A ‘Golden’ moment for VPC winners at NFPW Conference

By Deana Ricks

“The Next Frontier” was the theme for the 2025 NFPW Conference in Golden, Colo., September 11-13.

Attendees were inspired by speakers, break-out sessions, award ceremonies and friendly camaraderie to move forward into the next frontier the future holds for us.

As we embraced the future, we also looked back at the triumphs of the past. Six outstanding nominees for the 2025 NFPW Communicator of Achievement (COA) were present at the conference to receive the recognition of their peers for their distinguished professional accomplishments. All of them were recognized for their diverse and remarkable communication work including Virginia Professional Communicators’ (VPC) own Terry Haycock, whose talents extend beyond the computer keyboard to piano keys as well.

The COA highest honor went to Colorado’s Donna Bryson, a national editor for Reuters and former AP correspondent who was stationed in South Africa during apartheid and later interviewed the newly elected South African president, Nelson Mandela. Cathy Koon of Idaho was the COA runner-up for 2025.

More exceptional writers were honored on the final evening of the NFPW conference as communication awards were bestowed on deserving contestants in a variety of categories.

• VPC members, Tracy Perkins, Deana Ricks and Meghan Van Joosten received a second-place award in the Communications Programs & Campaigns – Marketing Program or Campaign for their work on the Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design Special Exhibition.
• Ricks also received honorable mentions for two other pieces of writing.
• Diane Thieke was awarded first place for her entry in the Blog – Corporate or For-Profit category, titled “Two Years Later: Gen AI, Content Marketing and What’s Next.”

Writers who were present at the awards ceremony received a round of applause, embossed certificates and posed for photos with VPC member and outgoing NFPW President Julie Campbell.

New frontier for news isn’t static

By Diane S. Thieke, 2nd VP of Communications

NFPW opened its 2025 conference in Golden with a reception at the Foothills Art Center. In addition to a beautiful view of the mountains, the center featured the work of artist Jesse Mathes, whose gorgeous wearable sculptures captivated attendees.

In many of the conference sessions, speakers addressed the ways in which they were adapting to technological, political and economic change.

In the Science Storytelling Workshop, for example, Camille Bergen, CEO of Modulate Media, and Cassie Lee, Chief Innovation Officer at the Open Geospatial Consortium, discussed changes in NASA research priorities and how best to communicate the impact to individuals and businesses.

Dana Coffield, editor and co-founder of The Colorado Sun; Lee Ann Colacioppo, executive editor of The Denver Post; Ryan Warner, senior host of Colorado Matters at Colorado Public Radio News; Kyle Clark, anchor of Denver’s 9NEWS; and moderator Donna Bryson, discuss the State of Media in Colorado.

During the State of Media in Colorado session, senior editors from the Colorado Sun, Denver Post, Colorado Public Radio and Denver 9NEWS discussed how it’s more important than ever for today’s journalists need to build trust with the community, especially to combat false local news stories.

With more local news outlets being purchased by private equity and venture capital, a panel of local media leaders shared how they were finding success with nonprofit models.

These are timely conversations to have, and ones that are likely to continue well into the next few years. The next NFPW conference will be held in Maryland in September 2026.

5 Takeaways from the NFPW National Conference

Marlene Cook, 2025 President’s Award recipient, Terry Haycock and Cecilia Green

By Terry Haycock, VPC Treasurer

• The integrity of this group is outstanding, illustrated by its continued championing of non-biased reporting.
• Friendships, both personal and professional, last even if you haven’t been in contact for years.
• The Colorado Press Women went out of their way to present Colorado in general, Golden specifically and the state of their press accurately.
• The planners ensured that popular topics were included in the programming, among them:
  • The use of AI
  • How to determine real from fake news
  • Counteracting burnout
  • Women in the Newsroom
  • Censorship vs Free Flow of Information
• All the nominees for COA were treated as royalty by the committee.

It was like being queen for a day…

Julie Campbell and Terry Haycock at the COA Awards Ceremony

By Terry Haycock, VPC Treasurer and 2025 COA

Thank you again for selecting me as VPC COA and sending me to represent you at the NFPW Conference in Colorado earlier this month. 

Personally, I enjoyed seeing old friends from the Illinois Women’s Press Association that I worked with for years before retiring here to Virginia: Cecilia Green (now in the Wichita, KS, chapter), who brought me to the organization, and Marlene Cook (recipient of the 2025 President’s Award from Julie Campbell), who was my mentor. 

New friends included fellow COA nominees Leonie Rosenstiel of New Mexico and Jo Ann Mathews from North Carolina, who took many of these photos.

Terry Haycock (shown in first row center) with NFPW COA nominees from around the country

Professionally, it was an honor to share our profession and the stage with eight distinguished writers from throughout the country. We were treated like royalty. Each of us had a table at the banquet to share with whomever we liked, given a corsage at the rehearsal, and later, presented with a medallion engraved with 2025 NFPW COA nominee on one side and our name on the other, along with a certificate acknowledging the same. I was the only nominee with two corsages because I received a beautiful red rose creation from you all! Another honor was having my photo taken with Julie Campbell.

Again, thank you all for honoring my life’s work and dedication to NFPW and VPC. A special thank you to Diane Thieke, Pam Stallsmith and Gwen Woolf who spent weeks working on my biography and the other components of the nominating package. Their dedication is an example of VPC teamwork in action!