CONVENTION KEYNOTE: GREG KOT

Since 1990, Greg Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune.

With his Chicago Sun-Times counterpart Jim DeRogatis, he cohosts Sound Opinions, "the world's only rock 'n' roll talk show," on radio (WBEZ-FM
91.5) and the Web (http://www.soundopinions.net).

Kot’s recent biography of Wilco, “Learning How to Die” (wilcobook.com) was acclaimed in publications ranging from Rolling Stone (4-star lead review) to the New York Times Book Review. Kot has contributed music criticism and journalism to numerous other books, including Encyclopedia Britannica, “Cash: By the Editors of Rolling Stone”; "The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock"; “The New Rolling Stone Album Guide,” and "Harrison: a Rolling Stone tribute to George Harrison." He has been a regular contributor to Rolling Stone since 1992, and has written for a dozen other national publications. He lives on Chicago's Northwest Side with his wife, two daughters and far too many records.

Kot's ICPA keynote address will provide a warts-and-all account of how
he got into journalism and landed his dream job at one of the biggest
daily newspapers in the world. He'll recount the best and worst of his
interviews with major artists, including Bono, Kanye West, Kurt Cobain,
Paul McCartney and Neil Young. And he'll reveal the mistakes and
pitfalls to avoid on your way to a writing career.

ICPA CONVENTION PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

■ Mark Goodman, director of the Student Press Law Center, will host two sessions on topics of interest to the college press.

One session will be devoted entirely to issues raised by those in attendance, so student editors should bring their legal problems -and questions to this national expert.

■ Brad Briggs, the Chicago Bears beat reporter for the Sun-Times,will be there to talk about covering major professional sports and how it is different (or the same) to the college sports beat.

■ Adobe Systems will host two sessions for graphic designers and photographers. One will look specifically at page layout design issues, but the other session will be devoted to digital photography.

■ College newspapers advisers often walk a thin line between the interests of the students and the college administration. Veteran adviser Jim Killam will host a session devoted to issues facing new and established advisers.

■ Meanwhile, media "convergence" or what is being called the "new media" will be the topic of a session and we’ll possibly have a session on blogs.