BSC Hosts Annual NDPIO Training Conference
The 2026 Annual North Dakota Public Information Officer Association Training Conference in the Bismarck State College National Energy Center for Excellence. The conference ran from July 13 to July 15. Each day included presentations from media-trained speakers who imparted on attendees the wisdom they had gained from years working in the field.
On the first day of the conference, NDPIO former president Kayli Richards welcomed attendees, and Governor Kelly Armstrong kicked off the conference with a speech. Next, two groups of speakers, Misty Curn and Emily Riedman, and Corey Mock and Craig Felchle, informed conferencegoers of the importance of implementing digital accessibility policies and provided advice to those who are still in the process of adapting to mandated changes.
The information was timely because in 2024, The U.S. Department of Justice released specific standards for digital Title II compliance—in other words, disability standards for the digital spaces of public entities. The department set deadlines for that compliance, which have since been extended to April 26, 2027 for organizations serving more than 50,000 people and April 26, 2028 for those serving less than 50,000 people.
The second day began with a presentation by founder of ViKSTORY Media LLC Anastasiya Bolton on the importance of organizations internalizing their mission statements so they are able to respond to emergencies in a way that aligns with that mission statement.
Next, Safety and Education and Public Information Commander of the North Dakota Highway Patrol Lieutenant Jenna Clawson Huibregtse shared her contributions to the North Dakota Highway Patrol’s social media outreach campaigns. She underscored the merits of putting out more visual content because visuals often make the severity of an issue more
apparent and increase the likelihood that a post will be shared, a process which helps safety messages spread more quickly.
Following Huibregtse’s presentation, the Public Information Manager for the City of Fargo, Archie Ingersoll, was awarded the 2026 Golden Gov Award, a recognition for communicators who have gone above and beyond to support their communities.
Next, Bolton returned to the floor to bring light to the impact details such as word choice and tone can have on the way a public message is received. She also spoke on the benefits that can arise when reporters are not afraid to step outside of their comfort zones and convey information in novel ways.
The Executive Director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, Cecile Wehrman, engaged in a panel discussion with Executive Director of Dakota Media Access, Tom Gerhardt, on news deserts in North Dakota. News deserts are defined as counties that lack a news publication. There are currently three of them in North Dakota, but more counties are at risk of becoming deserts. The conversation was moderated by NDPIO Co-Founder Rob Keller.
On the final day of the conference, the NDPIO had a meeting where they announced that Public Information
Officer for the City of Grand Forks, ND, John Bernstrom, would serve as the new president of the organization, and the communications and marketing director for Dunn County, ND LoAnn Roshau would become the new vice president.
After the meeting, founder of All In Development Company, Karynn Dunn, encouraged attendees to schedule time for themselves outside of work in order to avoid burnout and live a more balanced lifestyle.
Finally, President of Recreation Results LLC Bobbi Nance explored tips for creating messages that draw and keep attention. She advised cutting down on wordiness in emails and social media posts, making crucial information pop out at viewers, and crafting content to be skimable as possible.
The NDPIO was founded in 2021 with the goal of supporting public communicators across North Dakota and in the surrounding region. Conferences like the one hosted by BSC enable public information officers, as well as other private and public communicators, to convene and share their stories, a practice that ultimately results in a greater opportunity for learning.
Next year, the conference will take place at the University of North Dakota, but it will return to BSC in 2028.
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