If you’re on the fence about registering for the 2011 ASBPE conference, let me tempt you with one of our best kept secrets: we’ll be offering personalized consultation.

This year’s conference includes several roundtable sessions that aren’t your typical roundtables. We’re counting on you to provide the content that will be discussed.  Think of it as your own personal consultation on topics you want to discuss. The sessions that will include this kind of personalized consultation include:

August 4
The Art and Craft of the Interview — Whether you’ve been in the industry for two years or 20, there is always something to learn about interviewing. In this interactive session, you’ll learn new and different interviewing techniques as well as have the opportunity to practice face-to-face with fellow journalists before conducting your next interview.

Managing Digital Content — The widespread availability of inexpensive electronic tools has led to an increasingly democratized information exchange. This interactive roundtable discussion will explore online tools editors can be use in reporting, storytelling and marketing. Whether your chosen form of expression is audio, video or text, you’ll learn about tools that will help you to work more efficiently and widen your knowledge of the digital space. Scott Smith will revisit his November webcast and will be available for any questions you may have about the tools.

Magazine Design Critique — Is your table of contents not feeling up to snuff? Do your cover designs fail to pass muster? During this session, you’ll be able to work with an ASBPE-award winning design judge to review design do’s and don’ts and to see what works with your magazines’ designs and what could be adjusted.

Social Media Critque — Social media is in the news, from Wikileaks to “hotel-room” reporting from the Mideast, to revealing the most recent political Twitter-blunder. Yet there’s lots of echo in the social media ecosphere. In the session we will work together to map out some pros and cons of reporting with and about social media and try and come up with some tips for editors and reporters.

August 5
21st Century Ethics Panel Discussion — Internet aggregating, fair use, sponsored content packages, social media challenges … the new era of B2B journalism is minefield of ethical gray areas. What may seem harmless can be disastrous to your publication — and career. In this not-to-miss session, a panel of editorial experts will look at real-world ethical dilemmas and arm you with everything you need to know. The panel will also discuss the ethical obligations of the editor when reporting on research. (Panelists: Abe Peck, Robin Sherman, Mark Schlack)

Top 10 Editorial Mistakes — Even the most seasoned editors look past certain grammatical errors — over and over again — in the heat of deadline. The trick is knowing what to look for and when to look for it. This session will arm attendees with simple tools to catch these nasty little editorial blunders. Take what you learn, bring it back to the office and use it as the basis of an editorial meeting.

Understanding Analytics: How to make your website more valuable to readers — Site analytics give you terrific insights that help you build a stronger site and work more efficiently. In this session, presenter Marnette Falley will talk about what important analytics data your group should track, how to use it to guide your content development and social media marketing plans, and what lessons you can learn about how your site works (or where it’s broken).

To submit content for any of these roundtable sessions – a question, a concern, a magazine design you’d like critqued, etc. email asbpeconf2011@yahoo.com.

Register for the conference at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=kpa6z7eab&oeidk=a07e3y8mex4d7bdcf26