• SIPA Convention Registration

    Online registration must be submitted by Feb. 12 for early-bird rate ($80). After Feb. 12, the registration rate is $90.
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  • Adviser/speaker information:

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  • Transportation information:

  • Membership information:

  • Convention registration fees

    If you have students who received Endowment scholarships, do NOT include them with your full registrations. Register them separately in the "# of convention scholarships" field.

  • Do NOT include convention scholarship recipients in the number of convention registrations above. The convention scholarship recipients receive a special registration rate.

  • Student/adviser registration information

    If you are bringing students to the convention, please upload a Word or Excel file listing the students' names. We will use this to create name tags for participants.

  • Each registered participant receives a convention shirt. You may send the list of shirt sizes directly to Leslie later.

  • Pre-convention workshops – Friday 1-5 p.m.

    Arriving early? Sign up for these workshops taking place at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. We will send out directions for all workshops one week prior. If a workshop does not have 10 attendees, it will be cancelled and we will place you in other workshops. Leslie will notify you ahead of time and ask in what workshops you would like to be placed.

  • It's more than just reporting
    with Coni Grebel, Lee County HS (Georgia)

    Join us for this intense workshop that takes you deeper into the realms of team bonding without sacrificing deadline time. This workshop is appropriate for students from any publication genre, with any level of experience. Participants will need to bring a willingness to think outside the box and plenty of adrenalin! This workshop is intended to both reinspire participants and fuel them for inspiring their staffs back home. Participants run the risk of seeing the scholastic newsroom through new eyes. Addiction is totally possible. Warning: students may be grouped into teams that are not indicative of their own publications or schools, so this is not a course recommended for the shy or weak of heart.

  • Knowledge is power, but wisdom is knowing how to run a staff
    with David Ragsdale, Mackenzie Caudill, Owen Donnelly, Elena Gilbertson Hall and Naomi Hendershot, Clarke Central HS (Georgia)

    Leader is a loaded word in the newsroom. Is it based on tenure, skill set, personality traits, or some combination of each? The purpose of this pre-convention workshop is to enable you to fulfill your job description on your staff. We’ll discuss leadership styles, help you troubleshoot your problem areas, work on role-play scenarios commonly seen in the newsroom and seek a collaborative approach to empower you as coach/mentor/editor on staff. Leaders of all levels and programs are welcome!

    Students will need an electronic device (tablet, laptop, etc.) for this workshop, as well as a copy of their staff manual.

  • Telling stories with photographs
    with Mark Murray, Association of Texas Photography Instructors director

    Learn how to tell a story through different styles of photography. Participants will take photos in and around the School of Journalism and Mass Communications in the historic Horseshoe district. After taking photos the group will have a quick critique of everyone’s work to see how you did. Bring a camera! Certain photos selected from this workshop will be features on the SIPA website and social media platforms.

  • Write your true story: A writer’s workshop in creative nonfiction
    with Beth Swann, Nation Ford HS (South Carolina)

    Telling stories. It’s what we do. Writers bring their unique experiences, their wisdom, their perspectives, and even their personalities to the page. Through keen powers of observation, mining memory, freeing the imagination, and digging into research, a writer can do more than entertain, persuade, or inform – a good writer moves readers.

    This workshop is about crafting stories, yes. It’s about voice and muscular writing. But it’s also about learning how to free the dreamer and the curious investigator. It’s about reaching for the courage to discover and tell the truth, because that’s what moves and inspires readers.

    We’ll be reading from mentor texts, practicing our skills of observation around campus, as well as writing and then workshopping pieces together. We will craft stories, whether we are writing for ourselves or for a wider audience – and if you want to put your work out there, I’ll show you how to submit your work to professional publications. Write away!

  • Working with InDesign
    with Anna Westbury, University of South Carolina

    For beginners only.

    Need help jumping into InDesign? Want to learn some basic design tips? This workshop covers what you need to know if you are only beginning to connect with InDesign and page design/layout. Feel free to email questions you want answered or topics you want covered ahead of time to Leslie Dennis at dennislc@email.sc.edu.

  • On-site competitions

    Consult the competition schedule when you sign up participants. Some competitions do overlap and conflict.

  • SIPA's Best Visual Contest: These entries are due one week before the convention. Make sure you read instructions carefully.

  • On-site critiques: Two students will spend 45 minutes with a judge and receive one-on-one feedback about the publication.

  • For the following competitions, please consult the convention schedule before you register students for specific competitions. (Students who participate in the Anchor and Review competitions cannot participate in the TOP competition. Students in the TOP competition can participate in the Quiz Bowl.)

  • Grammar Challenge: Test your grammar knowledge by answering these 50 multiple choice questions. We'll provided the laptops for the test!

  • Anchor competition: Students write a script from copy on current news events we provide then read it on camera.

  • SIPA Quiz Bowl: Students compete in four-person teams in quiz bowl-style rounds and answer questions about journalism standards and terminology, current events, civics and pop culture.

  • Review writing contest: Students learn review writing techniques and write a review on a topic announced at the convention.

  • TOP (team onsite production): Teams produce a complete story package within a three-hour time span.

    • Broadcast - teams of two students - interview students, write a script and capture and edit footage on a specific topic to create a video package
    • Literary/arts magazine - teams of up to four students (can be 2 or 3 students) - write, edit, create and draw inspiration to craft artistic interpretations and content for a magazine spread.
    • Newsprint & yearbook - teams of up to four students (can be 2 or 3 students) - interview, write, edit, photograph and design pages to create a newspaper or yearbook page or spread package.
    • Photo - teams of two students - take photographs based on a specific theme, write captions and create an online photo essay. Each member will contribute at least four photos to the essay.

  • Edit and complete registration

  • We accept cash and check only and do not accept credit card payments at this time. Please submit payment as soon as possible. Contact Leslie Dennis at dennislc@email.sc.edu with any questions.

    Banquet notes: All those students and advisers with full registrations may attend the Saturday night banquet. We will contact you for dietary restrictions. Please be prepared to provide that information for all registered individuals two weeks prior to the event. No substitutions or changes can be made one week prior to the event.

    Refund policy: Plan carefully. No refunds will be given. However, substitutions may be made at any time.

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