The big weekend

We here at the Thermopolis Independent Record take pride in being the source for news about what’s happening in Hot Springs County. Whether it is through pictures, text or advertisements, people look to us to get the news about what’s going on.

Every year, a weekend is scheduled for the Wyoming Press Convention. This year, that weekend will be Jan. 18-20, with the big event happening in Casper. Leading up to the event, we’re looking over our issues from the past year and finding pictures, stories, columns, advertising and general layouts to submit for critique and possible awards.

The Independent Record competes in the small weekly category against more than 20 other newspapers, and the number of awards we’ve won over the years are prominently displayed on our walls if you ever want to come check them out.

Last year was quite amazing for us, taking first place for Photographic Excellence and second for Best Use of Photographs. We won 14 individual Pacemaker awards, allowing us to also take the Wyoming Press Association Foundation’s Sweepstakes award.

But, the awards are only a part of heading to convention. There are also plenty of seminars aimed at helping us and other newspapers improve in their coverage, picture taking, ad sales and other areas. There are also round table discussions and brainstorming sessions as well, and the opportunity to network with other newspapers.

At the Independent Record, we know there’s always opportunity for improvement and the annual WPA convention provides that. We bring back information to use here, in order to better tell the story of the happenings in Hot Springs County.