The Maine Press Association’s Annual Fall Conference will be held this year on October 21 at the Atlantic Oceanside Hotel & Event Center in Bar Harbor. A full day of conference events is planned, including the Hall of Fame Inductee Luncheon, annual Scholarship Auction, and the 2017 Better Newspaper Contest Awards Dinner & Banquet.

And what about those awards? Judges are being mindful of this week’s deadline for decisions and comments, and have been overwhelming the MPA Office with packages, decisions and wonderful comments. We hope to have the majority of decisions sorted, reviewed and ready to share with members in the next two weeks.

As always, we’ve negotiated a great hotel rate for the nights of Oct. 20-21 for MPA members and guests at Atlantic Oceanside. All rooms held for us have a single king or two queen beds and are in the Main Hotel. The nightly rate is $139.

Guests can make hotel reservations by booking directly online at www.AOBarHarbor.com  (BOOK NOW) and using the MPA Group Code 27348, or by calling the Atlantic Oceanside reservation line at 800-336-2463 and referencing Maine Press Association. Reservation deadline is September 20, 2017. While the hotel will honor the MPA group rate after the reservation deadline, they cannot guarantee room availability.

In the meantime, be on the lookout next week for registration information as well as details about this year’s program and sessions.