This year AASFE invites journalism faculty and students to join us at the AASFE annual conference at special discounted rates and has added time for students to consult individually with editors.

Each fall the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors hosts a conference known as one of the best in the business for both practical and inspiring programming. This year AASFE invites journalism faculty and students to join us at special discounted rates and has added time for students to consult individually with editors.

The conference is based at the swanky Hotel ZaZa in Houston’s Museum District.   The city’s light-rail line runs in front of the hotel, so you’re a buck and a few minutes from downtown clubs and attractions.  And the program is packed, from a hand-on video workshop hosted by The Houston Chronicle on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 15, to a pool-side fashion show by Chloe Dao of Project Runway fame on Saturday, Oct. 18. Editors will review resumes and clips with students in one-on-one sessions Saturday afternoon.

Joanna Connors, whose remarkable story of rape, race and class appeared in The Cleveland Plain Dealer this spring, is our keynote speaker Thursday morning. Other sessions include smart online features, great story-telling and managing your career, as well as conference favorites like Show & Steal, a showcase of the best work in features. As difficulties in our industry have grown this year, we’ve also focused on the new demands for journalists and for lifestyle and arts and entertainment coverage, whether on line and in traditional feature sections or in other sections and niche products.In a special collaboration on Friday Oct. 17, AASFE and the Association of Food Journalists are presenting joint programming that includes a luncheon address by Judith Jones, the legendary editor who discovered Julia Child and who is responsible for the American publication of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Regular registration is $300 for AASFE members and $475 for non-members. For journalism students and faculty, we’ve set registration at $150.  AASFE also is offering faculty and students hotel rooms for $99 a night, which is a significant discount. If you would like to avail of the hotel discount please contact AASFE executive director Kalyani Chadha at 301-314-2631 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it do not call the hotel and ask for the discounted rate directly.

For $75, faculty and students can also attend one day of the conference _  either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday’s morning sessions and afternoon consults with editors.All faculty and journalism students who attend also receive a year’s free membership in AASFE.

For details about AASFE, the conference and visiting Houston, please go to: www.aasfehouston.com.

Just a quick mention of some of the speakers and presenters this year:

• Ana Castillo, poet, novelist, and essayist who now lives in the Southwest.Ron Coddington, a senior designer at USAtoday.com who embedded for a year with USA Today's Life section.
• Chitra Divakaruni, best-selling author who will talk about the craft of writing and her newest novel, The Palace of Illusions.
• Robin Givhan, Pulizer-prize winning fashion writer at The Washington Post
• Constance Hale, director of the Nieman Narrative program at Harvard.
• Rob King, who left print journalism for ESPN four years ago and now  is espn.com's editor in chief.
• David Maraniss, editor of The Washington Post’s Pulitzer-winning reporting on medical neglect at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
• Mimi Swartz, executive editor of Texas Monthly.
• Matt Thompson, deputy Web editor, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, who created the Vita.mn entertainment site

 
Hope to see you in Houston!

Mary Lou Nolan
AASFE President

Student/Faculty Registration