Australia’s fledgling Local & Independent News Association is heading to Far North Queensland for its 2024 conference.

The two-day summit – April 30-May 2 – is being held at the Port Douglas Community Hall in Port Douglas, with member Newsport as local co-host.

Keynote speaker is Tracy Sheen, author of The Digital Guide, who will discuss useful integrations of AI in small newsrooms.

The event will be preceded by a welcome dinner, and two full-day pre-conference workshops, both on April 30.

One of these focuses on Impact Tracking – learn how to demonstrate the impact of your newsroom and set up an impact dashboard – and the other on branded content.

Rosemary D’Amour of Impact Architects (US) and LINA data and insights analyst Zahra Khalid will conduct the Impact Tracking workshop, with Luke Spano (Avid Collective) leading the branded content workshop.

• LINA is looking for a fundraising specialist after welcoming two new members to its team.

Former journalist and media specialist Nell O’Shea Carre has joined as communications officer, and Clare Hastings has been appointed executive support officer, starting next month, after running her own content marketing business for the last few years.

O’Shea Carre recently completed an internship with UNHCR in external relations, and makes humanitarian-focused documentaries in her spare time.

Claire Albrecht and Julia Mendelawitz left full-time roles with LINA at the end of last year.

The group is also looking for experienced subs ahead of the launch of its centralised sub-editing service.