In 2026, we’re focused on evolving our industry. It’s time to bring together fundraising, programming, marketing, and leadership to build resilient, audience-first models, and we want your help in sharing that message.
We invite you to submit your innovative, sustainable, and creative solutions at this year’s conference, happening July 8-10, 2026, in Chicago.
You don’t need to have “solved” public media to be a presenter in a session. Whether you’ve found a clever way to automate a task, a new way to talk to donors, or even a project that didn’t go as planned but taught you a ton—your colleagues want to hear about it. We’re looking for stories from the front lines, told by the people doing the work.
What makes a great proposal?
- Real Talk: Share a specific project, experiment, or workflow.
- Your Perspective: We want to hear from every market size, every role, and every background.
- Peer-to-Peer: Think of it as “teaching a friend” rather than “giving a lecture.”
Check out an example of a fully designed session proposal.
While writing, consider the following conference priorities:
- Key Topics: Revenue generation, audience development, organizational health, and community connections.
- Diverse Voices: Representation from Asian, Black, Indigenous, LatinX, and other People of Color, plus perspectives from leaders and staffers.
- Station Variety: Reflecting different sizes, formats, and markets.
- Clear Takeaways: 2-3 measurable and achievable learning goals.
- Engagement: Interactive elements to involve attendees.
The deadline to submit session proposals closes on February 13, 2026.
For business partners and vendors: We welcome your proposals! Please ensure they highlight diverse perspectives (e.g., station or client voices) and avoid direct product pitches. Attendees value in-depth information, practical applications, and real-world case studies over sales-oriented content.
The deadline to submit session proposals closed on February 13, 2026.
Learn more about our conference content selection process
A team of Greater Public advisors, staff, and contractors curates the conference content. This process begins with the public call for proposals, happening January 20 – February 13, 2026. Anyone can submit a session proposal. Once the deadline ends, the conference content team receives all submissions at once.
The content team then evaluates and rates every submission with the other advisors and staff in their learning area. The content team selects proposals with the following conference priorities in mind:
- Key Topics: Revenue generation, audience development, organizational health, and community connections.
- Diverse Voices: Representation from Asian, Black, Indigenous, LatinX, and other People of Color, plus perspectives from leaders and staffers.
- Station Variety: Reflecting different sizes, formats, and markets.
- Clear Takeaways: 2-3 measurable and achievable learning goals.
- Engagement: Interactive elements to involve attendees.
Typically, the content team receives approximately 100 session proposals! This year’s conference will feature approximately 30-40 sessions, so, unfortunately, we cannot provide a slot to every submitter. However, our content team works hard to group session proposals that have a common theme, bringing more voices to one session.
Business partners or vendors are invited to submit proposals or ideas, but should remember to focus their session on station attendees. Avoid promoting and/or selling your product directly. Attendees consistently tell us they don’t want pitches. Instead, provide thorough information about how a tool or service is used, along with user case studies.