
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
We’re back in person for the first time in three years.
Join us in Anchorage April 20-22, 2023 for speakers, skill building and networking, capped with a keynote by NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe. Don’t forget Press Club membership gets you access to the conference and other Alaska Press Club professional development events.
PRESENTERS COMING TO ANCHORAGE
- Lane DeGregory, Tampa Bay Times enterprise reporter
- Joseph Huerta, King 5 News content creator out of Seattle
- Charles Ornstein, ProPublica managing editor overseeing local initiatives including Alaska projects
- Francine Orr, Los Angeles Times photographer
- John Sharify, Atwood Chair of Journalism
- Lynne Snifka, Snedden Chair of Journalism
CONFERENCE PARTNERS
- Atwood Foundation through the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism Fund
- Alaska Public Media
- University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Journalism and Public Communications
- Rasmuson Foundation
- Alaska Community Foundation Strengthening Organizations Fund
- The Northern Light
- KRUA 88.1 FM The Edge
- Alaska Teen Media Institute
- Anchorage Museum SEED Lab
JOIN US ONLINE BEFORE THE CONFERENCE
We’ll first kick off Journalism Month in Alaska by hosting three online professional development opportunities. Register for these three online sessions and don’t forget your Press Club membership.
March 30 at 8 a.m. | BUILDING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS FOR THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
Host: Andrew Kitchenman, Alaska Beacon
Guest: Mark Trahant, ICT
ICT has had a remarkable path forward from where it was five years ago. It went out of business. Resurfaced. And its growth as a nonprofit since then has been phenomenal. Five years ago, the total budget was under $300,000. Today, ICT is well north of $5 million. It went from three employees to more than 40 employees in nine bureaus across North America. Mark Trahant will talk about what ICT has done and share lessons learned along the way.
April 6 at 8 a.m. | MANAGING THE MESS
Host: Angela Denning, CoastAlaska
Guest: Colleen Kimmett, Google News Lab
How to store and analyze stacks of documents through Google News Lab’s free Pinpoint program. Teaching fellow Colleen Kimmett walks us through best practices.
April 13 at 8 a.m. | BUT IS IT A PODCAST?
Host: Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News
Guest: Courtney Harrell, Pineapple Street Studios
You have a story or topic you suspect would make a great podcast series. Narrative podcast producer Courtney Harrell of Pineapple Street Studios talks about the elements that make a series work – or not. Harrell has produced some of the most successful audio documentaries of the past decade, including the Peabody-nominated series Running from COPS and 9/12, which was a finalist for the Dupont Award. She also worked with Anchorage Daily News reporter Michelle Theriault Boots developing a podcast series focused on a recent Alaska political scandal that ultimately didn’t work – and they’ll discuss why.
HOTEL
Aloft Anchorage ($129 per night)
310 West 36th Avenue Anchorage, Alaska 99503
- Start Date: Thursday, April 20, 2023
- End Date: Sunday, April 23, 2023
- Last Day to Book: Monday, March 20, 2023
Book your group rate for “Gather” Alaska Press Club Conference 2023
FLIGHTS
We have a code for a 7% discount on Alaska Airlines flights to and from the Alaska Press Club conference.
It is valid for flights from any Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air US city (excluding Prudhoe Bay, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico or Central America) to Anchorage between April 13 and April 27.
Email alaskapressclubinfo@gmail.com or ask a board member for the code. We’ll also send it out in our member newsletters via email.
PARKING
Parking at the Willow Lot is FREE on Fridays.

KEYNOTE

QUICK LOOK
Thursday, April 20 – Radio Day and reception at Alaska Public Media.
Friday, April 21 – All Media at UAA Department of Residence Life Gorsuch Commons.
Friday night, April 21 – Press Party at the SEED Lab .
Saturday, April 22 – All Media at UAA Rasmuson Hall.
Saturday night, April 22 – Thompson & Co. cocktail hour, awards celebration and dancing at The Nave in Spenard. | Tickets!
MEMBERSHIP
Members have full access to the Alaska Press Club Conference.
EMAIL UPDATES
AWARDS CELEBRATION
Join us at The Nave in Spenard!
April 22, 2022 at 6 p.m.


Quick facts about 2023 travel scholarships:
- 29 scholarships given, including one that will cover up to eight UAF students taking a bus from Fairbanks to the 2023 Alaska Press Club conference, so a total of as many as 36 attendees received awards.
- Ten attendees have come to the Press Club Conference before, while the rest have not.
- Recipients come from all corners of the state, including Unalaska, Kotzebue, Nome, Ketchikan and Haines, from which two people plan to take ferries and overnight in Juneau before flying to Anchorage.
- This was made possible with funding from Atwood Foundation via the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism Fund, from Alaska Community Foundation through the Strengthening Organizations Fund and through individual contributions such as memberships, contest entries and general donations.