Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/109445
February 14, 2013 Page 3 Conference offers learning, sharing I t���s always hard to break away from the rigors of the daily grind to attend an industry conference. It seems like everyone is juggling five or more fulltime jobs at once these days, and that makes it especially tough. However, it���s critically important to make time once in a while to get out of the office to learn, network with peers, and just plain think about how to improve your business. Hopefully all those who attended the HSPA and HSPA Foundation Annual Meetings & Government Conference in Indianapolis recently felt this event was a good investment of their time and money. Attendance was up this year after several years of decline. It was great to see more people. I don���t know about you, but when I attend an event like this, I find the networking and casual conversations with my peers to be one of the most valuable takeaways from conference. It���s not that I don���t enjoy or learn from the sessions, but it���s so valuable to hear how others in the business are navigating the challenging landscape. When more people attend, that increases the value. This years��� conference chairwoman was Robyn McCloskey, senior vice president and division manager for Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. and the HSPA board of directors vice president. Robyn teamed up with her conference planning committee made up of Copper Club members ��� past presidents of the HSPA and HSPA Foundation boards ��� and produced a program that knocked it out of the park. Along with the great efforts of Steve Key, Karen Braeckel and the entire HSPA staff, I believe this was the best conference in years. Great job Robyn, News Biz By Greg Morris Copper Club, Steve, Karen and staff! Among other topics, this year���s conference covered: ��� Indiana legislative issues like the current assault on public notices in newspapers at the Statehouse. ��� Using social media in the newsroom. ��� Public access issues, independent contract status, centralizing copy desk services, postal issues, centralized graphics, digital advertising and digital newsrooms and strategic preprint pricing in round-table discussions. ��� Competing for preprints and other postal revenue along with other postal service issues and strategies. Have I mentioned the camaraderie and spending quality time with your peers? There was a bit of a hiccup that could not be avoided for the Legislative Luncheon. Less than 15 percent of the 60 legislators that said they were coming actually were able to attend. However, it wasn���t their fault. It was a very busy day at the Statehouse, and important matters of the state had to take priority for these folks. A similar situation occurred in the past, and as a result we are looking for ways to minimize the possibility of this scenario replaying itself next year. However, the lack of legislator attendance did not dampen spirits at the luncheon as two very deserving individuals were awarded Frank O���Bannon Sunshine Awards for their support of open government. The Hoosier State Press Association honored Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Jane Neulieb, a town council member in Long Beach, Ind., for their ongoing efforts. Gov. Mike Pence and his wife Karen hosted the Governor���s Reception at the spacious Quarterback Suite at Lucas Oil Stadium. We had the entire stadium to ourselves. It was a great venue for the governor to deliver inspirational words and his support for the newspaper industry. At the Governor���s Reception, I was honored to award Henry Bird, senior vice president for Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., with HSPA���s Distinguished Service Award for his longtime support of the newspaper industry. For his service to the newspaper industry through his leadership role at properties in multiple states, to his commitment to both HSPA and the HSPA Foundation while a board member or officer, Henry is a very deserving recipient of this award. There���s a lot more that space does not permit me to cover. So thank you again to all those who attended and participated in this year���s Annual Meetings and Conference. We hope to see you back next year. For those who couldn���t attend this year, please make every effort to come next year. We���ll be working hard to produce another great program to benefit all our membership. I wish you much success in 2013, and please let us know how HSPA can continue to help you achieve your goals. Greg Morris, HSPA board of directors president, is presi���� dent of IBJ Media and publisher of Indianapolis Business Journal. His column appears in the first issue of each month. News in brief Daily Clarion veteran to retire Gary Blackburn, longtime Princeton Daily Clarion publisher, will retire from his position in the spring. Blackburn, who will be 66 Gary Blackburn this month, has been publisher in Princeton since 1989.��Before that, he was publisher for five years at Warrick Publishing, also a Brehm Communications property.�� He joined The Daily Clarion���s parent company in 1983 as a general manager in Fort Madison, Iowa. Retirement plans include relocation to the Indianapolis area with his wife, Shirley, where their daughter, son-in-law and four grandchildren reside.�� Company president Bill Brehm Jr. said the company will begin an immediate search to find a replacement. Blackburn was a member of the Hoosier State Press Association board from 1989-1997, serving as president from 1994-95. Hometown paper draws publisher Noblesville native Tina West is coming home to Nobles�� ville. The longtime newspaper executive has been named the publisher Tina West for The Times. ���This was a wonderful opportunity to get an extremely talented newspaper professional who has the added advantage of being from Noblesville,��� company CEO Tim Timmons said. ���We have needed a full-time publisher at The Times, and I can���t think of a better fit than Tina.��� West has been a newspaper executive with Paxton Media and was most recently a newspaper publisher in New Castle. She has extensive experience in the newspaper business, starting in the advertising department before rising to the publisher���s office. Courier-Times has new leader Kelly Miller is the new publisher at the CourierTimes (New Castle). Miller started her position Jan. 28. Former Kelly Miller Publisher Tina West held the position for six years before accepting a newspaper publisher position in her hometown of Noblesville. Miller has been in the newspaper business for 20 years. Her first position was with The HeraldPalladium in St. Joseph, Mich. She was most recently general manager of the Connersville NewsExaminer for five years. Reporting workshop in Louisville The Reynolds National Center for Business Jour���� nal�� sm will offer a free i workshop on Breaking Local Stories with Econ�� omic Data in Louisville from 2-5 p.m. Feb. 27. Government data offer unparalleled opportunities to distinguish your reporting with trend stories about what���s happening in your local economy. Instructors Paul Over�� berg of USA Today and Jeannine Aversa, lately of The AP, now with the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, will provide you with a road map to finding and delivering at least 15 local enterprise stories from government economic data. For information contact the Reynolds Center���s Linda Austin at linda.austin@business journalism.org. Reminder on NCAA trademarks Newspaper advertising directors should keep trademark rights in mind ahead of the NCAA Men���s Basketball Midwest Regional, scheduled for March in Indianapolis. ��The NCAA monitors unauthorized use of its trademarks, tickets and references to its championships.�� Federal regulations support the NCAA���s efforts to prohibit unauthorized use of its name and trademarks, including Final Four and March Madness.�� Send promotions, announcements, staff changes and other corporate news to mtuley@hspa.com.