I wrote this column whereas ready at Delta gate B5 in Cleveland Hopkins Worldwide Airport. I used to be on my approach dwelling to Atlanta, having spent 4 fantastic days in downtown Cleveland for the annual NABJ conference. Half household reunion, half networking occasion, NABJ is a must-do for me, each personally and professionally. One other must-do each time I journey to a different metropolis is grabbing the native newspaper. The Sunday Cleveland Plain-Vendor was out there at one of many airport shops, and I made positive to get a duplicate to learn whereas I waited for my flight to board.
On web page A4 within the information part was a narrative on the NABJ conference, its headline centered on this yr’s conference having fewer sponsors than the Chicago conference in 2024. Together with practically three dozen fewer company sponsors, one thing else was totally different this yr. The road to register was shorter than I remembered. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and was instantly capable of stroll as much as a volunteer and obtain my conference credential. It might be argued that the panels, even the one I used to be a speaker on, had been properly attended, however it felt totally different. Not as packed as they had been in Chicago, for instance.
The Chicago conference set an all-time NABJ conference attendance document with 4,600 attendees. The yr earlier than in Birmingham, Alabama, 3,800 attendees made the journey south to participate within the revelry. This yr in Cleveland, it didn’t look or really feel prefer it had up to now two years. There was a reported 3,096 folks registered for the conference, together with sponsors and exhibitors. These numbers will work for Cleveland in 2025, however they merely is not going to do for Atlanta in 2026.
What offers, you ask?
Properly, let’s not blame this on the vacation spot. Downtown Cleveland rocks! It’s clear, extraordinarily walkable, and has loads of lodges, eating places, and sights to see. Cleveland was an ideal vacation spot for a conference.
However Numbers don’t lie.
Atlanta is internet hosting the 2026 NABJ conference, and the strain will likely be on the Atlanta Affiliation of Black Journalists (AABJ) to placed on a present just like those Vegas did popping out of the COVID pandemic, Birmingham did a yr after Vegas hosted, and Chicago did final yr. Even with the distraction of a sure then presidential candidate’s look, Chicago was memorable.
Atlanta must be liable for setting new information for attendance, and delivering a renewed vitality in 2026. Working the door and handing out drink tickets throughout the AABJ kickoff social gathering on Saturday evening, the anticipation for the Atlanta conference was greater than palpable. Each different particular person I made contact with mentioned they’re wanting ahead to Atlanta. It rapidly turned the theme of the evening as attendees danced to music by Atlanta-based artists.
Subsequent yr will likely be right here quickly sufficient and Atlanta would be the midst of a yr like no different. A part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will happen at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, together with the semifinals. The voters will select a brand new governor in November and the vast majority of these votes will come from Atlanta’s Fulton County. And the Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists will maintain its annual conference in downtown Atlanta.
There’s just one Atlant and regardless of the conference having taken place in Atlanta in 1984, 1994, and 2006, the yr of our Lord 2026 would be the first of its sort, and like no different earlier than it.
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