The folks in Denver are much more than simple cowpokes out on the range. They’ve put together a workshop jam packed with training, inspiration and networking. It also takes the issues we face today head-on and is all set to bring together the kind of shared passion and expertise that makes SND so valuable. Sign up today.

Reason No. 22: This reason comes to us from Matt Petty, art director of the San Francisco Chronicle: “I’m going because I want to get inspired to be a better designer. There’s nothing like a few days of being surrounded by the industry’s leading news designers to get your creative juices flowing. Plus, it’s a really fun group of people, and there might be a mechanical bull involved.”

Reason No. 23: Looking for a take-home for your investment? Try 10 things you can put in place immediately to improve the presentation model of your paper. We’ll match you with a professional and share your paper’s work with them in advance. When you get to Denver, you sit for a 30-minute critical review of your publication. Click here to sign up.

In the coming days, we’ll share more about what’s in store in Denver.

Here’s your chance to take in a baseball game while you’re in town for SND’s annual workshop. And it won’t cost you a dime.

The SND Denver organizers have six tickets to The Denver Post suite at Coors Field to see the Rockies versus the Giants, and it’s all free — the tickets, the refreshments and the food. Register for the conference by 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 3, to be eligible for the drawing. Winners will be announced at the opening reception on Thursday night. This is a Colorado experience not to be missed.

Avoid late fees and register now!

• Pegie Stark Adam
• Melissa Angle
• Allison Baldwin
• Matthew Bambach
• Fernando Baptista
• Nadine Baur
• Sarah Bell
• Karen Bellville
• Jonathon Berlin
• Nanette Bisher
• Jonathan Boho
• Annie Boyd
• Edward Brud
• Bonita Burton
• Tomaso Capuano
• J. Damon Cain
• Chris Carr
• Roland-Yves Carignan
• Elizabeth Carson
• Carolyn Chin
• Jason Chiu
• Luis Chumpitaz
• Jared Cocken
• Brandon Coley
• Laura Cruz
• Len De Groot
• Maria Jimena Diaz
• Octavio Diaz
• David Dombrowski
• Steve Dorsey
• Kat Downs
• Nuri Ducassi
• Cristobal Edwards
• Julie Elman
• Richard Epps
• Ana Perez Errea
• Javier Errea
• Laura Evangelista
• Tyson Evans
• Fang Fang
• Jessica Fearnow
• Roger Fidler
• Jessica Fink
• Mark Friesen
• Alejandro Garay
• Mario Garcia Jr.
• Mario Garcia Sr.
• Bill Gaspard
• Martin Gee
• Jennifer George-Palilonis
• Alvaro Gil
• Jeremy Gilbert
• Jeff Glick
• Tim Goheen
• Joe Greco
• Adam Griffiths
• Piotr Grzybowski
• Ana Rosa Gueller
• Seth Hamblin
• Julia Haslanger
• Phillip Heads
• Erik Helliesen
• Thomas Heumann
• Haika Hinze
• Spencer Holladay
• Anja Horn
• Michelle Houlden
• Robert Huschka
• Veronika Illmer
• Kenny Irby
• Ron Johnson
• Janeen Jones
• Susan Jouflas
• Joana Kelen
• Colleen Kirsten
• Marek Knap
• Stefan Knapp
• Daniela Koelbl
• Stephanie Konnerth
• David Kordalski
• Lucie Lacava
• Jim Lanahan
• Etienne Lepine
• Jing Ma
• Connie Malamed
• Matt Mansfield
• Kate Marymont
• Svetlana Maximchenko
• Hailey McDonald
• Colin McHenry
• Kathleen McInerney
• Nina Mehta
• Wes Meltzer
• Sonja Melzer
• Frank Mina
• Jennifer Minutillo
• Kira Mirzaeva
• Elena Montobbio
• Jens Bjerrum Morch
• Andine Muller
• Justin Myers
• Bob Newman
• Adrian Norris
• Carrie Osgood
• Bill Ostendorf
• Troy Oxford
• Ramon Padilla
• Christopher Pagent
• Pai
• Adrian Palma
• Paolo Palmero
• Lawson Parker
• Neal Pattison
• Cheryl Pell
• Becky Pendergast
• Sam Pepple
• Rachel Perkins
• Matt Petty
• Tom Peyton
• Gordon Preece
• Sara Quinn
• Denise Reagan
• Jose Javier Reyes
• Michael Rice
• Julia Rochser
• Edmundo Rostan
• Catherine Rumancik
• Janine Sack
• Guillermo Alfonso Moreno Sanchez
• Rob Schneider
• David Schutz
• Eric Seidman
• Linda Shapley
• German Shelevoy
• Michael Shenker
• Pavel Shorokh
• Devin Slater
• Colin Smith
• Grant Staublin
• Lee Steele
• Jasmine Stewart
• Todd Stewart
• Svend Stokka
• Heinz Michael Stoll
• Gigi Suhanic
• William Sullivan
• Stanislav Syretskikh
• Anders Tapola
• Javier Torres
• Paula Toruño
• Satoshi Toyoshima
• Michael Tribble
• Emrah Ulker
• Álvaro Valiño
• Mari Van Der Berg
• Ksenia Vekshina
• Juan Velasco
• Lila Victoria
• Kris Viesselman
• Paul Wallen
• Cindy Wehling
• Sisi Wei
• Esmare Weideman
• Sherman Williams
• Dona Wong
• David Wright Jr.
• Ying Wu
• Richard Saul Wurman
• Kaitlin Yarnall
• Fevzi Yazici
• Alex Zaky
• Javier Zarracina
• Dan Zedek

Among the corporate sponsors:

• Tolerans
• Scripps
• Font Bureau
• Eidos
• Hoefler & Frere-Jones
• The Denver Post

The organizers have done a fantastic job building an inspirational program relevant to all aspects of visual journalism – on all platforms – with featured addresses from Roger Fidler, author Richard Saul Wurman, Lucie Lacava and a special evening with Mario Garcia.

Don’t miss out, or pay late registration fees – register now at

http://www.snddenver.com!

Need a roommate in Denver? Let us know – we can help.

All the details about SND Denver – the program, the site, how to make the most of your time in Denver – can be found at http://www.snddenver.com.

See you there —

Tribble is the design and graphics director at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, OH. He also oversees Sunday planning and projects and helped lead the redesign of the paper in 2009. Under his direction, the paper has continued its consecutive streak of top ten finishes (now eight years running) in The Best of News Design competition. Most recently Michael was part of the team that edited and designed the well-known LeBron James “Gone.” front page.

“Michael is going to be great in this role. He’s a natural leader and a highly-respected professional. It’ll be wonderful to have him on the team,” said Kris Viesselman, SND president.

David Kordalski, AME/Visuals at the Plain Dealer (and former SND board member and current member of Region 4) adds that “Region Four is in great hands with Tribble as SND’s newest regional director. Michael knows there’s an important role for SND as newsrooms continue to evolve. Just as he’s done here at The Plain Dealer, he’ll bring enthusiasm, leadership and smart ideas to the job.”

Tribble, who got his start 15 years ago as a reporter, photographer, editor, designer and coffee brewer at small papers in Texas, has since designed and edited at the San Jose Mercury News, Charlotte Observer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. His work has been recognized several times by SND and other professional organizations. He’s a graduate of East Texas State University (now Texas A&M — Commerce).

“I’m honored to have this opportunity to serve the Society when we’re faced with the type of challenges that will help define the industry and the role of designers for years to come,” said Tribble. “I’m looking forward to working closely with leadership and members to help maintain the Society’s place as an innovative, educational force in the industry.”

Tribble replaces former Region 4 director Mauricio Gutierrez, deputy design director at the Detroit Free Press. We’d like to thank Gutierrez for serving the region and the Society in 2010 when that post was vacated by another director who was asked to serve in an important education and training role.

Matthew Bambach, Michigan State University
Elizabeth Carson, Indiana University
Brandon Coley, Winston-Salem State University
Laura Evangelista, Michigan State University
Adam Griffiths, Kent State University
Colleen Kirsten, University of Washington
Katherine McInerney, Syracuse University
Nina Mehta, Indiana University
Jennifer Minutillo, Ball State University
Sisi Wei, Northwestern University

Support for the annual student travel grant program is provided by the SND Foundation.

We’ll have lots of great items to bid on.

But we also need your donations.

Original artwork, gift certificates for services (illustrations, consulting, etc.), collectibles, prints from your paper’s historical archives, photographs, prints, autographed memorabilia from sports teams (World Cup, anyone?), media company promotional items, etc.

This auction is integral to the Foundation raising enough money to support our two yearly scholarships, student travel grants, member training grants and more. We have just awarded 10 student travel grants to Denver, the most we’ve ever given out.

Please help us hold a robust silent auction this year. We plan to offer several items online as well so people who can’t attend can still take part.

If you have an item to donate, please contact denisereagan@mac.com.

You can bring items you wish to donate with you to the Denver workshop, or you can ship them ahead of time to:

Ken Lyons
The Denver Post
101 W. Colfax
Suite 600
Denver, Co. 80202
303-954-1070

We really appreciate your help.

I am very sorry to announce that Pai is leaving his post as Region 2 Director for due to a family health issue.

Pai has been, and will continue to be, an active member of SND. We are grateful for the countless hours to SND. Among his many contributions was his key role in organizing the San Jose annual workshop. Pai will also be helping with the Denver program. However, he feels as though he needs to step away from his board commitment to spend more time with his ailing father.

Because of this, we have asked another longtime friend of the Society, Shraddha Swaroop, to step in and lead this large region. We are grateful that she not only has agreed, but has considerable enthusiasm about the role. She’ll be a great advocate for members in the Western U.S. (and beyond).

Many of you know Shraddha well, but here is some background information:

Shraddha has been a volunteer and a member of the Society for News Design since 2000. She has written on women in the newsroom for Design Journal (2003), helped to plan the SND-San Jose convention (2004), was a member of the critique panel for the Student Program at SND- Boston (2007), led the East Coast Metro region (2008) and acted as a facilitator at several Best of News Design competitions. What links all of these jobs has been the opportunity to meet an incredible assortment of talented, generous visual journalists from all over the world.

Professionally, Shraddha is a contract designer at the Los Angeles Times where she works on the features, news and business sections. Before her stint at the Los Angeles Times she was a designer and illustrator at The Virginian-Pilot and the San Jose Mercury News. In her spare time, she freelances as a web designer and has launched sites for local companies. She has also been recognized by the Society for News Design, Society of Professional Journalists and the Virginia Press Association for her print work.

Collaboration and teamwork are the common denominators of her various positions. She strongly believes the best ideas come from the synergy of divergent members of a team and has spoken on the subject. It’s only when contrasting opinions are presented that the best solution for all the members is discovered. And it’s magic when that happens.

Please joining me in wishing Pai well and thanking Shraddha for joining the board.

— Kris Viesselman, SND president