A hands-on, team-based competition for local news sales and revenue professionals.
Use AI.
Build the pitch.
Win the room.
Friday, August 28, 2026
Sales, revenue, publishers and leaders
Limited team slots
Beginners are welcome. The point is to learn by building something real.
Select AI Sales Games during registration so we can build teams before convention.
Teams respond to a realistic client brief, shape a pitch with AI tools, and present live for the room.
Use AI to support stronger sales research, strategy and proposals.
Work with a team on a fast-moving client brief and build under real constraints.
Shape a five-minute pitch around products, audiences and community impact.
Present to the room and compete for AI Sales Games bragging rights.
Sales participants still get the stories, ideas and connections of Friday's programming before splitting off for build time.
Kevin introduces the rules, tools, client brief format and AI-assisted pitch-building approach.
Teams break out to research, shape and build their pitch while the main convention continues with Solution Roundtables.
Teams deliver five-minute presentations. The room votes live, and the champion is named.
Competition format: Bring your team or sign up as an individual. Teams will be formed around a realistic sales opportunity, with space for advertising, sponsorship, underwriting, events, newsletters and broader revenue ideas.
The format works for traditional advertising teams, public media underwriting, nonprofit revenue, events, newsletters and small-newsroom leaders who do a little bit of everything.
Reps, managers and directors building stronger proposals.
Leaders who sell, coach or guide revenue strategy.
Events, newsletters, membership and partnership teams.
Teams shaping underwriting, sponsorship or earned revenue.
Leaders wearing several hats who want practical tools they can use.
Understand a client opportunity.
Shape a pitch around audience, product and business goals.
Build clearer proposals faster.
Make owned media, print, digital, newsletters, events or underwriting more compelling.
Present ideas with confidence and creativity.
Facilitator Kevin Berrier will lead an online AI training webinar in early August. The session will introduce practical AI sales tools and show how AI can support sales research, client insight and proposal development.
A laptop or tablet if possible.
A phone for live voting.
Familiarity with your organization's products, audiences and opportunities.
A willingness to try tools, compare ideas and work quickly.
Team leaders should bring a laptop and relevant sales materials.
AI Sales Games is included with Local News Solutions registration. Because team capacity is limited, participants should select the AI Sales Games sessions during registration.
There is no separate AI Sales Games price, but it is not meant to be a walk-up session. Selecting it in registration helps us plan teams, team leaders and the early-August orientation.
Kevin works at the intersection of local media sales, advertising strategy and practical AI adoption. At Local News Solutions 2026, he will help Colorado sales and revenue teams use AI to strengthen proposals while staying grounded in the products, audiences and relationships that make local media valuable.
Team leaders: CPA will identify leaders in advance based on registration response and provide more detailed guidance before convention.
