Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) 2026 Conference

This panel brings together creatives who’ve cracked the code on social media, turning posts into platforms and passion projects into sustainable careers. From building an authentic voice, developing a visual style, growing a loyal following, promoting work to the right audience, and exploring real ways to monetize online, our speakers will share practical strategies to level up your social media game.

Colleen Miniuk AKA Bubbles of "Dear Bubbles" | From Followers to Funders: Powering Your Storytelling Through Patreon
Are you looking to generate passive, but sustainable, income from your words, photographs, and videos? Outdoor photographer, writer, and educator Colleen Miniuk will share how tapping into Patreon can transform casual followers into a loyal—and contributing—community to help power your storytelling. Drawing from her real-world experience with her Dear Bubbles blog, she’ll walk through how to start a Patreon as a creator, develop a value-driven membership model, deliver content behind a paywall, and avoid pitfalls along the way. You’ll hear practical tactics to grow recurring revenue while amplifying your voice and deepening your connection with your audience.

Chris Paparo AKA the Fish Guy | More Than Monetization: The Real Value of Social Media
When he began his social media journey, like most creators, Chris Paparo had grand dreams of making piles of money by doing nothing more than posting about his wildlife encounters. Simple, right? Through a lot of hard work, he met the criteria to be monetized on various social media platforms, but the financial return was nowhere near what he had imagined.
However, Chris found something far more valuable online--community. By sharing authentic content, he built a tight-knit community of followers who connected with his work. His speaking engagements went from one or two per month to two or three per week, fishing lodges and dive resorts started inviting him to host trips to their destinations, and when he lost his drone and was not in a financial position to replace it, his community stepped up. In less than two days he had a brand-new one. In this session, Chris will share how building a community became far more valuable than a check from Meta.

Lina Lintemuth | Mastering LinkedIn Thought Leadership for Outdoor Media and Outdoor PR Pros
If you’re an outdoor writer, this session is for you: we’re customizing our examples so you can learn how to amplify your articles and interviews through LinkedIn, and drive outdoor trend conversations to stay top of mind with potential sources for your stories, hosts for press trips or to land new assignments.

Valuing Your Work and Negotiating Fair Compensation as a Professional Writer

Writers are often told that exposure is payment enough. But professional storytelling, whether through journalism, essays, books, photography, podcasts, branded content, or public speaking, is skilled labor built on years of experience, creativity, and hard-earned expertise. Your work has value. Learning how to advocate for that value is essential to building a sustainable career.

In this practical and candid workshop, award-winning author, journalist, and media producer James Edward Mills will lead a conversation about the business side of creative work. Participants will explore how to realistically evaluate the worth of their time, talent, and intellectual property while developing the confidence to negotiate fair compensation for writing assignments, speaking engagements, consulting work, partnerships, and multimedia projects.
Drawing from more than three decades of experience in publishing, outdoor media, brand partnerships, public speaking, and nonprofit collaboration, Mills will share real-world strategies for setting rates, navigating difficult conversations, identifying hidden labor, and avoiding the common trap of undervaluing your work. The session will also examine the unique challenges facing freelance creatives in outdoor and travel media, where passion is too often used to justify underpayment.

Topics will include:

• Establishing professional rates and fee structures
• Understanding the true cost of freelance work
• Negotiating contracts and deliverables
• Knowing when to say yes and when to walk away
• Building long-term professional relationships without sacrificing your value
• Leveraging expertise, lived experience, and niche authority into sustainable opportunities

Whether you are an emerging freelancer or an established storyteller looking to strengthen your business practices, this workshop will provide practical tools and honest insight to help you protect your work, advocate for yourself, and get paid what you’re worth.