Travel & FAQ
Below are some answers to frequently asked questions, plus information about hotel accommodations and travel.
We’ll host this year’s Independent News Sustainability Summit from September 3-5, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch at 315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, MO.
We have reserved a block of rooms at the Hyatt at a discounted rate of $179 per night. Book your room using this link to ensure you receive the discounted rate. This room block will be available until we sell out or until August 12. (Update as of August 20: We have just a few rooms remaining for September 2, 3, and 4. The hotel is sold out on September 5.)
Additional FAQs are below. Please email summit@lionpublishers.com if you have any other questions that have not been addressed. We’ll continue to update this page closer to the event date!
VENUE and Transportation
We will host the 2025 Independent News Sustainability Summit from September 3-5, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch at 315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, MO.
The LION Awards Ceremony & Dinner will be held on the evening of September 3, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch at 315 Chestnut St., St. Louis, MO.
MetroLink is a light rail system that serves the Greater St. Louis area. You can use the Red Line from Lambert Airport Terminal 1 to Shiloh Scott, get off at 8th & Pine, and then it's a six-minute walk to the Hyatt Regency St. Louis.
Uber and Lyft services are also available in the city.
The hotel does not provide a shuttle to and from the airport.
Yes! Self-park and valet are both available.
Self-park at the Hyatt Regency garage:
- Cost = $40 overnight fee, plus in/out privileges
- Inform the desk upon check-in if you have self-parked your vehicle
Valet overnight:
- Cost = $50, plus in/out privileges
Self-park at Mansion House garage:
- Located directly behind the Hyatt at 330 N 4th St. Please enter at Mansion House Apartments
- This garage does not offer in/out privileges, and has a 6'2" clearance
- Rates are subject to change during special events and cannot be billed to your Hyatt hotel room
Yes! We have reserved a block of rooms at the Hyatt at a discounted rate of $179 per night. Book your room using this link. This room block will be available until we sell out or until August 12, 2025.
REGISTRATION
You can attend just the Summit, just the LION Awards, or both! If you want to attend both, you must purchase a Summit ticket and a LION Awards ticket.
Early bird: Early bird pricing is available for members and non-members for the first 100 registrants or until May 30. To help ensure a fully equitable process, each organization may purchase up to two early bird Summit tickets. Early bird tickets are nonrefundable. If you plan to send a group larger than two and register during our early bird promotion, you can select two early bird tickets along with any additional standard tickets you may need (that's why they are available at the same time).
Standard: Standard pricing is available for members and non-members until the event date or we sell out. Standard tickets are eligible for our refund policy.
If you're uncertain whether you will be able to attend the event, we suggest buying the standard Summit ticket, as it's covered by our refund policy. If you're a Summit speaker, sponsor, special guest, etc., you will register at the standard rate and then use the appropriate discount code provided by LION staff.
Please note: LION members save 30 percent on both early bird and standard Summit tickets. This 30 percent discount does not expire and is available to members throughout the entire Summit registration period. Active members can access the code by logging into the LION member portal and clicking "Member Benefits" in the toolbar, which will take you to the “Discounted Products & Services” page. Scroll down and you’ll find “2025 Summit.” Click into “2025 Summit,” and the discount code will be at the top of the page in green. You can also use this direct link, which will prompt you to log in to view the discount code.
With questions, contact Hayley Milloy, LION's marketing manager, at hayleymilloy@lionpublishers.com.
If you’ve attended both of our previous Summits, you’ll likely remember that we didn’t limit the number of early bird tickets available; we simply set a deadline for when you needed to purchase them.
While we wish we could continue this practice, we recognize that offering 'unlimited' early bird tickets was unsustainable for our organization — and would ultimately hinder our ability to consistently produce this large-scale conference. As an organization that touts sustainability and the implementation of sustainable, scalable practices, we had to find another solution. That’s why, for the 2025 Summit, we chose a more affordable mid-sized city in hopes that overall attendance costs (travel, lodging, etc.) will be lower for our attendees.
We aim to make this event affordable for our attendees, so we take cost-saving measures seriously. We also need to ensure we can continue producing the Summit for years to come. With questions or concerns about ticket structure changes, please contact summit@lionpublishers.com. We’re happy to hear from you.
The 30 percent discount for both early bird and standard Summit tickets is reserved for staff members of active LION member organizations. You should see your news business listed on this page if you are an active LION member. If you don’t see your news business listed, please contact membership@lionpublishers.com.
If a LION member organization has no full-time staff, up to two members of its board of directors can register at the LION member rate. If it has only one full-time staff member, one board member can register at the LION member rate. When there are two or more full-time staff members, board members are not eligible for the member rate. Board committees (outside the BOD) and advisory boards do not qualify for this exception. We appreciate your understanding, as we have limited tickets available!
Active members can access the code by logging into the LION member portal and clicking "Member Benefits" in the toolbar, which will take you to the “Discounted Products & Services” page. Scroll down and you’ll find “2025 Summit.” Click into “2025 Summit,” and the discount code will be at the top of the page in green. You can also use this direct link, which will prompt you to log in to view the discount code.
With questions, contact Hayley Milloy, LION's marketing manager, at hayleymilloy@lionpublishers.com.
If a registrant does not use a discount code but is eligible for one, they can contact summit@lionpublishers.com to request a partial refund as long as the request is within two weeks (14 days) of the ticket purchase date. After two weeks, we cannot accommodate partial refund requests.
No, your Summit ticket only provides access to the Summit sessions. You must purchase an additional $100 ticket to attend the LION Awards Ceremony & Dinner.
Absolutely! Even if you can’t attend in person, we encourage you to participate in the 2025 LION Sustainability Awards. And if you win a LION Award (or several!), our hosts can read a statement on your behalf (collected in advance from all LION Awards finalists).
Yes, we intend to provide travel reimbursement to a select number of LION members to help cover travel expenses (lodging and/or flights). We will share more details on that soon.
Yes, of course! There is no age minimum, and anyone with a ticket is welcome to attend.
Yes, we will give complimentary Summit tickets to confirmed session speakers. If you purchase a ticket and later commit to being a speaker, we will refund your ticket.
Yes, we will provide complimentary LION Awards tickets to LION Awards finalists. One complimentary ticket will be given per organization, even if an organization is nominated for multiple awards.
We will offer full refunds up to 30 days before the event starts on standard Summit tickets and LION Awards tickets (please note that early bird Summit tickets are nonrefundable). If you request a refund for your ticket because your ability to attend has changed, we will refund the cost of the ticket; we will not refund the original service/processing fee. If you request a refund for your ticket because we are providing you with a complimentary ticket (for speakers or sponsors, for example), we will refund the total cost of the ticket plus the service/processing fee (please note this exception still excludes early bird tickets!).
No, tickets are non-transferable.
When you register for the Summit, you will have the opportunity to indicate whether you would like to access, and be included in, our attendee list that is shared with fellow attendees via the conference app, Whova. If you choose to opt in, once the app goes live (about a month before the event), you will be able to view the complete attendee list, browse attendee profiles, and network with others. Your email and cell phone number will remain hidden from other attendees in the app. Additionally, LION will never share its members’ or attendees’ personal contact information with vendors or any other third party.
PROGRAMMING
Your Summit ticket includes three buffet lunches (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday), beverage service throughout each day (coffee, hot tea, and assorted soft drinks), and access to the LION Awards Social Hour (one drink ticket for assorted beer, wine, mixed drinks, and non-alcoholic beverages). Your ticket to the LION Awards includes a plated dinner.
- Leaders of independent news publications: Here are our membership criteria for independent news. We define a leader as a CEO, executive director, founder, publisher, editor, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, or an equivalent title.
- Anyone who works for an independent news publication: Attendees have told us that sending team members who work on the business side has been a valuable experience for them.
- Supporters of independent news publications: This includes vendors who serve publishers, news funders and donors, and those who work for other journalism-support organizations.
We’ll share a more complete schedule in the coming months, but for now, here’s a sense of how we’re structuring the event:
Wednesday, September 3
- Registration will open at 9 a.m. and remain open until 4 p.m.
- Keynotes, workshops, and breakout sessions will run from approximately 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
- LION Awards Social Hour will begin at 5:30 p.m.
- LION Awards Ceremony & Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 4
- Registration will open at 9 a.m. and remain open until 4 p.m.
- Wellness Activity (optional, limited attendance) available at 9 a.m.
- Keynotes, workshops, and breakout sessions will run from approximately 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
- After-hours events (various, timing TBD, stay tuned!)
Friday, September 5
- Registration will open at 9 a.m. and remain open until 11 a.m.
- Keynotes, workshops, and breakout sessions will run from approximately 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- Conference concludes at 1:30 p.m.
During registration, you will be asked to create a Whova account. The app will go live about a month before the event, and we'll notify all attendees about downloading and using it then. In the meantime, you can check out this helpful Whova user guide, and please get in touch with Hayley Milloy, LION's marketing manager, with any and all questions about using this new platform!
Pitches are now closed as of April 2 at 8 p.m. ET, and we look forward to sharing our complete schedule with you in early August. Many thanks to all who submitted interest in speaking!
We will not livestream or record sessions; however, we will provide a written summary of the overarching event. If members tell us that a session was particularly beneficial, we will consider creating a News Entrepreneur Academy course that will be available to all LION members.
We encourage you to bring a laptop, iPad, notebook, or other device to take notes. As we develop our agenda, attendees will be notified in advance if a session requires any preparation.
Yes, currently, all LION-organized conference events will take place at the hotel. As we update our schedule, we might have additional organized events off-site.
We suggest business casual attire for the Summit and cocktail attire for the LION Awards. That being said, your comfort is the biggest priority, so please dress in whatever makes you feel best!
HEALTH AND SAFETY
LION strives to host inclusive and accessible events that allow all individuals, including those with disabilities, to fully engage. When you purchase a ticket to the Summit and/or LION Awards, you will see a question regarding accommodations. If you need to elaborate on that request, have a question about accommodations, or anything of the sort, please contact Hayley Milloy, LION’s marketing manager, at hayleymilloy@lionpublishers.com.
The main entrance to the Hyatt Regency St. Louis is fully accessible at 315 Chestnut St, St. Louis, MO 63102.
Our COVID-19 Policy is informed by guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for St. Louis, MO. If CDC recommendations change before or during our event, LION will inform registrants of that change.
We encourage attendees to wear masks if they feel comfortable doing so. The Summit and LION Awards will be a mask-friendly environment, and negative comments or behavior toward attendees wearing masks will not be tolerated. We also encourage attendees to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. However, proof of vaccination will not be required to attend the event.
We encourage attendees to self-test for COVID-19 before traveling to the Summit. If attendees have tested positive for COVID-19 or have symptoms that prevent them from safely traveling to the event, we ask that they stay home and do not attend. LION will refund the cost of their ticket if they cannot attend due to COVID-19.
When you purchase a ticket to the Summit and/or LION Awards, you will see a question regarding food allergies. When you check in to the Summit and/or LION Awards on-site, you will be given specific instructions on navigating food safety during the event.
If there is an emergency, we will email you directly using the email you gave us during registration. We will also send notifications through Whova, our event app, which we encourage all attendees to download when it becomes available (about a month before the event). You'll receive communications from us about downloading and using the app.
If you find yourself in a situation where you need legal support, we recommend contacting the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The Reporters Committee Legal Hotline is available to journalists and media lawyers during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. ET). Outside normal business hours, you can reach them in an emergency — for example, if a journalist has been arrested or faces an imminent threat of arrest — by calling 1-800-336-4243. RCFP also has a new Immigration Reporting Legal Guide.