Empowered By Vision

By Steve Piersanti

The Sixth Annual National Conference of the Latter-day Saint Publishing and Media Association (LDSPMA) will take place at the BYU Conference Center in Provo, Utah, on September 24–26, 2020. Like our previous conferences, this is going to be a tremendous event. We don’t think we are exaggerating when we call it the best networking, learning, and professional development opportunity ever created for Latter-day Saints interested in publishing and media. We hope that you will plan to attend and will take advantage of the early bird registration offer when it is made available in a few weeks.

The theme of our 2020 conference is “Empowered by Vision.” This theme was chosen in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the First Vision. And it signifies that Latter-day Saints who are writers, editors, filmmakers, designers, artists, performers, producers, marketers, and other kinds of publishing and media professionals—and students and others who are preparing for these roles—can be tremendously empowered by the vision contained within the scriptures and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This vision is a source of inspiration, creativity, clarity, and wisdom. It provides great benefits for making publishing and media more meaningful and impactful. Furthermore, publishing and media can be—and in numerous ways already are—powerful means of spreading positive vision in the world.

During the conference we will be privileged to hear from several distinguished keynote speakers:

• Bruce and Marie Hafen. Bruce is a former member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, former provost of BYU, former president of BYU–Idaho, former dean of the BYU Law School, and former president of the St. George Utah Temple. Marie has held many Church leadership positions and has taught writing and religion classes at BYU, the University of Utah, and BYU–Idaho. They have authored several books together, and each has authored books individually.

• Brandon Mull. Brandon is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Fablehaven, Beyonders, and Five Kingdoms series. He is one of the best-selling and most beloved Latter-day Saint fiction authors today. His latest #1 New York Times best seller is Dragonwatch: Wrath of the Dragon King. He is also an inspiring speaker as he shares his challenges and struggles in going from unknown writer to international star.

• Hillary Weeks. Hilary has risen to the top of music charts both with Latter-day Saint audiences and within the broader Christian music world (which is rare and difficult to do). She is an award-winning, best-selling singer and songwriter who is also author of several inspiring books and a masterful and entertaining speaker.

In addition to these keynote speakers, the conference will feature over 75 other leaders in publishing and media who will share useful and informative advice in seven different conference tracks:

• Fiction Writing
• Nonfiction Writing
• Media
• Marketing
• Editing, Design, and Production
• Publishing
• Interactive Sessions

Last year the conference featured, for the first time, four preconference, deep-dive, half-day workshops. These half-day workshops were such a big hit that we are expanding them to 10 pre-conference workshops this year, to take place on September 24. These workshops will cover fiction writing, nonfiction writing, fiction editing, foundational editing skills, screenwriting and film production, podcasting and audio production, self-publishing, social media marketing, website design, and media marketing and business development.

Please watch for more information about the conference and the opportunity to get a large early bird conference registration discount. We hope that you will join us!

Steven Piersanti

Director of Conferences, LDSPMA