How to Complete Your Session Proposal

The information you share in the form helps us understand your idea, and if selected, present your session clearly to attendees. You don’t need to overthink any single field; together, they tell the story of what you want to share and who it’s for.

Below, you will find detailed information about what is included in the form.

Session Title

Your session title is the first thing attendees see on the schedule — and often the only thing they read before deciding whether to show up. A strong title signals the core idea, avoids insider jargon, and hints at what someone will walk away with or rethink.

A few examples from last year's program that do this well:

• "Quantifying Feels: Building Editorial Success Metrics for AI" — leads with a provocative phrase that earns its explanation, and tells you exactly what the session is about;

• "Leading Product in News: What No One Tells You" — speaks directly to the audience and signals that the conversation will be candid, not theoretical;

• "Keep that Research Off the Shelf: A Crash Course in Operationalizing Audience Insights" — names the problem, signals the format, and promises a practical takeaway, all in one line.

Notice that none of these titles tries to cover everything the session does. They make one clear promise and trust the description to fill in the rest.

If your session is selected, your title may be lightly edited for clarity or consistency with the overall program.

Session Description

This is the public-facing description attendees will see on the Summit site and schedule. It's your best opportunity to convince someone that your session is worth their time, so lead with the problem or question you're tackling. 

A strong description does three things: it clearly names the challenge or topic, explains what the session will actually explore or do, and helps the reader understand what they'll leave with. You don't need to outline every agenda item. Focus on the outcome and why it matters to someone in this room.

The descriptions that land best open with a tension or a sharp observation rather than a setup paragraph. Avoid openers like "In this session, we will explore…" or "This session will discuss…" because they bury the actual idea and give the reader no reason to keep reading. For example, here’s a great opening line from last year’s program: "Broken analytics pipelines lead to broken product decisions, yet most teams only discover the cracks after OKRs slip." (from "Data Therapy: Smarter, Simpler Fixes for Your Analytics Stack").

Aim for 150–300 words. If your session is selected, your description may be lightly edited for clarity or consistency with the overall program.

Session Purpose & Takeaways

This field is for the NPA team and community reviewers, not for public display. Use it to share the thinking behind your session: what you want participants to leave with, how you plan to structure the time, and the experience or expertise you're bringing to the topic.

You might use this space to describe:

• The type of learning or insight you want to enable;

• Whether participants will leave with new ideas, strategies, skills, or connections;

• What success looks like for this session;

• How you plan to structure and pace the session;

• The background or experience that makes you the right person to lead this conversation.

This is where reviewers get to know you and your vision for the session, so be specific. A clear sense of structure and a grounded sense of your own expertise will strengthen your proposal considerably.

Theme Alignment

Themes help us ensure the program reflects the Summit's overall focus and balances sessions across core areas. Select the theme most directly connected to your session. You don't need to force alignment with multiple themes, but you may choose up to two if your session genuinely spans both.

For this year's Summit, we're looking for sessions that connect to one of the following:

1. Audience Intelligence & First-Party Data Systems: How news organizations build, connect, and operationalize first-party audience data to turn research and signals into decisions, products, and strategy;

2. AI-Native News Operations: Designing newsroom workflows, tools, and governance models where AI is embedded into everyday operations—not layered on as an experiment;

3. Sustainable, Audience-Led Business Models: Aligning revenue strategies with audience value creation through product-led monetization, trust, loyalty, and long-term retention;

4. The Future of Distribution & Non-dependability: Navigating platform volatility by building direct relationships, reducing dependency on search and social, and regaining strategic control over distribution;

5. Product Leadership in Uncertain Times: Leading cross-functional teams through change by designing organizations, decision frameworks, and accountability systems built for uncertainty.

You don’t need to force alignment with multiple themes—choose the one or two that best fit your session’s focus.

Audience Category (Who This Session Is For)

This field helps us build a program that's balanced and useful across different kinds of work. Choose the category that best reflects the decisions or challenges your session is designed to support. There's no single right answer, and your selection won't disqualify a strong proposal, as this helps us understand where your session fits within the overall program.

• Building Systems & Infrastructure: Designing or implementing audience data, AI, product, or operational workflows and systems;

• Making Strategic Decisions: Setting direction, priorities, or guardrails around AI, data, platforms, or long-term risk;

• Turning Audience Insight into Value: Connecting audience understanding to products, services, revenue, trust, or retention;

• Leading Teams Through Change: Guiding teams and organizations through change, restructuring, or uncertainty.