Conference schedule sneak peek

We're still shifting around speaking slots for the 2015 LION Summit, working to be sure that we have each of our sessions appropriately scheduled, but here's a quick glance at just some of the speakers and discussions we have lined up:

• Michele McLellan, the founder of the Block by Block conferences, whose "Michele's List" has been a pioneering inventory of independent local news and who recently authored a major Tow-Knight Center study on best practices in online local advertising sales.
• Jake Batsell, journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a Knight fellow at the Texas Tribune who recently authored a book about community engagement at news organizations, "Engaged Journalism."
• Sales consultant Eleanor Cippel, of Coats2Coats and formerly a regional VP of advertising for Digital First Media, will run down how to close underwriting deals and get a check in your hand.
• Steven Waldman, lead author of FCC report "The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age," advisor to the FCC and Pew Research Center, founder of LifePosts, TheBrooklynGame.com (2012) Beliefnet.com (1998).
• John Bracken, director of media innovation for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
• Jan Schaffer of J-Lab, part of American University's School of Communication, will speak about legal issues facing online news sites.
• Travis Smith of Hop Studios will give his take on website design, ad blockers and other online technology issues. Smith helped launch the LA Times website in 1995, worked for Online Journalism Review and was the editor of Variety.com before launching Hop Studios in 2004.
• Teresa Schmedding, deputy managing editor for operations for the Daily Herald and president of the American Copy Editors Society, will run down tools and techniques for verifying social media posts during breaking news.
• Samantha McCann will detail the ideas behind Solutions Journalism.
• Jesse Holcomb of the Pew Research Center will give an overview of the state of local online news.
• Former LION members David Boraks of Davidson News and Mike Fourcher of Center Square Journal will review why they shut down their sites, while Ned Berke of Sheepshead Bites will take a look at a different way to exit the business.
• You. Fulfilling LION's mission of faciliating the exchange of best practices in local online news, many sessions will center on members trading tips and in-depth explanations of what's working (and what's not).

Don't miss out. If you're not already signed up, register today!