If you didn’t know already, we are partnering with the folks at HHR Media this year to bring the most amazing sports blogging track ever to BlogWorld & New Media Expo.  The sports blogging conference is aptly named Blogs With Balls and drew more than 300 attendees to their first event a couple of months ago in NYC.

Without further adieu here is the preliminary schedule:

PANEL 1:  CONNECTING DIRECTLY

A discussion about what athletes being able to speak directly to their fanbase via blogs & Twitter means to sports media, bloggers, and fans.

• Mike Germano (President, Carrot Creative)
• Pete Vlastelica (CEO, Yardbarker.com)
• Ron Wechsler (VP Series Production and Development, ESPN)
• John Thornton  (NCAA All-American, Cincinnati Bengal, Founder & Co-CEO:  JockBiz.com)
• Moderator:  Matt Sebek

PANEL 2: THE FUTURE OF SPORTS MEDIA

A discussion between traditional journalists and bloggers about the rise in prominence of sports blogs as members of the media and how the two parties can work together to compliment one another instead of taking an adversarial tone.

• Bethlehem Shoals  (FreeDarko, Bloomsbury USA, The Sporting News’ The Baseline)
• Matt Ufford (WithLeather/Kissing Suzy Kolber)
• Kevin Blackistone (Around the Horn/FanHouse/Dallas Morning News)
• Amy K. Nelson (ESPN.com)

• Moderator:  Dan Shanoff

PANEL 3: ACCESS
Certain teams and leagues have embraced bloggers and recognized their value in promoting their respective brands.  Several have allotted bloggers many of the same privileges they do member of the traditional media.   Many, however, are still guarded and protective of their product in this regard.  We discuss the pros and cons of the various (policies and how to deal with them).

• Mitch Germann (VP Communications, Sacramento Kings)
• Patrick Wixted (New Media Strategies)
• John Kralis (RedsArmy.com)
• Greg Wyshynski (Puck Daddy)

• Moderator:  Dan Levy

PRESENTATION 1:  BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT:  BUILDING YOUR BRAND & GROWING YOUR BOTTOM LINE

A presentation from the Sports Illustrated Group on strategies you can use to leverage your voice and your audience to reach marketers, advertisers and editors.

• Jeff Griffing, VP of Ad Sales for the Sports Illustrated Group
• Paul Fichtenbaum, Managing Editor SI.com
• Ken Fuchs, VP SI Digital

PRESENTATION/Q & A:  STATE OF THE UNION
3 of the top sports bloggers on the web talk about the direction the genre has taken, the direction it’s headed, and answer questions from attendees.

• Jamie Mottram (Yahoo!)
• JE Skeets (Ball Dont Lie/The Basketball Jones)
• AJ Daulerio  (Deadspin)

Believe me when I say this is just the begging. The HHR guys have some amazing surprise guests lined up that we will be announcing soon.

Stay tuned to the blog over the next several days for more announcements for Blogs With Balls and the rest of the BlogWorld & New Media Expo conference sessions.