State of the Industry:
Trends to Capitalize on in 2012
B2B publishing is quickly evolving. Publishing Hall of Famer Bob Sacks discusses how to reinvent your role as a B2B editor to change with it.
Join ASBPE for drinks and hors d’oeuvres on Wednesday, Dec. 7, as Precision Media Group President Bob Sacks discusses the current state of the publishing industry, where it’s headed, and what B2B editors need to do to keep pace.
You’ll learn…
- How to optimize tools like social media, multimedia, and content aggregation
- What skills you’ll need to transform your role to harness the opportunities industry changes presen
- How current trends could alter your job and mix of responsibilities in 2012 and beyond
Meeting Details
When: Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Where: Trattoria Dopo Teatro, 125 W. 44th St. (off 6th Avenue)
What: Drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres
How to attend: To reserve your place, register online or use this form (78K Word doc) by Dec. 2.
Cost:
- If paid by December 2: $25 for ASBPE members and journalism students (w/ current ID); $35 for nonmembers.
- If paid after December 2: $35 for ASBPE and journalism students (w/ current ID); $45 for nonmembers.
- Note: For groups of three or more, each person gets $5 off the registration fee. Each member who registers with and brings nonmember guest receives $5 off the member’s registration fee.
About the Presenter
A veteran of the printing/publishing industry since 1970 and a member of the Publishing Hall of Fame, Bob Sacks started his career by founding a weekly newspaper in the metro New York area. After several years he went on to become one of the founding fathers of High Times magazine. Since then Bob has held positions that include publisher, editor, freelance writer, director of manufacturing and distribution, senior sales manager, circulator, chief of operations, pressman, cameraman, lecturer, and developer of website companies at such prestigious companies as McCall’s, Time Inc, New York Times Magazine Group, International Paper, Ziff-Davis, CMP, and Bill Communications (VNU).
Bob is a founding partner of mediaIDEAS, a company providing research and guidance to the paginated media industry, with expertise in digital, mobile, social research and consulting. Today Bob’s firm, Precision Media Group, does consulting and publishes “Heard on the Web: Media Intelligence,” a daily industry e-newsletter.
Previous Events
May 25, 2011
Add Flair to Your Searchable Content
How to make articles, podcasts, and other content more findable.
At our May 25 meeting, award-winning journalists discussed how to create articles, podcasts, and more that get found by search engines and grab readers’ attention.
Attendees learned how to
- Craft articles, headlines, and other copy that attracts search engine and readers.
- Create compelling content no matter the format.
- Master the essentials of search engine optimization.
- Keep readers engaged and coming back for more.
Dec. 9, 2010
Holiday Event: Celebrate and Strategize
B2B editors, designers and others honored local Digital Azbee winners, celebrated with friends and figured out how to prepare for 2011.
We celebrated the year’s accomplishments by toasting the local winners of the Digital Azbee awards and prepared for more opportunities in 2011 with an open and lively discussion on ways to recharge our careers.
Oct. 20, 2010
The Evolution of the Business Journalist
Learn how to keep pace with the increasing demands of today’s B2B media business
Attendees heard about the essential skills every editor must master. They learned:
- which business-management skills are vital to editors today.
- the required presentation skills, whether for live events, video, or podcasts.
- how best to collaborate with your business-side counterparts while maintaining editorial boundaries.
- how to think and act more like an entrepreneur.
Feb. 23, 2010
Make Yourself Indispensable in These Changing Times and Crazy Economy
Business publishing is undergoing a sea change. Change with it — or get swept away with the tide.
At the chapter’s Feb. 23 event, editors joined ASBPE and the New York Financial Writers’ Association at Playwright Celtic Pub for cocktails. Greg David, former Crain’s editor and current director of the Business & Economics Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, revealed what it takes to succeed as a business journalist in today’s fast-changing market.
Attendees learned how to…
- keep on top of the sweeping changes in the industry.
- kept abreast of the changing skill set necessary to succeed.
- promote yourself as well as your brand.
- think of themselves as entrepreneurs, not employees.
March 2009
Innovative Responses to Today’s Troubling Times
From inventive new initiatives to creative cost cutting, how to stay competitive amid the deepening recession.
At ASBPE’s March 2008 New York Chapter event, editor-in-chief John A. Byrne revealed the strategies BusinessWeek.com is using to thrive despite the current economic challenges and to position itself for growth as the economy improves. Byrne discussed how BusinessWeek.com integrates print and digital content, engages online communities to build reader engagement, and boosts the effectiveness of its editorial team.
Attendees learned how to:
- Maintain the importance of your print publication in today’s digital age;
- Craft an effective business model that comprises print, digital, live events, and more;
- Organize print and online editorial teams to maximize productivity and effectiveness; and
- Cover more ground with fewer resources.
December 2008
Taking the Pulse of B2B Media in 2009
How B2B media can survive — even flourish— despite the financial meltdown.
Attendees at ASBPE New York’s Dec. 11, 2008, event heard an award-winning panel’s recommendations for confronting the challenges ahead and pursuing editorial and business opportunities, despite the grim economic forecasts. Four editors offered up a survival guide for B2B editors and publishers make their way. Editors learned how:
- B2B editors can adapt to the challenges facing newsrooms that are experiencing cuts in staffing and resources.
- industry publications can add value to better serve their niche audiences and distinguish themselves from competitors.
- B2B editors can boost their publication’s profile by serving as expert commentators on mainstream news outlets.
June 2008
Make Your Job Indispensable:
Tales from Four ‘Survivors’
How to develop the multitasking skills you’ll need as an editor, reporter or freelancer to keep from being voted off the B2B multimedia island.
At our June 2008 event, attendees heard from four experts about the skills editors need to develop to stay relevant — and survive! They found out how:
- Today’s B2B editors are going beyond magazine editing to manage a multimedia platform including print, web news, metrics, e-newsletters, live events, webinars and other “franchise” products.
- Enterprising freelance editors and writers are enhancing their multimedia skills and nabbing opportunities to do online slide shows, podcasts, video, blogs, and more.
- B2B editors can manage their time more efficiently and balance priorities using quantitative analysis techniques in an environment where they must increasingly multitask.
- Publishers can develop in-house training programs to provide B2B editors and freelancers with the expertise they need in a Web 2.0 world.
March 2008
Get Social (Media, That Is)
From online communities to social networks to virtual worlds, learn how to harness the power of social media.
At our March 2008 event, we explored how to extend an editorial brand into the world of Web 2.0. A panel of digital content experts who have successfully integrated social media into their publications’ reader-engagement activities explained how to
- build reader interaction and grow circulation.
- facilitate networking among peers and aid readers’ professional development.
- recharge existing e-products and print products.
- track trends in social media and stay ahead of the curve.
- plan, launch, and integrate social media into editorial plans and reader-interaction strategies.
November 2007
Dare to Be Digital: Part II
Attendees learned how B2B publishers are gaining a competitive edge by digitizing their print publications.
At our November 2007 event, we explored ways to extend editorial brands into the digital realm. A panel revealed how each successfully launched digital magazines to supplement or replace their print products. Afterward, we met representatives of top industry vendors and saw firsthand how their software worked.
Attendees found out how to:
- find the right fit for a digital magazine within overall content strategy.
- harness the latest software to retain the tactile experience of a print publication while allowing for innovative packaging and presentation.
- incorporate a range of functionality, including media sharing, archiving, widgets, links, blogs, and personal pages into digital publications.
- select the best vendors to meet their needs.
- launch their own digital publications — and get a leg up on the competition.
December 2006
Spreadsheeting Your Way to a Scoop
At our first-ever webinar, editors learned how Excel tools can improve your financial reporting. Missed it? Purchase a CD.
Stock analysts do it…so can you! From calculating profit margin and earnings per share to graphing P/E ratio, you can learn how to use Excel’s powerful number-crunching capabilities to get the news behind the financial statements at the companies you cover.
ASBPE’s first webinar helped writers extend their reportorial savvy into the world of company financial statements. If you missed it, don’t worry — you can order a copy on CD. Learn about Excel tools that top-tier investigative journalists use to enhance the breadth and depth of their financial reporting, uncover hidden problems in company performance, estimate market share — and beat the competition in disclosing the next corporate scandal.
What You’ll Learn from the CD
- What the key business indicators are and how to analyze them when reviewing firm performance;
- How to use Excel spreadsheets to calculate key business indicators such as profit margin, earnings per share, price-earnings (PE) ratio and market value; and
- How to convey to your audience the significance of these indicators as you report on financial issues.
Watch this site for exact dates on upcoming seminars.
Read a recap of the Dec. 14 seminar.
Chapter Discussion Group
All editors and writers, particularly those based in the New York area, are invited to join the chapter’s discussion group, hosted by Yahoo. The group’s home page is groups.yahoo.com/group/NY-ASBPE. Forums like these are great opportunities to network and share ideas with your peers.
Past Chapter Events
- Readers, circulation, and audience development
Today readers have more media options available to them than ever before. Attendees learned strategies to capture — and keep — readership. - Award-winning journalism: Reporting the story that gets recognized
What are the elements that make a story exceptional? And once you’ve taken the top prize, where do you go from there? Winners of several prestigious journalism contests told the answers. - Surviving in today’s tough B2B editorial environment
Editorial consultant outlines how editors can add value for their publishers.