Rick Hummel, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Baseball Hall of Fame sports writer, will be the keynote speaker at MPI’s June 17-18 sport seminar at the Sheraton St. Louis City Center Hotel & Suites, 400 S. 14th St.
Hummel, known as "The Commish," has covered the St. Louis Cardinals for more than 35 years. He is among a select group of sports writers in the Hall of Fame, joininig Ring Lardner, Red Smith, and Peter Gammons in the hall in 2007.
Hummel will speak at 8 p.m. Sunday June 17, to kick off the two-day sports workshop, which will unofficially begin with a Cards vs. Royals game at 1:15 p.m. MPI still has tickets available for the game.
Journalists can register for the conference by emailing Executive Director, John Ryan at jmryan@eiu.edu Registration is $50 for the first staffer and $40 for each additional staffer. Staffers could just come for the sessions on Monday for $30. Ryan still has Cards tickets for participants to purchase for $30.
MPI has a $109 room rate at the Sheraton St. Louis City Center, 314-231-5007. Hotel reservations must be made by Monday June 11.
Here is the rest of the program:
Monday, June 18
8 a.m. Registration- Coffee, rolls, and newspapers will be provided
9 a.m. Getting the most out of your beat- How to develop sources while keeping them at arms length. Dustin Dopirak, Herald-Times
10:15 a.m. Covering the Big Story- Big stories come no matter what size your newsroom. Speakers will discuss ways they covered their big stories for their newspapers and offer suggestions on how to prepare for their big story in your newsroom. Paul Klee, Champaign News-Gazette; Derrick Goold, St. Louis-Dispatch
12 p.m. Lunch
1 p.m. Sports writers in the digital age- How do you do it all, writing for print, online, mobile, covering it live while getting audio, video, chats, in-game reports and Twitter? Dustin Dopirak, Herald-Times; Paul Klee, Champaign News-Gazette; Jeff Gordon; Mike Sherman or Jason Kersey, The Oklahoman
2 p.m. Basic investigative techniques for sports editors and reporters- How to file FOIA requests and determine what information is off record because of privacy laws; tips for financial reporting for college and pro sports; how to navigate the legal system when athletes are charged with crimes.
3 p.m. Brainstorming- Share story ideas and innovations as a group. John Beck & Bob Zaltsberg, chair and vice-chair of MPI.
4:15 p.m. Executive Committee Meeting- MPI board members meet to discuss next year’s programming, MPI Suite. Executive Committee includes Chair John Beck, Past Chair Margaret Holt, Bob Zaltsberg, Joe Hight, George Garties, and Susan Duncan.