APPLY NOW: Wharton Seminar for Business Journalists

Each year, the National Press Foundation offers two all-expense-paid fellowships to working print and broadcast journalists for the annual Wharton Seminar for Business Journalists, which takes place in October of each year at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The fellowships include full tuition, housing, most meals and round trip transportation. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. on Sept. 4. For more information, please visit the website.

The seminars offer participants an opportunity to expand their knowledge of business by attending courses conducted by leading Wharton faculty, hear guest lectures by business leaders, and compete in an intensive, computer-simulated strategic management exercise. The recipient of the Freddie Mac Foundation fellowship will also receive tutoring on housing and housing finance from a faculty member.

Applications will not be returned. Applicants must submit:

1. a letter stating why they wish to participate
2. a letter of support from a supervisor
3. work sample, a clip or a video/audio tape (copies are acceptable)
4. a brief bio
5. application form (available here).

Friends of the late Frank Holeman, a former associate director of the foundation; the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Freddie Mac Foundation have endowed this NPF fellowship.

Labels: Training

By Abe Peck

Last year, I bit when John Lavine, dean at Medill / Northwestern, asked me to head an initiative to strengthen B2B at the School. After all, the first magazine to which I’d consulted, an in-house magazine for Kodak, was all about business information. I’d worked with Advanstar, Crain’s, Global Sources, Nielsen, Putman, Reed and Vance on B2B projects. And this organization had honored me with its most recent Lifetime Achievement Award. It seemed a great way to stay involved with Medill now that I was heading west as a professor emeritus.

But, of course, this opportunity was about more than vocational therapy for me. John had identified a real opportunity that we had a shot at doing well. Even with the stresses B2B niches face today, the parlous general economy and specific media economics, and the at-times overwhelming whirlwind of technologies involved in how we hunt and gather information, B2B offers many teachable moments and programmatic opportunities. Medill’s unique combination of journalism, integrated marketing communications (IMC) and media management resonates with the entire B2B spectrum, from magazines to corporate web sites. And Medill 2020, our curricular initiative, stresses both cross-platform work and deep understanding of audiences – exactly the targeted niches of B2B.

We had a foundation to build on. Several B2B prototypes in the Magazine Publishing Project had been published commercially. Students in that sequence already write, blog and shoot live assignments for B2B titles. IMC students work on strategic communications campaigns. Undergrad journalism and graduate IMC grad students serve in residencies at venues from American Salon to Editor & Publisher to the B2B information sites of major corporations. And students vie for existing scholarships and awards that commemorate B2B leaders – Crain, Friedman, Gordon, Horton, Pellegrin.

The Media Management Center – half Medill, half Kellogg school of Management – has partnered with American Business Media (ABM) on fast-track executive seminars and Kellogg students have studied possible inflection points when print might best go web. Finally, top managers and editors – from Pat McGovern to Aric Press – continue to serve as McAllister Fellows, raising consciousness about excellence in B2B.

Not bad. But plenty more could be done to enhance Medill’s contribution to the B2B environment.

• We drafted a brochure to outline our strengths and the activities we’d take on during this academic year.
  
  
• We constituted a team of point persons on our various campuses – Evanston and Chicago, but also DC and Qatar. They currently are coming up with “big ideas” for us to consider. We also empowered a specific digital point person, to ensure that we cover portals, podcasts and social networks.
  
  
• Forty faculty and staff attended my Jan. 15, 2009, presentation on the B2B landscape. Given how busy people are, that was especially gratifying.
  
  
• A B2B Intranet will house presentations and best industry practices from trade shows to mobile media, as well as lists of potential guest speakers, human resource staff. Externally, the www.medill.northwestern.edu site will promote our initiative.

To be listed, just contact me at a-peck@northwestern.edu and tell me what you’re best at. Additionally, Feb. 12 and 13 will be Medill B2B Days. Faculty in Evanston, Chicago and Washington will bring practitioners into their classes to expand their definitions of news, information, search and cross-media excellence. I’ll be moderating a Crain lecture panel on the Evanston campus that will discuss B2B trends with Peggy Walker (president, Vance and incoming ABM chair), Gary Slack (CEO, Slack Barshinger), award-winning editor Dan Verdon (DVM Newsmagazine) and Ellis Booker of Crain’s BtoB and BtoB Media. Check www.medill.northwestern.edu for details about this free event.

And on April 8th, the annual Medill Career Fair will included B2B companies offering jobs and internships. If you have openings for tomorrow’s leaders, contact Medill Career Services Director Jim O’Brien at j-obrien@northwestern.edu.

Going forward, we will assess and act on the best of our ideas. Medill merges both practice and research, and we hope to create new knowledge on engagement, peer-to-peer media and other important issues that can empower B2B going forward. The Media Management Center is exploring B2B programs in the Middle East and at other international venues. In terms of old-school media, a book on an aspect of media power (no jinxing it with preliminary disclosure) would include B2B. And we’ll get after more scholarship support for our best students.

I’m the catalyst for this effort through September, and perhaps beyond that. Please let me know how we can work together for better B2B, at a-peck@northwestern.edu.

Abe Peck became director of business to business communication at Medill / Northwestern after 27 years as a professor there. He consults to Advanstar and other B2B media in the U.S., U.K., Hong Kong, China and India, and received the ASBPE Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Labels: Abe Peck, Digital, Education, Journalism, Training

by Martha Spizziri
ASBPE Web Editor

ASBPE has made a special arrangement for its members to attend the Publishing Business Conference & Expo at a discount of $100-$200. The conference, which will take place March 23-25 at the New York Marriott Marquis, will feature more than 100 speakers on topics such as audience development, e-media, editorial, design, business development, production and manufacturing, and the economy.

ASBPE members who register by Jan. 9 will pay only $675 — a $200 savings off the full registration fee of $875. Members who register after Jan. 9 will pay only $775 — a $100 savings.

Members: Learn how to get the discount.

Not an ASBPE member? Consider joining.

Labels: ASBPE Member Discounts, Conferences, Training

Your publisher is asking you to do more for your website, but you'll need training. Unfortunately, obstacles are preventing that training from happening.

According to our poll, What obstacles do you face when it comes to learning new job-related skills?, money proves to be a big issue when it comes to training followed up with time and lack of encouragement.

Keep reading the ASBPE blog to find out free tips and tricks for getting on-the-job training.

Labels: ASBPE Poll, Training

By Amy Fischbach

For the first time in the history of ASBPE, we are having the national conference in my hometown of Kansas City. We've had an active ASBPE chapter here in Kansas City for the past five years, and our city has many vibrant B2B publishing companies. We look forward to having B2B journalists attend the event from all over the country. This year promises to be a hands-on and educational event, with many opportunities for networking and learning experiences.

While budgets are tight at many B2B companies, editors can't afford to miss this year's conference. By attending the event, editors can learn skills to help them to do their jobs more effectively. As an incentive to register early, ASBPE is offering an early-bird discount to attendees who register by July 13. Both members and nonmembers can save $80 off their full conference registration fees by sending in their form by this date. Editors can also save 10 percent if three or more people from the same publication register for the conference.

Don't miss your opportunity to attend the national conference July 24-25 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kansas City. Also, plan to arrive on Wednesday afternoon so you can attend the evening reception at the Intercontinental to celebrate the ASBPE Foundation. As an attendee, you can also go to the 30th annual awards banquet as well as the Royals game on Friday night. Reserve your spot now for this wonderful networking and educational opportunity.

Amy Fischbach is the national vice president of ASBPE and the conference committee chair.

Labels: Amy Fischbach, ASBPE Conference, Training

Chances are your readers are rethinking how they do business to minimize their industry’s environmental impact. Companies' heightened awareness of environmental issues — especially climate change — is impacting editorial coverage and priorities, including the allocation of staff resources.

You'll get some good ideas about how to cover these issues by attending ASBPE's next webinar, The Disruptive Power of Green. Specifically, you'll find out:

• how other B2B reporters are creatively seeking out stories on the environment, sometimes producing reforms that make business more environmentally friendly.
  
  
• how to help your audience navigate new environmental laws.
  
  
• how to help them respond to demand from consumers and business partners for green initiatives.

The discussion will be led by editors at two leading B2B publications — ChemicalWeek’s Robert Westervelt and Ward’s David Zoia — who are breaking new ground in this area.

Webinar Details

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008

Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern time

Where: Your computer. You will need a dial-in number and access code to participate. You will receive the dial-in number and access code in a subsequent e-mail message after you register for this Webinar.

How to register: You can register online for this Webinar at eventcallregistration.com/reg?cid=2927t11. Shortly after you register, you will receive a confirmation of your registration by e-mail that will include the dial-in number and access code.

Charge: $15.00 for all ASBPE members; $35.00 for nonmembers.

Labels: Journalism, Training, Webinars

By Martha Spizziri
ASBPE Web Editor

It's right around the corner, but there's still time to register for Media Bistro's online course Reinventing Print Content for the Web. The class, which starts Monday, June 2, is aimed specifically at magazine writers and editors. You may be able to register even after the official start date; you'll have access to all lectures and transcripts of any class chats you might miss by signing up late. According to the Media Bistro web site, taking the course will teach you:

• what skills you need succeed as a writer or editor for a magazine Web site.
• where the role of editor ends and that of Web producer begins.
• pitfalls to avoid in reworking content for the Web.
  
• which new Web technologies are essential and how to develop them.
• when, how, and why to incorporate user-generated content and how to encourage it.
• how to identify, evaluate, and manage potential content partnerships.
  

A similar Media Bistro class is Writing and Editing for the Web, starting June 10. This course covers a diverse range of material, including how to:

• write great copy for the Web (and why Web writing is different from writing for print).
  
• use Web technology to tell a story.
• avoid common mistakes.
• find reliable information online.
• use bulletin boards and online communities to find story sources and subjects.
• the pros and cons of blogging, and whether you should do it.
• selling yourself and your work on the Web.
  

And if you're in the New York City area, don't miss the June 6 ASBPE New York chapter panel discussion Make Your Job Indispensable: Tales from Four “Survivors.” This event aims to help you develop the multitasking skills you need to keep working as a B2B editor, writer, or freelancer. You’ll learn how:

• B2B editors are managing print, web news, e-newsletters, live events, webinars, and other products.
• enterprising freelance editors and writers are enhancing their multimedia skills and nabbing opportunities to do online slide shows, podcasts, video, blogs, and more.
• editors can manage their time more efficiently and balance priorities using quantitative analysis techniques.
• publishers can develop in-house training programs to provide both staffers and freelancers with the expertise they need.

RSVP deadline is May 30.

Journalistic Skills

The Poynter Institute's NewsU offers Introduction to Ethical Decision-Making, a free on-demand web course that teaches processes and principles you can use to analyze difficult ethical questions you may face as a journalist. A library of case studies and other resources are also available.

Media Bistro's online Interviewing Skills course starts June 3. The class promises to teach journalists conducting story interviews how to:

• ask succinct questions.
• ask the right question at the right time.
• get compelling sound bites.
• relax and let the interview flow.
• handle difficult interviewees.
• land a hard-to-get interview.

Beyond the Inverted Pyramid: Creating Alternative Story Forms is a free on-demand class offered by NewsU that introduces students to nontraditional, more accessible storytelling styles. This line from the course description particularly caught my eye: "You’ll learn to break down information by theme and organize stories to make them snappy and more useful to time-crunched readers [my italics]." B2B editors have been dealing with readers who have no time to read at least since I started my career, long before the advent of the Internet.

Another free on-demand NewsU program, Math for Journalists, consists of six 30-minute modules. The course covers material ranging from math essentials (reducing fractions, for instance) to topics specifically for journalists (calculating costs of living, estimating crowd sizes). NewsU also provides supplementary learning tools, including quizzes, games, and interactive charts and tables.

Finally, NewsU offers two ways to learn about headline writing: Writing Better Print Headlines, a four-week online class next offered on Sept. 8, and Writing Headlines for the Web, a replay of a 2007 webinar that you can access at your leisure.

Copy Editing and Grammar

Media Bistro has a trio of online copy editing courses coming up. In chronological order, they are:

Advanced Copy Editing, starting Sunday, June 1, teaches the finer points of grammar, how to create an in-house style guide, dealing with office politics, and how to know when you've overstepped the bounds with a piece of copy, among other topics.

Intro to Copy Editing starts June 2 and covers common copy editing marks and proofreading symbols, reference materials, preparing for copy-editing tests, and more.

Intermediate Copy Editing starts June 17 and deals with topics such as the relative merits of the popular style guides, how to recast sentences, and the role and responsibilities of the copy editor.

For a general refresher on grammar issues, you might sign up for Grammar, Punctuation, and Meaning, a four-week web course that starts June 23. Or try out the free self-directed on-demand program Cleaning Your Copy from NewsU.

For Freelancers

The Whole Freelancer, starting June 12, is a multiweek online course for those considering a full-time freelance career. It will cover basic skills such as effectively pitching ideas, managing your career, and building relationships with editors.

Advanced Freelancing starts June 18. It's designed for writers who've already had articles published and will cover strategies for selling more articles, getting more money for the articles you write, expanding your stable of publishing venues, breaking into new subject areas, renegotiating when necessary, and other skills.

Labels: Career/Employment, Digital, Editing, Freelancing, Journalism, Martha Spizziri, Training, Webinars, Writing

By Steven Roll
ASBPE President


Start making plans to attend the American Society of Business Publication Editors' (ASBPE) annual conference, July 24-25, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kansas City, Mo.

Each year, the ASBPE conference brings its members together to for two-days of educational sessions, and to announce the winners of its annual editorial excellence competition. ASBPE's 2008 National Editorial Conference event will feature expert panels, keynote speakers, and networking events.

Educational sessions will offer:

• insights regarding editorial multitasking in the digital age.


• hands-on tutorials on how to produce a podcast or video.


• practical tips for rebuilding poorly written articles by industry experts.

Our keynote speaker, Paul Conley — a B2B media consultant and blogger — is often at the forefront of ethics and journalism training issues. Conley will talk about Web-first publishing and B2B publishing issues.

The conference marks the 30th year of the Azbee Awards of Excellence. To commemorate the occasion, ASBPE will announce the top magazines and Web sites since 2000. As in the past, we will also honor all of the winners for 2008.

A special award ceremony will be held for Abe Peck, ASBPE's Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Peck made major contributions to the business press after working for a variety of publications such as Rolling Stone.

Finally, at this summer's conference we will launch an important initiative for our organization. ASBPE will unveil the ASBPE Foundation, a tax-exempt organization that will fund a number of important initiatives aimed at raising the level of education and professionalism in the business, trade, and association press. Among other things, the proceeds from the foundation will help fund the educational components of our annual national conference.

More information on the conference is here.

Labels: Azbee Awards, Steven Roll, Training

By Katy Tomasulo
ASBPE Washington, DC Chapter President

I'm cheating a bit for my blog post today. At a loss for something insightful or witty to say, I’m tapping into my Bookmarks for some helpful sites to share. I'm curious what sites you depend on to get through your day. It varies, I'm sure, depending on what level you're at. As a deputy editor, I find myself somewhere in the middle…reading industry blogs every day is important, but so is having the dictionary a click away.

Here's a list of a few of the sites I frequent regularly. Many of these I didn't discover on my own, so credit is due to my colleagues and to the sites themselves for providing their own lists of links.

What are your daily hits? Share them with others in the comments section.

BLOGS
Aside from this one, of course, here are a few more media and B2B blogs that can keep you up on the industry and/or make you think about our business and daily life:

Folio: blog
Experts from the magazine industry weigh in on breaking news as well as design, editorial, and pressing issues.

Paul Conley
The B2B publishing industry's preeminent blogger.

The minsider Blog
Industry news and economics

Mag Grab Bag
Former min’s editor Jeremy Greenfield continues his blogging with this new site, which includes industry economics as well as his opinions on magazines, design, etc.

Trade Pressed
Relatively new, this blog from an anonymous insider discusses the highs and woes of trade life that most of us can relate to.

COPYEDITING HELPERS
Merriam-Webster Online
I haven't opened my 6-inch-thick dictionary in years thanks to this site. Not only is it faster than leafing through pages, it suggests words if you misspell the one you’re looking for. The unabridged version requires a subscription, but on those rare occasions you can simply dig out the print copy.

Visual Thesaurus
You can use Merriam-Webster.com for a thesaurus, but Visual Thesaurus is a word-lover's visual fantasy. The interactive tool breaks synonyms down into word maps, graphically displaying the results by meaning and relationships, and providing related words and antonyms far beyond what the dictionary does. (Free trial for a few words; annual subscription required after that.)

Acronym Finder
Stumped by SEOs and HREFs? This site deciphers abbreviations PDQ.

Online Conversion
When you absolutely must know how many meters are in a league.

GRAMMAR NUTS
Bill Walsh's Blogslot
Style and grammar from The Washington Post's copy chief

Common Errors in English
Find mistakes you never knew you were making.

Testy Copy Editors
The title speaks for itself.

American Copy Editors Society Blogroll
The society compiles items from a variety of copyediting blogs around the Web into one convenient spot.

Newsroom 101
Test your editing knowledge with nearly 2,000 quizzes on grammar and AP style.

American Copy Editors Society Quizzes
More tests.

OTHER HELPERS
Cliche and Phrase Finders
Struggling for a headline? These two sites give you a leg up on wordplay. Cliche Finder isn't quite as comprehensive, but it's free. The Phrase Finder is much more thorough, but requires a subscription.

Poynter
Journalism commentary, training, jobs, and more.

NewsU
Poynter’s online training arm, chock full of helpful courses.

Labels: Editing, Journalism, Katy Tomasulo, Media Business, Tests, Training

By Martha Spizziri
ASBPE Web Editor

Still confused by RSS? Not sure what social bookmarking is or why people would want to use it? The folks at Common Craft can help you out. They've produced a series of videos (with amusingly low-tech — yet seriously effective — production techniques) that give simple explanations of these and other Web 2.0 concepts. None of the videos is more than four minutes long, so you don't waste a lot of time finding out what you need to know. Each video covers the essentials: what the technology is, why you'd want to use it, and how and where to go to get started.

This video on RSS is just one example. Take a look.



They've also got an excellent video on social bookmarking, one on social networking in general (very basic), plus Twitter (does a good job of explaining what Twitter is, but I think Harry McCracken's recent post on the PCWorld Techlog does better at explaining why you might want to use it). There are also films covering blogs and online photo sharing, and a useful one on wikis that illustrates how they can be used to manage projects. Oh, yeah — there's also a video on zombies.

Labels: Digital, Martha Spizziri, Social Media, Technology, Training

Webcasts can boost readership and ad dollars and raise brand awareness, learn how B2B publications are gaining a competitive edge through webinars.

Find out what it takes to successfully produce compelling — and profitable — webinars for your trade magazine. Join the American Society of Business Publication Editors for a webinar on Friday, March 21, to get the inside scoop from top experts at Nielsen Business Media and InXpo.

Learn how to:

• pick a compelling topic and present it for maximum impact.
  
  
• involve print and online staff editors in content development and presentation of webinars.
  
  
• manage the "church-state" divide and address common ethical issues when conducting webinars.
  
  
• package and market online events for potential viewers and sponsors.
  
  
• leverage webinars for related editorial content, including virtual trade shows, podcasts and e-newsletters.

Meeting Details

When: Friday, March 21, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Where: Your computer. A web conference dial-in number and access code is required, and will be provided to registrants in a subsequent e-mail.

How to attend: To reserve your place, submit a completed reservation form (80K) by March 17th to b2beditor@gmail.com or 201-221-8655 (fax). Questions may be directed to Steve Roll at 703-341-5926.

Charge: This webinar is $10.00 for all ASBPE members and $35.00 for nonmembers.

About the Presenters

Kristin Beaulieu is the Vice President of Client Services at InXpo, a leading provider of virtual online communities and tradeshows. She works with leading publishers such as Nielsen, The Wall Street Journal, CMP, IDG, Ziff Davis Enterprise and others to strategize their event businesses.

Kristin was formerly the Vice President of Digital Events for the Consumer Small Business Division of Ziff Davis Media. She managed two online event divisions for Ziff Davis: eSeminars and PCMagCast. eSeminars was launched in 2000 and grew steadily to become a highly profitable division of Ziff Davis with year-over-year exponential growth in revenue and events. In January 2006, PCMagCast was launched as the dedicated online event division of PCMagazine.

PCMagCast received both Gold and Bronze 2006 Folio: Fame Awards for "Best Online Events of the Year" for its "Security and Mobility Virtual Tradeshow" and the webcast, "Selecting and Setting up an HDTV Set". Additionally eSeminars received the 2005 Folio Fame Gold Award for "Best Online Event" for its Security Solutions Tradeshow "Protect Yourself Against Attacks."

Elliot Markowitz is Editorial Director of Nielsen Business Media Webcasts and Virtual Events and is responsible for the content of all web seminars across Nielsen's publications and brands. He is also Editorial Director of Nielsen's Small Business Resource Center and Mediajobmarket.com.

Previously, Markowitz was Editorial Director of Ziff Davis Media eSeminars, where he helped build the company's eSeminar business and launched its award-winning Virtual Tradeshow concept. Markowitz is an 18-year publishing veteran and before Ziff Davis, he was Editor of Hotel Business magazine and HotelJournal. Before that he was Editor-in-Chief of CRM Magazine and the destinationCRM.com website and related live events. Before CRM Magazine, he was Business Editor at TechTV, responsible for helping to manage the TV station's website as well as conducting live on-air interviews with key industry executives.

Markowitz also spent 11 years with CMP Media's award-winning weekly newspaper Computer Reseller News (CRN), where he held many key editorial positions including News Editor, Business Editor, and Senior Executive Editor. In 1999 he was named Editor of CRN, responsible for the entire editorial operation of the newspaper and in charge of coordinating its redesign and re-launch in June 2000. While at CRN Markowitz initiated many key alliances including the Industry Hall of Fame event in Las Vegas and the annual CRN/Raymond James Conference. Early in his career Markowitz was a news reporter on Long Island for the Massapequa Post.

He holds a B.A. in Journalism from Hofstra University and is a graduate of the Stanford Professional Publishing Course.

Labels: Digital, Media Business, Technology, Training, Webinars

Labels: Journalism, Management, Martha Spizziri, Technology, Training, Work Life