The Indiana Publisher

September 26, 2013 Page 3 Cash in on golden era with good people skills A fter his near brush with death on a flight to Indy, our contracted speaker barely noticed the pain from his recent back surgery. His broad smile proved his genuine joy to be in Indianapolis – or anywhere for that matter. The night before, some where between Denver and Indianapolis, his thus-far pleasant flight took a sudden nosedive – literally. The plane lost cabin pres sure, and the pilot needed to drop from 35,000 to 10,000 feet in seconds. When breath able air from the lower alti tude filled the cabin, the mix ture of warm and cold caused a fog so thick passengers couldn't see across the aisle. Amazingly, the presenter said, no one screamed or panicked. He said about 10 minutes after the adventure, the pilot announced he guessed his passengers might wonder what that was all about. He finally explained the cabinpressure problem. Mark Henschen, vice president of operations and circulation at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson arrived in Indianapolis sometime after midnight Friday, Sept. 20 – about five hours late following an emergency landing and plane change at Chicago's Midway Airport. But nothing about this har rowing experience stopped him from presenting an outstanding workshop for Indiana circulators I wish all publishers and managers heard. Speaking at The Indian apolis Star's Pulliam Production Center, Henschen gave encouraging updates about the Consumer Confidence Index that he calls a valid key number. He predicts customers will feel good soon with numbers over 80 last month. When that index hits 90, watch out. "The newspaper industry has a small window of a gold en era," Henschen said. He reminded his audience that print still pays the bills for now. But we know digi Foundation Front By Karen T. Braeckel tal readership continues to increase. Henschen spent the after noon discussing independent contractors and the digital future. The morning session, though, took an unexpected twist. Rather than throwing numbers around in a ses sion called Rising from the Ashes of the Great Recession, Henschen began discussing changing the culture in the workplace. He tackled, of all things, people skills. I certainly cannot do justice in this column to a session that received a 3.75 out of 4 in content on evalu ations. (High evaluations do not come easily in our bru tally candid industry. Trust me.) I will try to share a few tips that might help every one. Henschen recommended three books. • The first he gives to his new hires and calls an entertaining air plane read – "Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Quality, Productivity and Employee Satisfaction" by William C. Byham, Ph.D. • He also suggested "How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age" by Dale Carnegie – an update of the classic. • And he named a third – "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" by John C. Maxwell. Henschen shared a story about himself that others could relate to. At 27 public speaking terrified him. His publisher made him take a Carnegie course that taught him to overcome his fear. As a young adult he could not stand in front of a group and say his own name. He now enjoys public speaking – and even gets paid for it. Some of his examples sound like plain, ol' common sense – except too many lead ers do not practice them. I compiled a list of ques tions for myself from Henschen's presentation. (I hope he pardons my adapta tion. He spoke much more eloquently). Do I: • Stop working when some one comes in to talk to me, or keep staring at my hypnotic computer screen. • Complete something soon after someone asks me, or make him or her wait until I feel like doing it? • Make an effort to remember a person's name by repeating it twice when I meet him or her? (Can I remember my own name also comes to mind.) • Make eye contact when I speak to people – in fact look them in one eye? • Listen – to a whole sen tence or statement – or just to the first few words and then fill in what I think they will say? One last exercise deserves mention. Henschen distributed cold, hard cash. Yes, he did – three pennies to each par ticipant. (He uses 10 himself, but prudence prevailed.) He suggested they put the pennies in one of their pockets. Each time they make a positive statement to someone, switch a penny to the other pocket. At the end of the day, he told them to check their pockets to see how they did. Need an idea for a place to practice? Start at home. He guarantees it will change the way you interact with people. I found HSPA staff listen ing to this session. We sel dom get the opportunity, but this guy knows how to hold his audience's attention. Luckily Henschen made it here in spite of mechanical failure. I hope anyone – regardless of job description – makes it if they have the opportunity to hear him speak. Karen T. Braeckel is director of the HSPA Foundation. Her column runs in the second issue of each month. Peru Tribune names publisher The Central Indiana Newspaper Group an nounced Thomas Gray as the new publisher of the Peru Tribune. Gray Thomas Gray brings experience from across central Indiana at several newspaper operations and across media, said David Holgate, Indiana Michigan Group president for CING parent company Paxton Media Group. Gray most recently served as advertising manager at the Carroll County Comet. He has also served as general manager of the Mercer County Chronicle in Coldwater, Ohio, and has experience in television and radio. Gray said he relates to Peru residents and those who live in Miami County's smaller communities after serving clients in Peru as an advertising representative and growing up in nearby Camden, population 607. He grew up delivering the Pharos-Tribune (Logansport) on foot. He also delivered the Journal & Courier (Lafayette) on a motor route as a communications student at Purdue University. Indy Star to increase print edition The Indianapolis Star will print more than 70 additional newspaper pages a week beginning Oct. 6. The move significantly increases local and na ional content, Pub t lisher Karen Crotchfelt told subscribers in a email Sept. 20. The A section will feature all local news stories daily, Crotchfelt said. The expanded local news report will be accompanied daily by an edition of USA Today, with national and world news, business, life and sports news. Sunday features will include roundups of local and state news and a week-in-review to help readers catch up after a busy week. More community news, things-to-do lists and school information will be among the additions, along with more local photographs. The Sunday business section will become Business & Jobs and will include CareerBuilder.com postings. On the digital side, The Star recently launched a new iPad app. New iPhone, Android and desktop platforms are planned. West takes on sales, marketing Newspaper veteran Tina West is the new vice president of sales and marketing for The Times (Nobles ville) and The Tina West Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville). West, who previously held publisher jobs in both Noblesville and New Castle, will be responsible for sales and training. "I am very much enjoying this role," she said. "I love the direct contact with our advertisers and the opportunity to create and implement new ideas." West has already started working with the ad staffs at both papers. "I have always thought training was one of my best skills," she said. "I could speak to 20 or 2,000. I just believe in newspapers. Period." Promote public notice website Newspaper Continued from Page 1 as possible during the week of Oct. 6-12 and to editorialize on the important roles newspapers play in communities, using local angles whenever possible.   "National Newspaper Week offers an opportunity to promote the critical work local newspapers do in Hoosier communities," said Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel. "The free editorials and other materials make it easy for papers to do this." Two ads – both a banner and skyscraper format created in 300 resolution – are suitable for print or online to promote National Newspaper Week. Following National Newspaper Week, the materials will remain on the website and can be accessed by newspapers throughout the year to promote this timeless message. News in brief Without publishing anything new, the Fayettevil e Observer ad package created new, year-long revenue in just one week! Contact Advantage Newspaper Consultants today to learn more about creating NEW annual revenue with your existing core products. Fayetteville Observer's Platinum TV ad package exceeded revenue goal in less than a week! Ask us about our digital editions! 910-323-0349 | info@newspaperconsultants.com | www.newspaperconsultants.com Indiana newspapers are encouraged to publicize an improved online clearing house of Indiana public notice advertisements. The Hoosier State Press Association re amped its v website for the notices – Indianapublicnotices.com – with easy-to-navigate features and a large collection of listings from across the state. All notices at Indianapublicnotices.com also were printed in member newspapers. Users can search notices by keyword, date, newspaper, county or city for free. The publication of public notices puts information about local, county and state govern ment in places where people are likely to find it – in newspapers and on their websites. Indianapublicnotices.com includes a link to HSPA's state newspaper directory. Send promotions, announcements, staff changes and other corporate news to mtuley@hspa.com.

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