2025 Conference
About The NMPW Conference
NMPW hosts a state conference every year in the spring. The conference is a perfect opportunity to network with media professionals across the state. Workshops are held and the organization announces the winners of the Zia Book Award, Communications Contest, Communicator of Achievement, and scholarships.
The 2025 NMPW Conference will be held Friday and Saturday, March 21 and 22 at Isleta Resort. The conference theme is “Artistic Expression.” Program outline is below. Registration in now closed for our 2025 NMPW Conference.
2025 Conference Program
Friday, March 21, 2025
- 2:00pm-3:00pm – Panel [Sunrise Room]: Creating a Multi-media Guardianship Community Panelists: Léonie Rosenstiel, Jay Newton-Small, Jack Canfield (video), and Michael Brasher. This hybrid panel will consider the problems now experienced in adult guardianship. The participants have been active in informing the public about the issues and potential solutions. They discuss how the educational process as well as traditional and new media can facilitate progress toward improving the lives of elders and their families.
- 3:15pm-4:45pm – Workshop [Sunrise Room]: Photography and Poetry of Sunrises in New Mexico Make Magic Leaders: Wanda W. Jerome, Ph.D. and Jasmine Tritten, B.A. Participants will explore artistic expression through photography and poetry. After discovering techniques for taking quality impromptu, inspirational photographs, participants will review a variety of popular poetic forms and discuss current trends. Participants will then craft their own poems inspired by viewing photographs of New Mexico’s Sandia Mountain sunrises, followed by an opportunity to share their poems with other workshop participants.
- 5:00pm-6:30pm – Reception [Seminar Room]:
- 5:00pm – Voices of the Barrio Slam Poetry Team Marcial Delgado, Kristin Patton, Savannah Rodriguez, and Caleb Feganchick are members of the Voices of the Barrio slam poetry team. Each of these poets are fierce competitors with a diverse publication portfolio and a passion for giving back to their community. Home is where the heart is, and their heart is in the Barrio.
- 6:00pm – Guest Speaker: Deb Haaland, Former Cabinet Secretary of the Interior. Deb Haaland is a fierce leader — repeatedly breaking down barriers for future generations. A 35th generation New Mexican who organized for President Obama and led the New Mexico State Democratic Party, she made an unprecedented run and win as one of the first Native women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and then made history when she was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Interior. She will speaking about the current challenges to our First Amendment rights in our country along with the unique challenges we are facing in New Mexico.
- 5:00pm – Voices of the Barrio Slam Poetry Team
Saturday, March 22, 2025
- 7:00am-8:00am – Breakfast [Seminar Room]
- 8:00am-9:00am – Panel [Seminar Room]: Healing Generational Trauma Through Artistic Expression Panelists: Regina M Griego, Denise Chavez, and Josie Méndez-Negrete. Each panelist has written and engaged in artistic expressions to heal and lead others through generational trauma and grief. The panelists will share their journey of processing, writing, and committing to sharing their profound personal journeys with the audience.
- 9:15am-10:15am – Panel [Seminar Room]: Artistic Expression through Cultural Lenses Panelists: Khadijah VanBrakle, Alexandra Diaz, and Laurel Goodluck. The panelists represent Native American, Muslim American, and Cuban American viewpoints on artistic expression. They will explore how culture/background affects artistic expression, what fuels writers and/or dictates the stories they tell, and what are barriers to artistic expression.
- 10:30am-11:45am – Keynote [Seminar Room]
Jay Newton-Small – The new Executive Editor and Vice President of Albuquerque Journal.
Jay Newton-Small is an American author and journalist. She has worked for TIME Magazine and Bloomberg News. She is also one of the founders of MemoryWell. In 2016, she wrote Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works. - 12:00pm-1:15pm – Zia Award and Scholarship Lunch [Seminar Room] Hosts: Jen Hull and Lèonie Rosenstiel
- 1:30pm-3:00pm – Workshop [Seminar Room]: True Voice Writing Workshop by Denise Chavez and Josie Méndez-Negrete
In this workshop you will have the opportunity to explore your True Voice, and you will be given insights as to how to write in such a way that it will resonate in a new and profoundly humanistic way. We will share story as we celebrate each other’s True Voices. Bring a journal, a laptop, your favorite purple pen, and your open heart. Come ready to share. - 3:00pm-4:00pm – Annual Meeting [Sunrise Room]
- 5:30pm-8:30pm – Communications Banquet [Seminar Room]
- 5:30pm – Reception
- 6:00pm – Dinner
- 7:00pm – Speaker: Michelle Otero
Michelle is the author of Malinche’s Daughter, an essay collection based on her work with women survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Oaxaca, Mexico as a Fulbright Fellow, and Bosque: Poems (University of New Mexico Press, 2021), a collection written during her tenure as Albuquerque Poet Laureate. Her memoir, Vessels is forthcoming from FlowerSong Press. Originally from Deming, New Mexico, Michelle holds a B.A. in History from Harvard University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College. - 7:30pm – Communicator of Achievement Award
- 7:45pm – Communication Contests Awards, Hosts: Catherine Lynch and Carolyn Carlson
This year we will take time to honor our Communication Contests winners. The awards program will highlight winners from all of the categories from the NM Press Women Professional Contest.
Registration Information: Pricing
Conference attendees can reserve a room at the Isleta Resort Hotel for the discounted rate of $159 per night by calling 505-724-3800 and giving the code NMP0325. All reservations must be made before March 14, 2025.
- Full registration* (members: $200/ nonmembers: $225)
- Friday full day only (members: $80/ nonmembers: $100)
- Saturday full day only (members: $185/ nonmembers: $195)
- Saturday lunch** only (members: $50/nonmembers: $55)
- Saturday banquet*** only (members: $85/ nonmembers: $95)
- Banquet table for 10: $1,000
- Banquet half-table for 5: $500
NOTES:
*Full registration includes all conference sessions including meals
**Zia Book Awards and Scholarships will be awarded at the lunch.
***Communications Contest results and the 2024 Communicator of Achievement will be announced at the banquet.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Help NMPW conduct an outstanding conference! All sponsors will be acknowledged in the conference program.
We offer the following categories and benefits:
Gold
A gift of $2000 (opportunity to have literature and swag available and four tickets to the banquet)
Silver
A gift of $1000 (opportunity to have literature and swag available for attendees and two tickets to the banquet)
