KPA Winter Convention & Trade Show

By DAVID GREER
KPA Member Services Director

The past, present and future of Kentucky and its many fine newspapers - that will be the primary focus of the 2009 KPA convention Jan. 22 and 23 at the Galt House Hotel & Suites in downtown Louisville. Convention goers will be treated to a viewing of the famed KentuckyShow! multimedia presentation and hear Gov. Steve Beshear speak at the Friday Changing of the Guard luncheon. A third of our convention breakout sessions will be devoted to online and new media. That includes sessions on social media for newspapers, web site design and learning how to animate your online ads.

But the convention won't forget the all-important topics of advertising, editorial and circulation as KPA brings in top-notch nationally known speakers on a variety of topics.

The convention begins at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23 with a three-hour advertising breakout session with Mike Blinder, noted speaker and author. Blinder is an expert on Internet ad sales and has just published his latest book, “Survival selling even in the toughest times.” After many years in radio and television, Blinder moved into online ad sales. Today, his Florida-based firm, The Blinder Group, has more than 350 media clients worldwide and helps them maximize revenues through effective sales training and revenue generation programs.

At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Lisa Tackett Griffin, a computer software trainer since 1983 and a pioneer in pagination and remote printing methods for newspapers, holds a three-hour breakout on software applications for advertising and editorial staffers with an emphasis on InDesign and Illustrator. She believes strongly that Illustrator is an under-used and under-appreciated program at many newspapers. Griffin is a staff member of the UT/TPA Institute for Newspaper Technology. There will be a separate registration fee to attend the Blinder and Griffin breakouts.

The highlight of Thursday evening will be a 6 p.m. screening of KentuckyShow! at the nearby Kentucky Center with a reception to follow. Dinner is on your own. If you're a Kentucky native, KentuckyShow! is sure to put a sentimental lump in your throat during a look at our state's past, present and future. And if you're new to the state, KentuckyShow! is a concentrated yet entertaining look at the Bluegrass. It's not to be missed!

Friday morning's convention action begins at an 8 a.m. business meeting with some important proposed changes to KPA's by-laws.

Editorial breakouts

Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, assistant professor of journalism at UK and longtime Courier-Journal political writer, will lead two breakout sessions. The first is “How they did it - how papers did big reporting projects” while his second breakout will address covering and guiding economic development in your community.

Next, Stan McKinney, longtime news editor and award-winning photojournalist at the Central Kentucky News Journal, will be joined by two Campbellsville University officials as they talk about the C-U photo archive project using more than 20 years of McKinney's negatives from the CKNJ. McKinney is now assistant professor of journalism at Campbellsville University.

Dennis Anderson, managing editor of the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World, now leads a multimedia newsroom at his paper. His staff of 75 journalists is responsible for the newspaper, two web sites and 6News, a daily cable news program. The Journal-World won the Suburban Newspapers of America Newspaper of the Year Award in 2005 and again in 2007 and it also received the AP Managing Editors Convergence Award in 2007 and 2008. Before moving to Kansas, Anderson was a 10-year veteran of Gannett. He has worked at papers in Connecticut, New York and Illinois and has won awards for his column writing and supervisor skills.

Associated Press reporter Brett Barrouquere is based at the Louisville AP bureau and has received considerable training from AP in investigative journalism skills. His AP beats include covering courts, legal issues and general assignment. Before joining AP in 2004, he worked for papers in Louisiana and Florida for 10 years. Barrouquere will share his knowledge of how and where to find important public records.

Time management is always an issue with sports editors and sports reporters. There are always too many schools, games, athletes, youth leagues and issues to cover and never enough time. So learning how to use the available time wisely is the hallmark of a successful sports department at any paper. Benjy Hamm, editorial director for Landmark Community Newspapers and himself a former AP sports reporter as well as editor, managing editor and reporter at papers in North and South Carolina, will moderate a panel discussion on time management for sports staffers. Joining Hamm will be Peter W. Zubaty, sports editor at The Kentucky Standard in Bardstown since 2007. Zubaty, a veteran of Kentucky papers in London, Somerset, Pikeville, LaGrange and Kingston, Tenn., knows a thing or two about time management. He is responsible for covering sports at three local high schools in addition to a myriad of other sports beats. Also on the panel is Steve Doyle, editor of the Sentinel-News in Shelbyville. A Shelby County native, he's been editor of his hometown paper since September. Before that, he spent more than 28 years at the Orlando Sentinel, where he was associate managing editor for sports, features, business, and most recently, content development. He also worked as a sports writer for two dailies in Mississippi and served as president of the AP Sports Editors and Florida Sports Writer associations.

Roy L. Moore, noted author and dean of the College of Mass Communications at Middle Tennessee State University, former associate vice president for academic affairs at Georgia College & State University, professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Kentucky and former executive director of the UK First Amendment Center, will address media law issues for newsrooms and advertising staffs. Moore, a licensed attorney in Kentucky and Georgia, has authored several books on media law and is often interviewed in the media on First Amendment issues. Come with your media law questions and concerns.

Advertising breakouts

Peter Zollman is founding principal of Classified Intelligence and the Advanced Interactive Media Group, internationally known consulting groups that work with newspapers, broadcasters, dot-coms and yellow-page companies and technology providers to develop profitable interactive services. Zollman will lead two breakout sessions. The first will concentrate on increasing your paper's classified ad revenue while the second will cover competitive selling against local radio and yellow pages publications.

Mary Ann Taylor, former supervisor of the Employment/Public Accommodations unit and the current supervisor of education and outreach for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, will tell us the language pitfalls newspapers should avoid when publishing ads for housing. It seems that a few Kentucky newspapers are cited each year for such violations. Taylor's tips and insight can keep your paper from being fined by the KCHR. She has previous experience with several state agencies, including the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

More and more online ads use animation to attract visitor eyeballs. The software program that does the web site animation is Adobe Flash. Ben Duerr, a former Chicago-based producer of materials for online, print and the web, now teaches web and graphic design at Daymar College in Louisville. He will give us a 60-minute introduction to Flash for online advertising. That's his day job. By night, Duerr writes, produces and performs weekly on Ohio Valley Wresting and Derby City Wrestling, seen Saturday nights on TV on the Louisville CW network affiliate. Leave this breakout session early and you run the risk of Ben clamping you in a half nelson.

Circulation breakouts

Lon Haenel began his newspaper career 12 years ago with the Janesvile Gazette, a family-owned daily in Wisconsin. He began in retail ad sales where he flourished. That led to several promotions after he generated more than $250,000 in new revenue. Three years ago, Haenel moved into circulation as sales and marketing manager. This year, he was promoted to circulation director. Haenel has often been recognized for his creative circulation promotions - the subject of his KPA presentation.

Geoff Vanderlin is with Shaw Newspapers, a company with a number of newspapers in Iowa and Illinois. He too has recently been promoted and recognized inside and outside of his company for his innovative circulation promotion methods. Come and hear Geoff speak and pick up valuable tips for building your paper's circulation.

More and more newspapers are using the convenience, speed and low-cost benefits of e-mail to conduct circulation promotions. The Louisville Courier-Journal is one such paper. Amanda Davis from the Courier-Journal circulation staff will talk about her paper's successes with using e-mail for circulation marketing.

Robert Rubrecht is director of circulation marketing for the Newspaper Association of America based in suburban Washington, D.C. Rubrecht will speak about NAA's study of future circulation trends and will also discuss circulation resources available for newspapers through NAA.

New media

Gary Sosniecki is a regional sales manager for TownNews.com. He specializes in weekly newspapers. He joined TownNews a year ago after a 34-year career that included owning with his wife, Helen, three weeklies and publishing a small daily, all in Missouri. He also worked for papers in Tennessee, Illinois and Kansas and now resides in Iowa. He's a past president of the Missouri Press Association, Ozark Press Association and Missouri Press Service. His breakout will focus on weeklies that still aren't online or haven't figured out how to make money online. Topics will include why papers need to be online, how to do it, how to make money online, how to post news without hurting your print product and building online traffic. Sosniecki did all this and more when he developed a web site for his small weekly in Missouri.

Caroline H. Little will offer an online overview. Little works as an adviser and consultant for the British-based Guardian Media Group, a company looking to make a big splash in the American market. Her duties include consulting with Guardian, publisher of the famed Guardian newspaper in London, on U.S. web strategies and online acquisitions. Previously, she was CEO and publisher for Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive where she was responsible for developing online strategies for the Washington Post and Newsweek and several other web sites. She recently spoke in the Netherlands at the World Association of Newspapers conference.

Social media is a hot topic these days and the KPA convention presents two speakers on the subject. Kurt Greenbaum is director of social media for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he oversees the newsroom's efforts to more closely engage readers with the newspaper and web site. Since Greenbaum's arrival at the Post-Dispatch, STLtoday.com has seen several redesigns and seen its traffic increase substantially. There has also been a marked increase in the newsroom's support of the site. Greenbaum worked several years as a newspaper reporter in Florida, started his paper's first web site and later managed a business news web site in Florida that enjoyed significant growth under his leadership before moving to St. Louis.

Meanwhile, Jackie Reau is CEO and founder of Game Day Communications, a Cincinnati-based new media business. She has 15 years experience in marketing and public relations. Her firm's clients include the Cincinnati Bengals, the Reds, Downtown Cincinnati Inc., and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Last year, her firm launched its Digital Media Team to help clients harness emerging technology and social media platforms. Greenbaum and Reau will offer many tips on how your paper can harness the power of social media to increase sales of your newspaper and increase your web site traffic.

Designing an attractive web site that entices eyeballs and keeps them is an art form and Mario Garcia Jr. is a noted new media designer with 15 years experience. He is a frequent speaker on multi-level storytelling and web design. He's worked with more than 100 news organizations on improving their web sites. Garcia is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of South Florida where he teaches multimedia journalism. His father, Mario Garcia, is a world-renowned expert on newspaper design.

Shooting video is becoming an everyday practice at many newspapers. Yet it's a different world than shooting still photos. Nathan Stevens is a former editor for WTVQ and WDKY in Lexington. Now, he's on he faculty at UK where he teaches videography and editing. Come to Nathan's breakout and learn the ins and outs of shooting video.

Associates, educators

The KPA Associates will offer a two-hour breakout session on strategic planning. More businesses than ever use the strategic planning process to map the journey to success. Come and learn how it's done. Also, Kentucky's college journalism educators will have a meeting late Friday afternoon.

Reception, awards banquet

A reception begins at 6 p.m. Friday and the annual awards banquet begins at 7 p.m. where results from the KPA Excellence in Kentucky Newspapers Contest are announced.