers to send lawmakers.
The Distinguished Service Award honoree will receive the traditional winner’s cup at the Governor’s Reception Thursday, Feb. 16.
For more information about the event, contact HSPA at sgoldsby@hspa.com or (317) 807-4772.
