REFRESH AND RECHARGE AT OUR LONG BEACH GETAWAY

ACP SPRING NATIONAL COLLEGE MEDIA CONFERENCE
March 6-8, 2025  •  Long Beach, California, at Hyatt Regency Long Beach

Boost your publication — and your skills — with the training you need

More than 150 sessions from experienced journalists and advisers

Advertising & marketing speaker
Kathy Simon

Central Michigan

Past speaker
Tamara Zellars Buck

Southeast Missouri State

Past speaker
Gary Metzker

Cal State Long Beach

Past keynote speaker
Samantha Melbourneweaver

AME for audience / Los Angeles Times

ADVERTISING
SALES & MARKETING

STAFF RECRUITMENT

SPORTS REPORTING

LEADERSHIP

REPORTING & EDITING
ACROSS PLATFORMS

DIGITAL STORYTELLING

VISUALS & DESIGN

MAGAZINE
CONTENT & EDITING

YEARBOOK PLANNING

ISSUES REPORTING

RETOOLED PRINT PRODUCTS, PDFs & NEWSLETTERS

PHOTOGRAPHY

ACP Spring National
College Media Conference

Registration

*NEW DATE* Early bird prices until 2/20:
$149 for ACP, CCMA, JACC members
$169 for nonmembers

Regular rate 2/20 and beyond:
$169 for ACP, CCMA, JACC members
$189 for nonmembers

Scholarship opportunity

ACP is offering a scholarship opportunity for conference attendees that have been impacted by the Greater Los Angeles wildfires.

Hotel & conference site

The conference site and hotel is the Hyatt Regency Long Beach.

$259 flat rate
Cut off date Feb. 20 *new date*
Address: 200 S Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802
Phone: (562) 491-1234

Sponsor and exhibit at the conference

Connect with decision-makers in collegiate journalism — and gain visibility for your organization in collegiate media. More information available here.

ACP returns to beautiful Long Beach

It’s one of our favorite sites for one of our best conferences — and a welcome destination in the spring.

This conference brings together collegiate journalists and advisers from across California and across the nation, with helpful sessions, critiques, advice and feedback.

Check out the city of Long Beach and all it has to offer.

Our sessions focus
on topics you need 

From advertising and marketing to reporting across platforms, our breakout sessions will tackle the topics that you need — for your publication, your staff, your readers and your career.

We’ll include the fundamentals and then focus on the latest trends in the fast-changing environment of collegiate journalism and media.

Leading our dozens of sessions will be experienced journalism professionals and award-winning advisers — speakers whose expertise can help you at your skill level.

We’re planning a much-needed boost to conclude the academic year and prepare you for what’s ahead.

We also welcome your ideas for session topics at the ACP spring conference.

> Submit a session proposal     > Email your ideas for a session topic

Pepperdine Graphic Media staff panel join as keynote

Student editors and reporters from the Graphic newsroom at Pepperdine University will share their experience of covering the Franklin Fire in Malibu, Calif. Just weeks later, the team worked to cover the Palisades Fire, which burned Pacific Palisades and Malibu. The team produced a special edition on wildfires in the area and helped to report on the issues most urgent to their campus and surrounding communities. 

Stanford Daily’s Dilan Gohill to keynote Saturday

ACP is excited to welcome Stanford Daily reporter Dilan Gohill as a keynote speaker in Long Beach. While reporting for The Stanford Daily at a pro-Palestinian demonstration last June, Dilan Gohill was arrested. He, along with the demonstrators, was held in a Santa Clara County jail for about 15 hours. His arrest gained national attention and was decried by First Amendment advocates.

More than seven months after the incident, Stanford University finally confirmed in January that Gohill will not face campus disciplinary action, though criminal charges are still pending, according to SPLC. Gohill will join us in Long Beach Saturday March 8.

Get helpful advice
from a critique

Our on-site media critiques are one of the most popular features of the convention, with common-sense suggestions for improvement.

Enter Best of Show
for the conference

Celebrate this year’s work through the ACP Best of Show competition, with both Individual Recognition and Staff Recognition categories — now open for submission.

And rally your staff to vote for our People’s Choice Awards on Friday afternoon.

Level up your design skills with The Design Lab

The design track at this year’s conference is bigger and better than ever with an all-new format designed to inspire, educate, and empower visual storytellers.

Thursday will feature sessions diving deep into the art and craft of media design. Follow that with the brand new Design Lab — a full day of hands-on, workshop-style learning. Saturday morning there will be an opportunity for cross-publication collaboration with a morning workshop for editors and designers.

Bring your creativity, your questions, and your team—we’ll see you there!

Join us to celebrate your success

ACP will announce its top national awards, the Pacemakers, in business, online and yearbook, as well as its Individual Awards in business and advertising.

The conference also celebrates the top collegiate work among California colleges and universities, with the year’s CCMA and JACC award winners.