Alternative News Sources, Digital Archiving, Communications Contest Focus of Fall Conference

Pictured left to right: Spiers, Zullo, LaPrade, Campbell

Alternative News
News today is delivered on many platforms and often follow non-traditional formats. Two that are delivering quality news via email and the web are the Virginia Mercury and Richmond BizSense.

Robert Zullo is the editor of the Virginia Mercury, a new nonprofit, non-partisan online outlet covering Virginia government and policy. He has worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and grew up in Miami and central New Jersey.

Jonathan Spiers joined BizSense in early 2015 after a decade of reporting in Wilmington, North Carolina. Prior to that he was with the Henrico County Leader and the Far West End Press. A lifelong Richmond and Virginia Tech graduate, he has received multiple awards for his writing and photography from the Virginia and North Carolina press associations. For BizSense, he covers residential real estate, advertising/marketing, government, and other news.

Digital Archiving
Digital was supposed to make our lives easier and eliminate paper. Instead, many of us continue to struggle with piles of paper and now we also have to figure out what to do with thousands of photos and files.

Crista Lembeck LaPrade is the Digital Asset Management and Preservation Administrator at the University of Richmond’s Boatwright Memorial Library. Her talk, Digital Archiving: a Personal Approach, is intended to provide a basic introduction to some of the issues surrounding our attempts to address the proliferation of digital content in our lives. The session will also offer some foundational processes and procedures to assist us with the active maintenance of our digital lives through management, access, and preservation.

LaPrade has worked in the library field for more than twenty years. In her free time she likes to cook, read, and spend time with her twin sons.

Communications Contest
Julie Campbell, VPC’s communications contest chair and an award-winning communicator, will share with VPC members details about the new communications platform, which was slated to go live Oct. 1.  She’ll also share tips on how to create an award-winning entry and the deadlines you need to know.  It’s not too early to start thinking about what you want to enter into this year’s contest.