2026 ASJA Conference Day 1 Recap: Satisfying That Community Craving

When ASJA surveyed writers recently about how business was in the first quarter of 2026, about 40% said it was worse than expected due to losing clients or projects.

For writers attending the 2026 ASJA virtual conference, “Freelancers’ Blueprint: Navigating a Shifting Landscape,” April 20-24, the event offered an antidote to that in the form of guidance, resources, and community–which ASJA President Darcy Lewis called “the word of the year.”

“It is a mean, cold industry out there, and aren’t we lucky to have found each other and to have found a way to connect,” Lewis said during the ASJA Year in Review session at the end of day one of the three-day event.

Other sessions on Monday, April 20, covered a variety of timely topics in content marketing writing, journalism, and books, including figuring out how to subcontract, using AI ethically, and becoming an untamed writer.

Keep reading to find out more.

Building a Personal Brand That Pays

Keynote speaker Jayde I. Powell, a social media strategist and self-described “creatorpreneur,” kicked off the conference by explaining ways to define a personal brand, which she interprets as “how people describe you when you’re not in the room.”

“Visibility is the new pitch,” Powell said. “It’s no longer just about cold outreach. It’s about having visibility so that you can get the opportunities that you desire.”

Powell’s four-pillar strategy to monetize a personal brand is called “PAID,” which stands for positioning, authority, influence, and deals. She emphasizes building an authority ecosystem with a network of platforms based on a writer’s energy and capacity, with 80% of social media content focused on primary pillars and 20% on secondary interests.

Attendees received a worksheet to create their own personal brand statement, which Powell called a “north star” for professional identity. She also advocates for using AI tools to automate administrative tasks and free up time for creative work.

Content Marketing Writing: Subcontracting; Breaking Into Trade and Association Pubs

During a session called “Subcontracting: Getting & Giving Help As Needed,” ASJA members Christina Hernandez Sherwood, Rachel C. Murphy, Charmaine Seitz, and Kim Kobersmith discussed how to manage ongoing capacity issues by delegating work. Both the writer who is subcontracting work out and the writer taking work as a subcontractor can maintain quality and consistency by sourcing talent and looking for opportunities through professional networks like the ASJA Facebook page.

“It’s important to think of it as a symbiotic relationship,” Seitz said. “As the person who’s asking the subcontractor to do work, you’re also bringing something to this situation; you’re bringing the business. And they are bringing their added expertise.”

In a session titled “Breaking In: Trade and Association Magazines,” Chris Durso, Preeti Vasishtha, and ASJA member Melanie Padgett Powers educated attendees about how to approach writing for associations, including societies, academies, and federations. 

According to Durso, the goal is to help the publication elevate the profession. “For many associations, the publication is the only interaction that 75% to 80% of the membership is ever going to have with the association,” Durso said. “They won’t go to the annual meeting. They won’t do a webinar. They won’t volunteer for a committee or a board.” 

Journalism: AI, Self Care, and Other Tools of the Trade 

Journalists Jennifer Chowdhury and Ryan Fonseca and author and Source of Sources sourcing service founder Peter Shankman tackled the state of the industry in their “The Journalist’s Toolkit” session. All three encouraged freelancers to master time management and distinguish themselves from “intellect influencers” through rigorous sourcing and unique perspectives.

“The experience you have of being on a beat for years, I don’t think that’s replaceable,” Chowdhury said.

The panelists advocated for prioritizing exercise and self-care to manage the isolation and stress of freelance work. They also shared how they use AI tools to generate summaries and get started on a draft. But the technology is only as good as the input, Shankman warned.

“If you are a terrible writer, if you are a terrible communicator, if you are a terrible marketer, advertiser, AI will allow you to be terrible at those things at scale, right?” Shankman said. “It is not going to make you an incredible writer overnight.”

Books: Tactics for Finishing Your Book

For the session, “How to Be an Untamed Writer So You Can Start (And Finally Finish!) Your Book,” journalist, essayist, author, and novelist Carolyn Dawn Flynn and ASJA member Randy Dotinga explored the art of approaching work with a “feral, curious, and yearning mind” to discover original ways into a story.

Flynn doesn’t believe in writer’s block. “Do surgeons get surgeon’s block? If there’s any blocking, it’s because you’re doing the blocking,” she said. “The good news here is, if you’re doing the blocking, you can do the unblocking.”

Flynn walked attendees through three levels of moving from an idea to a finished book:

• The “raw, wild beauty” draft
• The “make this make sense to me” draft
• The alchemized draft 

Flynn also referred to a list of vows to make before taking the untamed approach. “Ideas just want to be heard. So I would just make that a vow … that you will always hear your ideas and you will honor them by putting them on the page,” she said.

ASJA Year in Review: Adding Value to Our Community

As part of the ASJA Year in Review, Lewis spoke with ASJA Vice President Gabrielle Gayagoy Gonzalez and Cameron Curtis, founder and CEO of C2 Association Strategies, which became ASJA’s association management company in June 2025. 

Associations across the board are seeing a decline in traditional engagement and membership, Curtis said.

“The weight of the world is on everyone’s shoulders,” she said. “So it’s making it harder for people to engage at a volunteer level or at a member level. People are choosing where to spend their time and their money and having to focus more on the value proposition.”

Other ASJA news shared in the review:

As part of ASJA’s ongoing efforts to improve its value proposition, Gonzalez announced that the organization will launch a student level of membership in fall 2026 to build a pipeline for the next generation of writers. 

According to Lewis, the organization’s leadership is revisiting its annual conference strategy to balance the value of in-person connection with the need for geographic and financial accessibility. “We are looking at ways to host another in-person conference and to make it meaningful for everybody and to look at what’s innovative right now,” she said. “What are other organizations doing for their conferences? How are they engaging people? How are they providing the same experience but maybe at a lower cost? Because we know people are struggling. So what is going to have that FOMO factor that will make people come and engage?”

The 2026 ASJA virtual conference and Client Connections 2026 continues through Friday, April 24. To stay up to speed with ASJA news and events, subscribe to the ASJA Weekly newsletter, read the ASJA Confidential blog, or follow ASJA on Facebook or LinkedIn. 

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Mitzi S. Morris is a freelance journalist, content writer, and copywriter helping editors and marketers in business, health care, and education execute content strategies. The Kentucky resident spent nearly 20 years in television news before starting her freelance career. You can view Mitzi’s work on her website and LinkedIn.