Oregon's senior senator, known for his interest in health care, technology and natural-resources issues, will address convention delegates the morning of Saturday, June 16. Before his election to the Senate in 1996, Wyden served 15 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a vote earlier this month, Wyden cosponsored the Feingold-Reid amendment calling for the mandated redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq. In 2002, the Democrat was one of only 23 senators who voted against the authorization of military force in Iraq.

That's the question that will be answered in a classified-track session led by Move.com’s Adam Fine, who will talk about how the web has reshaped the ways people think about buying, selling and valuing properties. Fine will also demonstrate how the web has made real estate a voyeuristic pastime.

Earlier this month, AAN presented the first annual Molly Ivins Award to MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. During the AltWeekly Awards lunch on Friday, June 15, author and radio commentator Hightower will help us to continue to celebrate the memory of his late friend and fellow Texan with a rousing tribute.

It's a nerdy, populist idea: folks in the audience of a lecture often know just as much as the speaker, so why not have everyone contribute? It's called an unconference [wiki], and the idea is to democratize the convention experience. AAN will experiment with an UNconference by hosting a special, free-wheeling session on "Blogging for Journalists," hosted by web director Laura Fries. She'll guide the session with an outline of topics, soliciting best practices contributions from UNconference attendees, and, of course, blogging the results on the community convention blog at Portland2007.AAN.org. To get involved, pop over to the convention blog.

Learn what your peers think by signing up for an editorial critique at the AAN convention in Portland. You'll have an opportunity to sit down with an editor or two from similarly-sized papers and hear how your paper reads. In turn, you will read three issues from their papers and offer the same feedback. If you are interested in participating, contact Richard Karpel at rkarpel (at) aan.org by Friday, June 1.

It's not too late to sign up for the 2007 Golf Outing on June 14. Registration is a snap: Simply send Willamette Week sales rep Andrew Shenker an e-mail and arrange payment in advance or for the day of the tournament. Join Andrew and Musicfest NW Director Trevor Solomon in the Hilton Portland (main building) lobby at 7 a.m. for your 8 a.m. tee time at either Eastmoreland or Heron Lakes Golf Course. The $75-per-person fee includes golf, lunch, refreshments and transportation.

A new feature of the 2007 Convention is the D&P Buzz Lounge. Take advantage of this dedicated area in the Trade Show to network with fellow D&P professionals in a casual atmosphere. Meet colleagues and outside experts during scheduled breaks or use the Lounge to set up informal one-on-one critiques or mentoring sessions. Look for the ad in the Convention Program with more details.