Past Conventions

Below you can click through links of our past conventions and see the full archive of events and recordings.

Spring 2021 Convention (virtual)
Fall 2020 Convention (virtual)
Spring 2020 Convention canceled due to COVID-19
2019 Fall Convention
2019 Spring Convention
2018 Fall Convention
2018 Spring Convention
2017 Fall Convention
2017 Spring Convention
2016 Fall Convention
2016 Spring Convention
2015 Fall Convention
2015 Spring Convention
2014 Fall Convention
2014 Spring Convention

Why join the INBA?

Ryan Denham

Digital Content Director, WGLT (Normal)

“I recently attended my first INBA conference—and it won’t be my last. The combination of professional and student journalists learning together is electric. Everyone learns from each other and walks away with new friends (and LinkedIn connections). I know I did.”

Mike Miletich

IL. Capitol Bureau Chief, Quincy Media

Joining the INBA was one of my best life decisions. I met some of the best broadcast journalists while I was still a college student. Plus, I ended up getting a job through the connections I made!

Michelle Eccles McLaughlin

Public Relations Account Manager; Horace Mann Insurance

INBA is an organization that really caters to continuing education for professionals. It offers a relatively inexpensive way to learn new things, reinforce best practices and network.

Molly Jirasek

News Nation, WGN America Chicago

One of my top goals in my career was to get to Chicago. Thanks to INBA I met Margaret Larkin. She remembered our great conversations about Chicago and first alerted me to a job opening in the city I might be interested in. Lo and behold, I got that job! INBA helped me reach my dream.

Alexis McAdams

Reporter; ABC-Chicago

INBA played a huge part in preparing me for my broadcasting career. The INBA conventions connect students with on-air talent and news directors who give feedback on now to improve your work. Through relationships I made at those conventions, I was able to obtain my first on air reporting job.

Aaron Eades

Producer at Spectrum News 13, Orlando, FL; Former Morning Anchor at WCIA-TV, Champaign

As a student, it's often difficult to picture what working in the real world will be like. For me, the INBA bridged that gap by giving me the chance to talk to professionals who used to be in the same shoes I'm in now.

Nora Baldner

Professor; Quincy University

The support INBA gives to student journalists is vitally important as we all discover how technology is changing news dissemination, INBA monitors and actively encourages truth, transparency and accountability from students and their universities.

Bob Roberts

Retired; WBBM-AM, Chicago

INBA is as much about friendship and as it is about achieving common goals. It provides two things individual newsrooms cannot: in-service training, and the ability to speak out on issues affecting the profession. But most of all, it brings newspeople together.

Andrew Tanielian

Freelance Video Journalist

INBA taught me how to network in a meaningful way. The scholarship process taught me how to endure a hard job interview and thrive.

Jennifer Fuller

Associate Director for News and Public Affairs; WSIU

INBA is not only a great networking tool, it also provides advocacy and support for journalists in an ever-changing world.

Brian O'Keefe

News Director (Retired); WDCB radio, Glen Ellyn

One of the greatest benefits for me has been getting to see and know other parts of the state. I’m not from Illinois and traveling to spring and fall conventions over the years has transformed dots on a map to memories of places that enhance my story telling process.

Jeff Bossert

Morning Edition Host; WVTF, Roanoke, Virginia

When I was working in radio for the first time, I had no idea whether I could truly handle the demands. But INBA made me curious and want to improve. Even now, when I’ve maybe worked a lot of hours or planned some stories that didn’t come together for one reason or another, what I learn from an INBA conference gets me re-invigorated about the business.

You may have missed

INBA Podcast: Jordan Elder, Multimedia journalist at NewsChannel 20 in Springfield

INBA Podcast: Gabi Guerrero, Reporter at Heart of Illinois ABC, WEEK-TV

INBA Podcast: WGN Radio’s Bob Kessler

INBA Podcast: Yvonne Boose, from the corporate world to public radio

INBA Fall Convention 2021 panels announced

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