This year’s Associated Church Press Convention, May 6-8 in Washington, D.C., promises to be one of the best, and the location offers cultural riches beyond price, but for many of our colleagues in faith communications, convention workshops provide the height of professional training.
In addition to the usual popular editorial and design tracks, a special emphasis this year will be on surviving and thriving in a shrunken economy and evolving industry.
Thursday, May 6 -- 2 to 3 p.m.
Workshop Block I
Redesign and Rebranding
It’s not just a new look, it’s a whole new outlook. Designer extraordinaire Debbie Bates-Schrott and editors from Sojourners magazine tell how the “look and feel” of a publication is crucial to its success, using the recent redesign/rebranding of Sojourners as a case study.
Debbie Bates-Schrott has more than 17 years in creative art direction, magazine design, and brand and marketing collateral development. Her team at Bates Creative Group has won a remarkable 60+ design awards for a wide range of projects completed for a diverse group of organizations, including PeopleSoft, Cisco Systems, Primedia Business Exhibitions, the Pentagon Memorial Fund, and the U.S. Marine Corps.
From Print to Web and Back
Rising costs and declining revenues pushed the United Church of Christ's United Church News to move entirely to the Web in 2009, expanding its online presence to include a news portal, e-mail publications and a MyUCC social networking community. But the denomination's communications office found that a print publication could still fill a vital need for UCC members. UCC’s new publication StillSpeaking Magazine is the result. The Rev. Gregg Brekke, UCC's news director and editor, will walk us through the intricacies of finding the right mix of traditional and new media.
The 3 R's of Advertising plus a few ABC's
Advertising will become increasingly important to our publications as subsidies decrease. Chic Davis, Ad Director, the Catholic Review, leads us through the basics of setting up and working an advertising plan, from prospecting to billing.
60 Marketing Ideas in 60 Minutes for Religious Publishers
This rapid fire presentation will cover everything you should know about circulation management as it relates to religious publishing. If you are an editor, publisher, business manager, marketing director, ad sales manager, or are just interested in learning more about periodical marketing then this workshop is for you. The presentation is based on Kevin Shanley’s 30 plus years of using direct marketing to sell magazines, books, newsletters, pamphlets, and training. The topics that will be covered are: renewals, acquisitions, direct mail, web strategy, advertising sales, e-newsletters, circulation management rules, plus much more. Kevin specializes in selling religious magazines so he understands the challenges of selling to individuals as well as to churches. There will be time for a Q&A session so bring your questions.
Thursday, May 6 -- 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Workshop Block II
Publication Critiques
Back by popular demand. Debbie Bates-Schrott will give an in-depth review of what works and what doesn't in our publication designs. For this advanced design workshop, convention attendees may submit copies of their publications and four will be chosen for the constructive critique. This session will be of interest to all editors and designers, most of whose magazines face the same challenges with structure, readability and overall "consumer appeal." The session will include specific, practical, suggestions to inspire all of us.
Not all submissions will be critiqued.
Advanced Ad Sales
It's not enough to simply grab the ads as they fly through the transom. In a continuation of Workshop 1, Chic Davis explains more about the 3 R's, but how to sell ads that make it. Sales strategies, online sales tactics, competitive analysis, planning, and managing your time.
Blood from Turnips: Extending you reach with low-cost, high-performance tech tools
Use low- or no-cost aps and “outsourced” online services to repurpose print, online magazine content and e-mail with daily updates on staff-generated content and community input. Matt Townsend, web and open-source consultant, will discuss getting the most out of your efforts in the least amount of time and money. Move beyond the old method of reposting print material to the Web. This workshop will provide an opportunity to talk with someone used to working on shoestring budgets, and you'll be able to participating in brainstorming new ideas and solutions for religious communicators.
Friday, May 7 -- 9 to 10 a.m.
Workshop Block III
Business Planning for Faith Communicators
Chic Davis and Chris Gunty, who heads up the Catholic Review and The Cathedral Foundation, lead us through the basics and some advanced tips on business methods that grow a healthy communications department.
The Virtual Abbey: Community & Evangelization for the 21st century
Positioning itself as a “monastery for the 21st century,” the Virtual Abbey (TVA) started out praying the Daily Office via Twitter. Over a year later, the community has grown to 1,600+ virtual followers, launched a blog that functions as an e-zine, and given birth to a trans-denominational leadership team. TVA provides a grace-filled example of using high tech to support a high touch mission. Come learn more about how lessons learned here apply to evangelization and community-building IRL (i.e., “in real life”). New Media Guru Meredith Gould leads the session.
Backpack Journalism
We're all asked to do more with less. But feeding the ravenous maw of the Web as well as print publications can turn multitasking onto burnout. The Rev. Gregg Brekke, UCC's news director and editor, leads a session on producing audio/video/still photos/writing for multi-media news reporting. How to be a one man band, juggling the best new equipment to give the readers more and better-produced news.
Image as Story 101
If a picture is worth a thousand words then quality images are all the more vital in communication. In this time of decreased budgets and limited print space, learn how to create eye-catching photo essays that will keep your readers captivated. Join us as we work through the basics of developing stellar images, including composition, image selection, story and framework development, web vs. print and more. Workshop leader: Heather Wilson. Heather spent the past 10 years doing photography, communications work, and project development for international development NGOs, serving two and a half years in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2007. She is currently a marketing and circulation assistant at Sojourners.
Friday, May 7, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Workshop Block IV
Editing for Clarity
Award winning editor and writer Chris Gunty shows how veteran editors help writers make their point and readers get the point. Learn the subtle ways a good narrative can be made stellar.
Keeping Social Media in Perspective
Avoid getting snared in the World Wide Web by learning how to assess which social media options make the most sense for you and your organization. Starting with the assumption that you already know about the top social media applications, we’ll focus on keeping them organized, avoiding the time suck vortex, and other aspects of integrating them into your work flow. And yes, we’ll talk about the ROI of these media, especially for faith-based organizations. New Media Guru Meredith Gould leads the session.
How Religious Publishers can Survive a Recession
This workshop is focused on answering one question: what can a religious publisher do to survive a recession? Kevin Shanley will share how religious publishers can meet their budget by lowering their risk. Improving the bottom line in tough economic times goes beyond just cutting expenses. The workshop will include case studies from the last two years where circulation has declined, stayed flat, and even increased. Kevin will review all of the details. The workshop will review specific marketing and expense cutting ideas you can take back to your shop and apply immediately. Kevin Shanley has over thirty years experience selling religious newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and books.
A Website is a Terrible Thing to Waste
In this challenging environment the first impression your Website makes is critical. Does your Website reflect a clear strategy or is it more like an old house that has been remodeled over and over without a master plan? By the end of this workshop, filled with real life examples of news and publication Websites, you’ll be able to score your site against the 12 key components that will make your Website a success. Workshop leader: Jim Skillington, the founder and president of New Village Media, which specializes in Web strategies for news and tourism Websites. Jim is that rare visionary with an eye for practical details. A frequent speaker and workshop leader known for high-energy and enthusiastic workshops on topics related to Internet strategies and New Media, Jim founded the first online Christian Ezine in the mid-90’s and in 1998, the Disaster News Network, that attracts thousands of viewers every day. He has a Journalism degree from West Virginia University and earned a Masters of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary.
Saturday, May 8 -- 9 a.m.
Breakfast with the Bloggers
Blogging Roundtable
Mastering the mechanics of blogs, wikis, podcasts and other tech tools is the easy part. But how do we manage content, and our precious time, in keeping readers engaged without losing our grip on the “product.” Some of the best bloggers in the DC area share their expertise.
