It's a Dry Beat: SPJ Western Journalism Conference, Phoenix

In an era when journalists must rely on a deeper toolbox of skills, journalism conferences offer great benefits. They help hone those talents and develop new ones.

They enhance careers, provide opportunities to make connections in the profession and empower and energize journalists with new knowledge and vigor.

But conferences often last several days and can be pricy. Plus, they may be in a distant city.

The vision of our Society of Professional Journalists chapter is different. This April, we’re presenting all those benefits and more in a powerful, exciting, fun spring conference in the heart of Phoenix. All the connections, lots of skills, plenty of interaction – all revitalizing your drive to cover your beat. All of it happens in one day, everything on the same street and everything accessible by light rail. It includes a continental breakfast and lunch. And it’s only $49 for professionals, $29 for students. And all journalists and journalism students are welcome – no need to be an SPJ member, although if you join or renew an SPJ membership after you sign up for the conference and before April 10, we'll refund your entire conference registration fee.

The Valley of the Sun (Phoenix) SPJ chapter presents “It’s a Dry Beat: Speaking Truth in a Truthiness Age,” the 2026 SPJ Region 11 Conference. Join colleagues from Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Mariana Islands on Friday, April 10, at the spacious modern facilities of event sponsor, the Flinn Foundation, 1802 N. Central Ave., Phoenix.

This is the conference you always wanted to attend, but the only ones out there were too long, too far away and too expensive:

· A full day of incredibly useful workshops and spirited discussions about where journalism is heading and our best ways to prepare for it.

· At day’s end, colleagues at The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com are our hosts for a late afternoon reception and tour of their recently opened newsroom at Park Central, just a few blocks north of the Flinn Foundation building.

· The evening before, Thursday, April 9, early arrivals are welcome to join us a few blocks south at a pre-conference happy-hour-style social gathering at a well-known historic Phoenix restaurant.

It’s relevant, it’s useful, it’s close and it’s affordable – the conference you’ve always wanted to attend. Get ready to turbocharge your skills, your network, your motivation. Join us at “It’s a Dry Beat” on Friday, April 10.

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TENTATIVE AGENDA

Please Join us at 6 p.m. Thursday evening, April 9, at The Old Spaghetti Factory, 1418 N. Central, less than four blocks south of our conference location, for an opening mixer. Free appetizers provided by the Valley of the Sun SPJ chapter.

Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. Friday and conference begins at 9 a.m. The Mark of Excellence Awards luncheon is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The last session ends at 4:45 p.m., followed from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. by a reception and tour of the nearby Park Central newsroom of The Arizona Republic/azcentral. It's just a few blocks north of the conference location.

All three venues are on Central Avenue's Valley Metro B Light Rail Line (valleymetro.org). We will be posting highlights of the conference in the next days to weeks.

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REGISTRATION (which can be FREE if you join SPJ or renew your membership!)

We've been able to secure sponsorships to allow us to charge a fraction of what similar conferences cost to register: Just $49 for professionals and $29 for students. This include the Thursday and Friday evening receptions as well as continental breakfast and lunch on Friday.

But here's how you can get your conference registration FREE:

-- Any conference registrant who arrives at the conference with proof that any time in March or up to the conference date of April 10 they either (1) signed up to become a new national-and-local SPJ member, or (2) as a current member, theu renewed their membership, will get their entire conference registration fee rebated/refunded! We will write you a check at the conference for you to take home and cash (or take out your phone and deposit it then and there).

This offer is only good until April 10, 2026.

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NEARBY HOTELS

We were unable to secure discounted hotel rates, unfortunately, but out-of-town conference attendees have a wide variety of accommodations to choose from, many along the light rail line from the airport. The following hotels are within walking distance of our conference location at the Flinn Foundation building and are on the light rail line:

• Found:Re Hotel, 1100 N. Central (at Portland), (866) 994-8087
• Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites, 2520 N. Central (at Wilshire): (602)716-9900

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OUR SPONSORS

We are deeply grateful to our sponsors: This conference is funded in part by the national Society of Professional Journalists and the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Our venue sponsor is the Flinn Foundation, our breakfast sponsor is Sci-Line of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), our lunch sponsor is the Arizona Media Association and our after-conference reception sponsor is The Arizona Republic/azcentral.

And a big shout-out to our SPJ Region 11 Coordinator Ankita M. Kumar, for her valuable assistance and support!

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