Chuck Morgan
"Welcome to Arlington"
8 a.m. Friday June 20

Chuck Morgan is vice president of in-park entertainment for the Texas Rangers.

One of the most recognizable public address voices in the game, Morgan is in his 30th year in professional baseball. He has been with the Rangers for 24 of the last 25 seasons beginning with the 1983 campaign.

The second home game of 2008, April 9 vs. the Baltimore Orioles, Morgan announced the starting lineups at his 2,000th consecutive Major League Baseball game.

Morgan also has worked for the Kansas City Royals (2002) and Nashville Sounds (1978-1980). He also has been the public address announcer on Major League Baseball video games for Microsoft's X-Box, Sony Playstation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube.

Mike Blinder
"Online Sales Training for Smaller Newspapers"
9:30 a.m. Friday June 20

Mike Blinder is president of The Blinder Group. Blinder is known nationally and internationally for his expertise in media, sales and marketing. As owner and manager of The Blinder Group he performs training, designs sales programs and conducts seminars for clients all over the world. Read more about his training programs for media companies.

Martha Jean McHaney
"Hiring, Firing & other labor issues"
Noon Friday June 20

Martha Jean is vice president for human resources for Morris Communications headquartered in Augusta, Ga. Previously, she worked for newspapers in Little Rock, Denver and Wichita and had worked with several Texas newspapers while employed by Westward Communications in Dallas.

With 20 years of experience, McHaney helps Morris businesses with labor legal issues and  leads the Corporate Human Resources team which is responsible for employee relations, employee benefits, legal and labor compliance, learning and development, compensation, and conflict resolution for the 5500 employees that work for Morris companies across the United States.

David Stevens
"Online Success for Small Newspapers"
8:30 a.m. Saturday June 21

David Stevens has been writing about small towns in the Texas Panhandle and eastern New Mexico for almost 30 years. He worked for the Amarillo Globe-News from 1979-99, spent two years freelancing and became editor for Freedom New Mexico on Sept. 10, 2001, covering the communities of Clovis, Portales and Tucumcari along the Texas border.

Stevens is a self-described old-school storyteller with ink running through his veins. But he's embracing the online world because of its immediacy and opportunities for reader interaction. And he's coming to terms with video ... well, at least he's not afraid of it anymore.

His session will focus on small-town newspaper opportunities for success in the new media -- online.

Lane DeGregory
"20 Tips Your Editor Won't Tell You" & "20 Tips your Reporters Won't Tell You"
11 a.m. Friday, June 20 & 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 21

Lane DeGregory is a St. Petersburg Times features writer who has won 12 national awards. Her stories have appeared in The Best Newspaper Writing 2000, 2004 and 2006 editions, Reader’s Digest and a variety of specialty publications.

She has been a speaker at Harvard's Nieman Narrative Conference, National Writers Workshops, The Poynter Institute and the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors’. Read a sample of her columns and stories.

"The National Front"
8 a.m. Saturday June 21

Steve Haynes is president of the National Newspaper Association and is publisher of the Oberlin (Kan.) Herald.

David Nail
6:30 p.m. Saturday
TNF dinner fundraiser entertainment

Photo by Andrew Southam