This form is for submitting pitches for the ONA26 annual conference, running March 30 – April 1, 2026, at the Hilton Chicago.
Though the majority of the conference has been programmed, we are still looking for a handful of session ideas that are un- and under-represented on the ONA26 schedule. We’ll review these suggestions on a rolling basis and are particularly looking for sessions on:
- Adaptive leadership: Skills and strategies leaders need to navigate rapid change, shifting audience needs and evolving business demands
- Revenue and operations: Creative approaches to building sustainable, resilient news organizations
- Skills-building workshops: Participatory sessions with concrete, actionable takeaways
- Civic journalism and supporting democracy, including meeting voting and election information needs
- Strategies for building resilience in a fast changing public media landscape
- Podcasting, audio production and distribution and video journalism in an attention economy
- Actionable sessions tailored to executives and newsroom leadership
Session pitches should be designed to run 60 minutes, with about half of that time dedicated to interactive audience participation.
Conference rooms will have a projector, screen and microphones, and will be set with round-table seating for up to 200 attendees.
Successful submitters are entitled to complimentary conference registration, but generally not to travel or accommodation support.
Submissions will close Thursday, January 22, at 11:59 PM PST.