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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Baseball. Beaches. Boating. All great signs that summer has finally arrived. While vacations and recreation are in full swing, summer is also the perfect time of year to take some time to think about what’s working well, and what we could do differently to increase the value that our Circulation and Audience Development departments deliver to our organizations. And as our business continues to evolve, thinking of areas of opportunity will require Circulation leaders to have an understanding of the myriad resources and information available to us. Providing a forum for sharing information on industry practices and updates, and introducing industry experts to the NEACE membership, are the goals of NEACE.
This year’s Spring Conference, hosted by Chairman of the Board, Steve Milone (Eagle Tribune Publishing), was an assembly of topics rich in content and expertise. If you had the opportunity to participate in the conference, you’ll recall an impactful introduction and industry perspective by Monitor Publishing Publisher Geordie Wilson, an update on the abundant resources provided by NAA (Andy Eick, USA TODAY), and the latest updates on ABC Bylaws (Diane Szubrych, ABC). Later in the day we were privileged to have three area publishers participate in a panel covering three critical topics: The Evolution of the Paid Newspaper Model Online (Terry Williams, The Telegraph/Nashua), The Changing Role of Circ Directors (Tim Ryan, The Westerly Sun), and Free Newspaper Models (Mark Guerringue, The Conway Daily Sun). Closing out our first day was a data-rich presentation by Kathleen O’Hara (Tribune Companies) on pre-print optimization and circulation’s role in reaching targeted households, followed by Don Waterman’s (Ottaway Newspapers) direct insight on actionable initiatives that Circulation leaders will need to embrace to standout and add value in the new department model. Our second day led with a very timely update from NAA’s John Murray on data compiled by NAA related to audience development and new revenue opportunities. One of the big changes to NEACE this year was the addition of a Board Position responsible for Scan Based Trading, a critical practice impacting our single copy business. To our benefit, Jamie Nee (Boston Globe) was elected to the SBT Chair, and with that Jamie presented an update on SBT along with key metrics. To close out our conference, Dan Schaub (San Francisco Bee) made a motivating appeal to everyone in the room to elevate our energy for, and commitment to moving our industry forward. Those of you at the conference surely have your “green leadership cards” close by – a great reminder of the key leadership elements required every day.
I thank each of our speakers for sharing ideas and information to help us drive successful departments, thanks to those of you in attendance for your lively participation, to your organizations for supporting your attendance at the event, and many thanks to our sponsors and advertisers for your significant role in supporting NEACE. If you have not had a chance to review the 2009 Buyer’s Guide, please refer to it when making purchasing decisions.
Finally, thanks in advance to all of you for joining me in what I hope will be a productive year ahead. I hope NEACE members will take advantage of the year-round offerings, which will include the Fall Conference, Thursday Nov. 6th at the Hotel Northampton, special training conferences, and the Spring Conference to be held at the Newport Marriott May 23rd – May 25th.
Please contact me with any suggestions or feedback at fmagwood@usatoday.com. I look forward to our time together this year.
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