Annual NPA convention
2010 convention held in Pahrump Sept. 17-18
Go here for a roundup of the 2010 Better Newspaper Contest awards. The 2011 convention will be held in Virginia City the weekend of Oct. 14-15. Check here for information on the 2011 contest. The videos below are of the First Amendment Champion presentation to Gary Peck and the Hall of Fame induction of A.D. Hopkins.
Virginia City, October 14-15, 2011
Until next year ... (when we’ll be in Las Vegas)
We had an excellent turnout (about 150 people) for the annual Nevada Press Association convention in historic Virginia City.
It began with a reception Friday evening, Oct. 14, at the Red Dog Saloon.
On Saturday morning, a tour of the unique Fourth Ward School followed the general membership meeting.
Then we went for a short ride on the world-famous Virginia & Truckee Railroad including a barbecue lunch.
The awards banquet was held in Piper’s Opera House, with Trevor Hayes serving as emcee.
Check out the short video of our train ride at left.
If you’d like to see the award results, go to the Awards Page.
If you’re looking for 2012 contest rules, they will be updated in early April. The rules on the Contest Page are last year’s.
Piper’s Opera House
Looking north on C Street, Virginia City’s main road (and its only traffic signal)
Lobby of the Silverland Inn
The Corner Bar at Piper’s
The stage at Piper’s. That’s the bard himself on the ceiling.
Fourth Ward School
Piper’s Opera House circa 1940
The Virginia & Truckee Railroad, which runs between Virginia City and the outskirts of Carson City.
* We strongly urge you to spend the night in Virginia City. The highway between VC and Reno — called Geiger Grade — is only about 13 miles, but it is a winding, narrow road that can be harrowing at night even for drivers familiar with its turns.
The highway to Carson City, while not nearly as twisty, is also better traveled in daylight.
It is important that everyone have a safe and uneventful visit.
Click above for a pdf of the brochure or click below for a word version of the registration form.
Schedule
Friday, Oct. 14
Noon, Cafe del Rio — NPA board meeting
5:30 p.m., Red Dog Saloon — Opening reception
Saturday, Oct. 15
8 a.m., Fourth Ward School — Continental breakfast
8:30 a.m., Fourth Ward School — General membership meeting of the Nevada Press Association, election of officers, 2012 convention site selection, other business
11 a.m., Fourth Ward School — Tour, including the Mark Twain-era print shop
Noon, V&T Railroad Station — Ride the V&T Railroad to lunch
6 p.m., Piper’s Opera House — Reception, sponsored by MediaSpan Group
6:30 p.m., Piper’s Opera House— Awards Banquet, Hall of Fame Induction, AP Staffer of the Year
Holden featured speaker at banquet
Ben Holden, former reporter for The Wall Street Journal who is now director of the Reynolds National Center for Courts and Media, was the featured speaker at the annual NPA awards banquet on Oct. 15 in Virginia City. He gave us an insightful talk on the distrust between judges and reporters.
A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the University of California, Berkeley, law school, Holden practiced law with one of the Bay Area's top media-law firms. He was deputy managing editor of the Desert Sun in Palm Springs and senior editor for business and sports at the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Before returning to Reno to take the reins of the National Center for Courts and Media, Holden was executive editor of the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer for more than five years. At The Wall Street Journal, a story on which he shared a byline — about jury nullification in the 1995 O.J. Simpson double-murder trial — was nominated by the Journal for a Pulitzer Prize.
The Reynolds Center for Courts and Media is affiliated with both the National Judicial College and the School of Journalism at the University of Nevada. It provides research and scholarship on the conflicts between First- and Sixth-amendment freedoms. among other press and legal issues.