Time for conference camaraderie, fun

It’s the time of year for people in the newspaper industry to come together for camaraderie, education, information and fun.  It’s time to sign up for your favorite press association conferences.

By LISA CHAPPELL, 2025-26 TPA President

Why limit yourself to just one or even two?  Branch out this year and attend a convention that you’ve never attended — even one held by an association that you haven’t joined.  You may just meet fascinating new people who will become lifelong friends.  And guess what: you’ll have fun, I guarantee it.

Many of us look forward to getting together this time of year.  If you’ve never attended one of these gatherings, then you’re missing out!  Don’t wait any longer, sign up for at least one this year.  Go ahead and dip your toes in, I promise you’ll be glad you did.

Here’s a list of upcoming press association conventions:

March 19-20: Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) convention in Denton. TIPA is the statewide association of two- and four-year college newsrooms in Texas. To register go to Texasipa.org.

March 30-April 1: America’s Newspapers Mega-Conference in Austin. To register go to mega-conference.com. 

April 9-11: North & East Texas Press Convention at the Lone Star Lodge & Marina in Pilot Point. To register go to netpa.org.

April 16-18: Joint Convention of the Texas Gulf Coast Press and South Texas Press Associations in Port Lavaca. To register go to txgulfcoastpress.com or southtexaspress.com.

June 18-20: Texas Press Association Convention and Trade Show at the DFW Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas. To register go to texaspress.com. 

July 17-18: Panhandle Press Association Convention in Hereford. To register go the the Panhandle Press Association Facebook page. 

And go ahead and put this one on your calendar now — the 2027 TPA Convention and Trade Show. It will be June 17-19, 2027, at the Hilton in College Station.

The 2026 TPA Convention will be held at the Hyatt inside of DFW.  Now, before you think that is strange, we’ve held it there previously and it is a beautiful and very nice hotel. 

You won’t have to pay for parking, which is a plus. As always, Mike and team have planned a great convention with an agenda to keep us busy, informed and educated — and with extra time to socialize.  

Friday night will be our off-site event with a visit to the American Airlines CR Smith Flight Museum. Don’t miss it.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and register today for some of these fantastic conferences. Then get to packing. I’ll see you there!