Professional Development Resources: Webinars and convention handouts
Join us for a Webinar on June 16
Free for members of the Associated Church Press and Canadian Church Press.
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/138444217
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handouts and PowerPoint presentations from some of the standing-room-only workshops at this year's convention (click on title to download):
Kevin Shanley (Shanley & Associates): “Pricing a religious magazine: Secrets to new profitability”
Most people guess at their subscription prices and guess wrong, leaving thousands of dollars on the table. The workshop will include several case studies. The marketplace will tell you exactly how to set prices to maximize revenue, but you need to know how to ask them. Learn how to set the sliding scale pricing for bulk, church plans, and gift subscriptions, and how to understand the difference between acquisition, first year conversion, and renewal pricing.
Kevin Shanley of Shanley + Associates is a marketing expert who serves religious publishers. His client list includes such ACP publications as Sojourners, The Christian Century, The Presbyterian Outlook, Horizons, and Claretian Publications.
Charles Whitaker (Medill School of Journalism): “Surgery and symbiosis: The delicate art of feature editing”
An interactive exploration of the techniques that enable editors to carve captivating magazine and newspaper feature articles out of problematic first drafts. Participants will be guided through a comprehensive conversation and practice exercises covering everything from assignment memos (the first place where stories break down) to classic feature story structure.
Charles Whitaker, a former senior editor at Ebonymagazine, is a professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he has taught magazine writing and editing for more than 15 years. He has written for publications ranging from Chicago Magazineto the Saturday Evening Post.
Bob McClory (Medill School of Journalism): “The Ten Commandments of feature writing”
This workshop will offer practical tips on article ideas, research methods, note-taking, telephone interviewing, organizing material and writing. As an added bonus, it will also address dealing with editors and overcoming writers’ bouts of undue euphoria, sheer panic, or needless depression.
Bob McClory, professor emeritus at the Medill School of Journalism, has written features for the Chicago Reader, Chicago Magazine, theNational Catholic Reporter, and U.S. Catholic. He is the author of six books, including Radical Disciple: Father Pfleger, St. Sabina Church, and the Fight for Social Justice (Lawrence Hill, 2010).
Val Russell (U.S. Catholic): “The ABCs of magazine circulation for religious publications”
A review of fundamental circulation processes and how to put simple, proven circulation practices into motion. The workshop will provide case studies of different tests and explain how “circulation management” has changed into “audience development.”
Val Russell has worked in the publishing business for more than 40 years. Prior to becoming business manager at Claretian Publications, he ran his own circulation/marketing consulting firm, which worked with many small and medium-sized magazine publishers.
Verity Jones (New Media Project): “Survey results: Plenary on the future of the ACP”
Results of the New Media Project survey of ACP members reveals trends in publishing and the use of new media.
Verity A. Jones, former editor of Disciples World, is director of the New Media Project at Union Theological Seminary in New York and the president of the Associated Church Press.
