5/15/2012 6:48:57 PM
How to connect with audiences has changed, and doing so requires new skill sets and team roles that either didn't exist before or are amalgams of previous roles.
4/30/2012 3:58:34 PM
Not too long ago, I presented a talk at an Association Media & Publishing Lunch & Learn on the future of websites. At the event, I purposely avoided making a grand declaration about the future of the web and instead focused on how associations can stay relevant online.
4/24/2012 10:33:34 AM
I freelanced for years when I didn't hold down a full-time job. As a freelancer, after I got an assignment, I'd check in with the editor to make sure I was writing in the correct direction. I'd get my article in before deadline, over-deliver on the article, and write what I said I'd write.
4/16/2012 8:15:21 PM
If associations are interested in re-tweets, broadcasting lots of interesting content works much better than "engaging in the conversation."
4/9/2012 12:32:00 PM
As executive directors try to find sources of revenue to serve their members without raising dues beyond the breaking point, selling advertising in their publications and websites is a logical place to start.
3/20/2012 2:06:36 PM
When I signed up to judge Association Media & Publishing's 2012 EXCEL Awards, I expected to truly enjoy the judging experience-scanning stunning, well-composed magazines and backing those entries I felt warranted a judge's representation-and the judging didn't let me down one bit.
3/14/2012 10:11:18 AM
The data indicates that people have ever-shortening attention spans. Or do they? What is really going on? And what are editorial teams to do about it?
3/6/2012 3:46:32 PM
Creativity can be harnessed to help you overcome one of the hardest challenges you may face: making change happen for your association magazine.
2/22/2012 3:40:27 PM
Whether you have limited-or lots-of experience working with a designer, here is a handy outline of things to keep in mind before, during, and after a significant design project.
2/1/2012 9:05:34 AM
Here are five more timesavers most freelancers hope will be among your resolutions for 2012.
1/25/2012 8:41:18 AM
Here are three easy ways to source free, legal images for your media initiatives.
1/4/2012 8:30:20 AM
Editorial hierarchies. An interesting concept. Whatever happened to those?
12/5/2011 10:20:09 AM
If your job search could use a boost, try the followingseven steps. I heard this advice from Alexis Grant at the Association Media & Publishing (AM&P) Lunch & Learn on November 15th.
11/14/2011 1:12:07 PM
Andrew's advice for success with future websites included five keys to success, but these two are my favorites: (1) simplify and (2) be human.
11/4/2011 1:45:51 PM
For associations, there are at least three different "classes" of users for which specific social media policies should be developed.
10/17/2011 1:31:12 PM
Does your request to login lead to check out (as in, "I'm outta here”)?
10/13/2011 9:04:27 AM
After surveying more than 900 organizations on how they use social media, we noticed is that the role and management of "design” was virtually absent. How can a medium that is as visually rich as social media be so lacking of attention when it comes to design?
10/4/2011 2:14:01 PM
A mere four years from today, the majority of your members could be reading your association content on a screen that fits in the palm of their hand.
9/15/2011 9:48:15 AM
What's the number-one piece of advice to follow when writing member obituaries?
9/5/2011 12:00:00 AM
I have been watching the perils of the United States Post Office in the news. Its financial situation, is, at best, crap. As a magazine publisher, I am extremely concerned.
8/29/2011 11:15:52 AM
It makes sense to lure potential members with snippets of material to show them what they might be missing, but full versions of articles and publications belong to members.
7/14/2011 9:15:17 AM
After a favorite tweeter sent me an invite to Google+, I spent a week playing around with it and deciding what I really thought about Google's attempt to make our social lives easier.
6/29/2011 9:30:58 AM
A team from the National Association of the Self-Employed offered concrete, association-specific tips on branding your association and its media products.
6/16/2011 9:21:36 AM
After a bumpy start experimenting with QR codes, an association editor applies the lessons learned this second time around and emerges a whole lot wiser.
6/14/2011 3:14:03 PM
An education session I attended at the recent ASAE Membership, Marketing, and Communications Conference had a fun way of discussing the different types of digital personalities we interact with online.
3/8/2011 9:19:09 PM
My friends, it is official: All paper mills have announced rate increases effective April 1, 2011 of an additional $2 per CWT. If you are wondering what compromises you can make to not only budget for this rate increase, but possibly reduce your paper costs, then this blog is for you.
2/28/2011 5:43:57 PM
I didn't think I could become a bigger fan of Mac computers, but now I am. I opened my MacBook Pro on Christmas eve morning to surf the web a bit and I get 15 inches of dead, black screen. Restart. Same thing. Sick feeling.
2/15/2011 10:27:11 AM
What is the big idea to solve your publication's marketing challenge? What is your challenge anyway? You have to start by correctly identifying the problem.
1/24/2011 7:26:01 AM
As a publishing professional, I am always interested in what is happening in the industry. There has been significant change since I started my career almost 20 years ago. That makes me sound middle-aged, doesn't it? Whether Amazon launches the Kindle or Apple launches the iPad, everyone in and around the industry offers their opinion: Surely, this will be the death of traditional publishing, as we know it. Or will it?
1/3/2011 4:11:23 PM
It's not often that you get an opportunity to walk in someone else's shoes professionally. However, such an opportunity presented itself to me last year when the association magazine that I edited ceased publication, and I decided to work as a freelancer. Talk about feeling the shoe on the other foot!
12/6/2010 12:04:32 PM
Like it or not, your Web presence plays an increasingly key role in your organization. Your members and prospects, board members, employees (current and future), volunteers, bankers, insurers, investors, vendors, and sponsors all look to your site for information, resources, and community. If they don't find it quickly, there are many other online venues for them to defect to.
12/1/2010 4:41:44 PM
All this talk about iPads has me wondering: Could I really replace my laptop with an iPad?
11/10/2010 9:21:34 AM
A brand new client asked me for a website redesign this week. My mind is immediately flooded with ideas about the hip, new banner, restructuring the content and navigation bar, freshening the color palette, cutting the text way back, etc. Simple enough, right? Wrong.
10/15/2010 11:10:31 PM
Volunteering gives me a break from the daily routine, gives me a chance to indulge myself doing something I love (whether it's evaluating magazines for the Excel Awards, or writing for Signature magazine), and helps me feel appreciated and applauded when I go above and beyond.
10/12/2010 2:40:24 PM
I recently survived the production of a 52-page conference program with an oversized, map-like insert. I and my assistant worked frantically around the clock the last few days making the editor's copious revisions to drafts six, seven, and eight to release this job to the printer today.
10/5/2010 3:01:03 PM
I read with interest Jim Elliott's recent article in the October 5, 2010 Final Proof titled, "It's a Perfect Storm, but Don't Jump Ship."
9/17/2010 2:03:34 PM
I always knew that I would be getting an iPad eventually, but after attending Association Media & Publishing's Annual Meeting in June. Well, I'll admit it, I got jealous and had to up the purchase date.
8/18/2010 10:11:40 AM
The biggest mistake associations (and other publishers) make in their social media efforts is jumping out into the worlds of Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites without a plan. Let's face it: 5,000 followers doesn't mean a thing if you don't have a plan -- a path down which these followers can follow you.
7/23/2010 4:12:08 PM
Next Wednesday, July 28, Peter Meirs, Vice President of Production Technologies for Time Inc. will lead a discussion on e-readers and distribution of content at Association Media and Publishing's New York Educational Program.
7/7/2010 4:04:14 PM
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a creativity wasteland, facing an empty computer screen with time marching ominously toward deadline? I know I've seen that movie once or twice in my career as a writer and editor. So what are some tricks of the trade to help us get unstuck when the river of great ideas seems to have run dry?
Here's an interesting question: Does routine unlock creativity?
7/1/2010 2:22:00 PM
It figures: Just as editorial budgets are contracting, the world of information is exploding. The days when managing editors were merely charged with overseeing a print publication are behind us. To survive (preferably with sanity intact), we must work more efficiently than ever. Here are some tips for generating content—whether for your magazine, blog or website—that will make the most use of your time and budget.
6/1/2010 11:03:53 AM
Just as Signature magazine has become (we hope) your go-to publication for great content about association media and publishing, and Final Proof e-newsletter your hot-spot for how-to advice and pithy interviews, we bring you another great tool with the launch of the new Association Media & Publishing website.
5/25/2010 9:46:45 PM
Wait! Don't let the idea of grammar scare you off. Let's delve into the editing world to discover how knowing your grammar can be empowering and even fun.
5/15/2010 10:04:33 PM
Is there a better solution for your association's publishing process, but you don't want to rock the boat by investigating it?
5/2/2010 10:11:42 PM
Independent designers are often asked to produce work on "spec." Here are several reasons why this approach may not always be in an association's best interest.
4/16/2010 3:06:53 PM
Welcome to our new website and our new blog, blurb.
