Convention Calls All To Frederick

Convention Calls All To Frederick

Register today to attend the upcoming MDDC Winter Convention in Frederick featuring top editorial seminars and the annual Editorial Awards Luncheon. Deadline is February 15.

The event will be held Feb. 22 – 23 at the Holiday Inn Conference Center.

The 2001 highlights include USA Today President and Publisher Tom Curley, Baltimore Sun Publisher Mike Waller, and Associated Press Director of Computer-assisted Reporting Frank Bass.

Boisfeuillet Jones, publisher of The Washington Post, will attend the luncheon on behalf of Katharine Graham, former publisher of The Post, who will be inducted in the MDDC Newspaper Hall of Fame.

Curley will discuss "the future of the newspaper business" at the Convention Dinner on Thursday evening. The Friday morning Associate Press program will be led by Bass at 9. He will conduct a seminar on using Census 2000 data in reporting. Waller’s presentation will follow at 10:30 a.m.

A Public Information Act training session has been added following the annual Editorial Awards Luncheon on Friday. Maryland reporters and editors are invited to attend the free 1 ½-hour training session on Maryland’s law governing access to public records, starting at 2:45 p.m.

The Past Presidents’ Reception on Thursday evening will be sponsored by Daishowa Sales Limited. The Associated Press is sponsoring the continental breakfast during the Friday morning editorial seminars.

Friday’s Awards Luncheon will include the presentation of awards to winners in the 2000 Editorial Contest, the "Newspaper of the Year" awards in each of the six circulation divisions, and the presentation of 32 "Best of Show" awards.

The James S. Keat Freedom of Information Award will be presented to a single paper that made the greatest effort to "gain access to public records, pursue open meetings or address other FOI issues" in 2000.

Melissa Robbins, High school Journalist of the Year will be honored at the Awards Luncheon. Robbins, a senior at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, will be presented with a check for $1,500 from the MDDC Press Foundation.

For more information or a registration form, contact the MDDC office at (410) 721-4000 or visit the Association’s Web site at www.mddcpress.com.