Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) 2025 Conference

Creativity has always been about adaptation—whether painters feared the camera or travel writers faced the rise of short-form video and AI. In this keynote, photographer and storyteller Andy Austin explores how to evolve, capture attention, and thrive in an ever-changing media landscape.

We'll also announce who won the and Committee Volunteer of the Year and Outstanding Board Member of the Year!

People in the search mindset rarely stay in a single lane. They weave in and out of many platforms – not only search engines – to find stories and information. As an outdoor communicator, this can create overwhelm - or opportunity. This presentation can help writers, DMOs, vendors, publications, and outdoor communicators of all kinds to navigate the changing search/digital landscape in a digestible, easy-to-process way.

With Google’s long-time dominance, writers and publications have put all their eggs in the SEO basket. But the reality is much messier - and it's changing in real-time as AI changes how people discover information. This talk will tackle the fast-changing search landscape, and propose a more simple way to think about where you should focus your energy to make your work discoverable.