2006 Pittsburgh Program Highlights

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60th Annual NCEW Convention

Reinventing America

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
September 13 - 16, 2006
Sheraton Station Square Hotel
(Scroll down for tenative agenda)

Welcome to Reinventing America, the 60th convention of the National Conference of Editorial Writers. And what better place to hold it than Pittsburgh, the city that had to reinvent itself after the departure of Big Steel? This is a conference about change - in our country, in our business, in the way we convey opinions. Reinventing America will challenge NCEW members to rethink, reimagine and reinvent.

From the unorthodox views of former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who pushes the envelope on reforming health care, to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and her advocacy of No Child Left Behind ... from the opening reception on the three rivers, where the sweat of immigrants built a modern city, to the closing performance of "Letters to the Editor," which will revive your commitment to reader access … this is one convention that will leave you feeling, well, unconventional.

We'll hear from author Ruth Reichl on the politics of food, question a homeland-security panel that includes presidential adviser Frances Fragos Townsend and examine the grim prospects of a nation in debt. We'll let political leaders like Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov. Ed Rendell gauge the future of their parties. Teresa Heinz Kerry will explain how philanthropy, more than government, is shaping domestic policy, while news consultant John Oppedahl will help get our opinion operations ready for the future. Along the way, we'll touch the Old World craftsmanship of the University of Pittsburgh Nationality Classrooms, and those on the spouses' tour will visit the tranquility of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and the tragedy of Flight 93's Sept. 11 crash site.

As usual, NCEW members will also have plenty of time to plumb their craft. Thursday will showcase the heart of the convention, with helpful and constructive critique sessions in which you and your peers will evaluate each other's work on (your choice): general opinion pages, writing, Sunday sections, broadcast editorials or Web offerings. (To register, see "Critiques" in this flyer.) We'll also have lively workshops on innovations, editorial crusades and surviving the small shop. Rick Horowitz is organizing this year's "NCEW University," an assortment of quick-hit sessions on tips, tools and techniques, beginning at noon on registration day. There will also be opportunities to sit down and talk shop, especially in our nightly hospitality suite with outdoor terrace overlooking the city skyline.

You'll have free time, too - to soak up the funky atmosphere of the historic, edgy South Side, to enjoy the entertainment scene at adjacent Station Square and to ride the incline to the top of Mount Washington. Even early arrivers will have lots to check out - the Andy Warhol Museum, Phipps Conservatory, PNC Park (where the Pirates will be at home), Carnegie Museum and Art Gallery, nearby Amish country, Fort Necessity National Battlefield and even a remaining steel mill or two. But they, of course, have been reinvented - for survival.

We invite you to do the same. Reassess a few opinions and reexamine a few approaches to your work. Join us in Pittsburgh Sept. 13-16 for Reinventing America.

Tentative Agenda
Schedule subject to change

WEDNESDAY, September 13

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Convention registration

Noon - 4:30 p.m. NCEW University (mini editorial workshops)
Practical tips and trade secrets, open to all NCEW members.
Seminars coordinated by Rick Horowitz, syndicated columnist and writing coach.

6:00 - 8:30 p.m. Welcome reception and cocktail buffet aboard the Keystone Belle during downtown river cruise. We will begin boarding at 6 p.m. for a prompt 6:30 departure. Members of the Ambridge High School Steel Drum Band will perform dockside beginning at 5:45.

9 p.m. - midnight Hospitality with cash bar, Fountainview Room

THURSDAY, September 14

7 a.m. First-time attendees' breakfast

7:30 a.m. Continental breakfast

8:15 - 9:15 a.m. FACING THE FUTURE (Part 1): Is Your Opinion Operation Ready?
Speaker/Facilitator: John Oppedahl, media consultant and former publisher

8:45 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. Board Bus for optional spouse/guest tour and lunch at Fallingwater, followed by a visit to the 9/11 crash site of United Airlines Flight 93. (Bus leaves promptly at 9 a.m. from the main entrance of the Sheraton Station Square. Wear comfortable walking shoes.)

9:30 a.m. - Noon Critique sessions begin

12:15 - 1:30 p.m. Members' lunch at the Sheraton Station Square
THE CASE FOR 'NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND'
Speaker: Margaret Spellings, U.S. Education secretary

1:45 - 5 p.m. Critique sessions conclude

6:30 - 9 p.m. Taste of Pittsburgh buffet dinner at the Sheraton Station Square
THE POLITICS OF FOOD
Speaker: Ruth Reichl, author, critic and editor of Gourmet magazine

9 p.m. - midnight Hospitality with cash bar, Fountainview Room

FRIDAY, September 15

7:30 a.m. Continental breakfast

7:30 - 11:45 a.m. Syndicate and Public Policy Exhibits

8:15 - 9:15 a.m. HOMELAND SECURITY: How Safe Five Years Later?
Panelists:
Frances Fragos Townsend, special assistant to the president for terrorism
Daniel Prieto, director of the Homeland Security Center at the Reform Institute
Dr. Michael Allswede, bioterrorism expert, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

9:15 a.m. Break

9:30 -10:30 a.m. WILL THE REAL REPUBLICAN PARTY PLEASE STAND UP?
Speaker: U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee

10:30 a.m. Break

10:45 -11:45 a.m. FOREVER IN DEBT: The Future America Can't Afford
Panelists:
David Walker, U.S. comptroller general, General Accountability Office
Isabel V. Sawhill, senior fellow, Brookings Institution
Stuart M. Butler, vice president, Heritage Foundation

Noon - 1:30 p.m. Lunch at the Sheraton Station Square
Presentation of the 2006 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship
Presentation of the 2006 Ida B. Wells Award
WILL THE REAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY PLEASE STAND UP?
Speaker: Gov. Ed Rendell, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee

1:45 - 6 p.m. Board buses for the University of Pittsburgh
(Buses leave promptly at 2 p.m. in front of the Sheraton Station Square.)

2:30 - 4 p.m. Guided tour of the Cathedral of Learning and Nationality Classrooms

4:30- 5:15p.m. William Pitt Union Ballroom
REINVENTING HEALTH CARE, AND OTHER UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS
Speaker: Paul O'Neill, former U.S. Treasury secretary and former CEO and chairman of Alcoa

6:30 - 7:15 p.m. Cocktail reception with cash bar

Evening Dinner on your own or with one of the optional signup groups

9 p.m. - midnight Hospitality with cash bar, Fountainview Room

SATURDAY, September 16

7:30 a.m. Continental breakfast

7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Syndicate and Public Policy Exhibits

8:15 - 9:15 a.m. Breakout sessions (Choose one)
A) CAMPAIGNS AND CRUSADES: Editorializing for Victory
Panelists:
Vanessa Galman, editorial page editor, Lexington Herald-Leader
Rick Attig, associate editor, The Oregonian
David Holwerk, editorial page editor, Sacramento Bee
Keven Ann Willey, vice president and editroial page editor, The Dallas Morning News

B) SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST IN THE SMALL SHOP
Moderator:
Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor, The Post-Star, Glen Falls, NY
Panelists:
Pete Wasson, opinion editor, The Wausau Daily Herald, Wausau, WI
Stephanie Gattman, editorial page editor, The Truth, Elkhart, IN

9:30 a.m. Break

9:45 - 10:45 a.m. ONLINE INNOVATIONS: Print Editorials Are So 20th Century
Panelists:
Kate Riley, editorial writer, The Seattle Times
Lois Kazakoff, deputy editorial page editor, San Francisco Chronicle
Eddie Roth, editorial writer/columnist, Dayton Daily News
Peter Kohler, vice president of editorial services, Cablevision, Bethpage, NY

10:45 a.m. Break

11 a.m. - Noon FACING THE FUTURE (Part 2): Are You Ready? (and How Can NCEW Help?)
Facilitators:
J.R. Labbe, deputy editorial page editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Neil Heinen, editorial director, WISC-TV, Madison, WI
and small-group leaders

12:15 - 1:45 p.m. Lunch at the Sheraton Station Square
Presentation of the 2006 Pulliam Award, sponsored by SDX Foundation
THE NEW PHILANTHROPY: America's Answer to the Domestic Policy Deficit
Speaker: Teresa Heinz Kerry, chairman of the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Heinz Family Philanthropies

2:15 p.m. Annual NCEW business meeting and board elections

6:30 p.m. Reception at the Sheraton Station Square

7:30 p.m. Closing dinner at the Sheraton Station Square
Presentation of 2006 Life Membership
"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR," performed by the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (sponsored by the Tribune Review)

9 p.m. - midnight Hospitality with cash bar, Fountainview Room

Sunday, September 17

9 a.m. Past presidents' breakfast

Click here for an overview of the event in PDF format.