Winchester Sun publisher Betty Berryman knows what it's like to be the only woman at a meeting. She's found herself in that situation frequently in her career. Berryman was the first president of the Kentucky Press Association to be female. That was in 1986. Then in 1994, she was invited to join the Newspaper Association of America's board of directors. Again, she was the only woman on the board at the time. About a year later, Danville Advocate Messenger publisher Mary Schurz - who served as KPA president in 1992 - also joined the NAA board.

"For awhile, it was just two Kentucky women on the NAA board," Berryman said.

In April of this year, Berryman went off the board after serving four two-year terms. She calls her NAA involvement a wonderful experience professionally and personally.

By serving on the board, she met many high-profile newspaper industry executives she might otherwise not have gotten to know, she said. Plus, knowledge learned through NAA has been beneficial to her own operation, Berryman said.

Much as the Kentucky Press Association represents the interests of Kentucky papers, NAA is a newspaper trade association with more than 2,000 member newspapers in the United States and Canada. Most NAA members are dailies but weeklies are encouraged to join too. The association, headquartered in Vienna, Va., outside Washington, D.C., focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development, newspaper operations and readership.

Large metro dailies play a key role in the organization, Berryman said, but the needs of big operations differ from those of small papers like her own.

"Sitting on the board I realized they didn't have any idea of what small newspapers needed," she said. "My goal was to make them really aware they needed to serve the small newspapers too."

When Andy Barnes of the St. Petersburg Times became NAA president two years ago, he sought out Berryman to learn what small newspapers needed from the organization. As a result, the Small Newspaper Federation was created. The federation went online in October. Now, more than 150 small papers belong to an e-mail group that receives information monthly tailored to their needs.

Marketing tools, readership research, NIE information and lobbying efforts in Washington are just a few of the benefits available to NAA members.

Just as monitoring the General Assembly is a major function of KPA, lobbying in Congress and monitoring legislation that might affect the newspaper industry is also a major function of NAA.

David Brown is NAA senior vice president and general counsel. He monitors a number of issues affecting the industry, including postal regulations, ergonomics and First Amendment issues, to mention a few.

"He constantly has his plate full watching the government," Berryman said.

"It was a wonderful experience and I continue to serve on the NAA Foundation Board," Berryman said of her eight years on the board. The NAA Foundation Board oversees the association's NIE, literacy and diversity issues.