The early registration is $40 for members of NAHJ, San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists (SSAHJ), Lone Star Emmy and Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals (HAHMP). HAHMP came on board Monday as the sponsor of the closing ceremony.

Early registration for students is $15 and non-NAHJ members are $55. After Friday, registration goes up to $50 for members, $25 for students and $65 for nonmembers, and will be handled onsite. Wednesday is the last day to take advantage of the Southwest Airlines air fare to the conference.

The conference, open to all journalists and students, will feature at least six multimedia sessions, including blogging, podcasting, and digital video for beginners and advanced. We still have a few spots open in the introduction to online video and hands-on video. We’ll also have sessions geared toward Spanish-language media as well as print and broadcast media.

We’ll also look at the impact of the Hispanic community on this year’s presidential elections at the Town Hall meeting on Friday night. And we’ll also have a discussion on how the immigration debate is affecting Latino communities in Texas and nationwide at the plenary Saturday morning.

Gilbert Bailon, the editorial page editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the current president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, will be the featured speaker at the Saturday luncheon.

Sign up today! The registration form is available online at www.NAHJ.org.

The conference hotel is the Quality Inn - San Marcos, 1433 IH 35 North. 512-353-7770 . Room rate at $65.95 + tax per night through Feb. 20. Prices subject to change after Feb. 20. Shuttle buses will take the attendees to and from the campus.

Southwest Airlines is offering a discount rate for people who wish to attend the NAHJ Region 5 Conference in San Marcos. The rate is $50 if you’re flying up to 400 miles, and it’s $100 for those flying 401 miles or more. You have to call to get the discount. You cannot book this special rate online.

To get the discount...
1. call 1-800-435-9792, book your flight and tell the reservations agent that you will be traveling with a GREEN ticket.
2. email Gary Piña of the Star-Telegram gpina@star-telegram.com with your name, address, phone number and email and indicate the airplane ticket price.
3. Gary will forward your information to NAHJ, who will contact you for payment. NAHJ will pay Southwest for the airline tickets. Southwest will then give the tickets to Gary Piña, who will mail them to you.

For more information, Gary Piña, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 469-323-0083 or gpina@star-telegram.com; Federico Subervi, Texas State University, 512-965-5267 or subervi@latinosandmedia.org; or Gustavo Reveles, El Paso Times, 915-546-6133 or greveles@elpasotimes.com