Category: Annual Conference

News about our annual conference – check back for updates!

Mercer’s Collaborative Journalism Gets Times Profile

Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University

A major highlight of this year’s columnists conference, “Macon Whoopee,” was a first-hand accounting of the creation of the Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University in the Georgia city. Word is spreading on how Mercer’s journalism and media studies department now is in the same building cluster on campus as Macon’s daily Telegraph newsroom…

Columns about the Macon Conference

Macon, Georgia

Participants in the 2012 annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnist are publishing columns and blogs about the weekend in Macon, Ga. Here are links to them. Contact us to submit your pieces; we will update this list. Samantha Bennett, Macon Telegraph, “Time to salute?” Bill Campbell’s Emerald Coast, “Her ‘Graciousness’ and some…

The Gifts of Will Rogers

Editor’s note: Mike Masterson published this column on May 5, the day he received the 2012 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. He read this column during his thank-you at the awards banquet of its 36th annual conference, in Macon, Ga. By Mike Masterson Copyright © 2012 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The late…

Columnists Find Doubletalk a Payne

MACON, Ga. — Georgia-based entertainer Durwood “Mr. Doubletalk” Fincher punk’d participants at the 36th annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists on the event’s first day, Friday, May 4, 2012. Posing as his character Dr. Robert Payne, a vaguely credentialed academic/Washington consultant, Fincher stationed himself and a videographer in a room near the…

Highlights of Conference – Day 2

The second day of the NSNC conference opened with breakfast in the beautiful Magnolia Room of the Macon Marriott where columnists heard from humorist speaker, author, and columnist Lauretta Hannon, the Cracker Queen, who told about her childhood and how she has overcome adversity and poverty with a sense of humor and a memoir about…

Macon Conference Opens

NSNC conference, Macon 2012

President Ben Pollock welcomed NSNC conferees, guests, speakers, honorees, newcomers and returnees to the 36th annual NSNC conference. President Pollock said, “…this is our first visit to the Deep South. As a third-and-fourth generation Arkansan, I proudly say, ‘It’s high cotton.’” A wide range of activities have been planned by host, Ed Grisamore — too…

E-Books and the Future of Print

Laptops, smartphones, tablets, ebook readers etc.

May in Macon, the 36th annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, has added a session on electronic books to its schedule. 2-2:45 p.m., Friday, May 4, 2012 — Turning the Page: E-Books and the Future of Print, with David Cassady, president of Faithlab, and Marc Jolley, director of Mercer University Press. David…

Register Now for the May in Macon Conference

By Ed Grisamore, NSNC Conference Chair REGISTER NOW: Registration is open for the 36th annual Conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in Macon, Ga., May 3-6, 2012. “Macon Whoopee” is the theme for this year’s conference, our first in the Old South. We’ll meet and mingle with New York Times columnist Gail Collins…

Lauretta Hannon, The Cracker Queen, May 5th, NSNC Conference

– APPEARING SATURDAY, MAY 5th – NSNC Conference– Macon, Georgia – Thanks to Lauretta Hannon, the Cracker Queens are finally having their say. From her wildly popular NPR segments to her boisterous one-woman show, Lauretta is showing the world a different kind of girl raised in the South—a strong, authentic, fearless, flawed, resourceful, and sometimes…

Auction Update – Be on TV with Nancy Grace

View from Serenity Cabin at Howe Sound, British Columbia

UPDATE Additional item for silent auction donated by Nancy Grace: Tour of CNN and appearance on TV with Nancy Grace. Highest bidder in spirited bidding was Cappy Hall Rearick www.simplysoutherncappy.com whose high bid bought her a priceless opportunity. It pays to show up at NSNC events as you never know what opportunity might present itself. By Eric Heyl…

Contest Finalists for 2012

trophies image

By Mike Deupree NSNC Contest Chair The annual writing contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists is over. The judges have labored long and hard. The decisions have been made. And the winners are … Going to be announced in about a month. The suspense won’t end until the awards banquet Saturday, May 5,…

Macon Whoopee! NSNC 36th Annual Conference May 3 – 6

Nancy Grace Love her or hate her, your readers know Nancy Grace. They know her as the outspoken legal analyst on CNN’s Headline News and ABC’s Good Morning America … or as a gritty competitor on last season’s “Dancing With the Stars” series. – You’ll get to meet her and judge for yourself when you…

Macon, GA – NSNC Conference 2012!

It’s cherry blossom time in Macon, Ga. We lay claim to being the cherry blossom capital of the universe and the city’s more than 300,000 flowering Yoshino cherry trees are in all their glory for the 30th annual International Cherry Blossom Festival. We call it the “Pinkest Party on Earth!” Macon is the prettiest place…

Humor and Politics Mix at Macon

I Love Macon

By Ed Grisamore The (Macon) Telegraph NSNC 2012 Conference Chair Column writers attending the 36th annual NSNC Conference in Macon, Ga., May 3-6 will find a lively mix of humor and politics, served up Southern style A special guest will be Dedra Grizzard, widow of the late, great humorist Lewis Grizzard. She is expected to…