Seven editors selected to attend national conference, Azbee banquet.
A record number of young editors applied for the 2008 Young Leader Scholarship, and ASBPE selected five American winners and co-sponsor Trade Association Business Publications International selected two international winners.
The scholarship enables the editors to attend ASPBE’s National Editorial Conference July 23–25 at the InterContinental Hotel in Kansas City, Mo.
Winners will network with other attendees at the July 23 inaugural reception for ASBPE’s new 501(c)(3) foundation, spend two days sharpening their editorial and online skills at the conference, and attend the Azbee Awards of Excellence banquet.
The scholarship committee selected the winners based on their résumés, clips, recommendation letters from their chief editors, and their essays on how they became involved in the business press, their biggest challenges as business-to-business editors, and their future career goals.
The committee was impressed with the passion the candidates had for B2B journalism, said ASBPE national vice president Amy Fischbach, herself a 2002 YLS winner and the 2008 YLS committee chair.
“The winners all have strong leadership potential, and we look forward to seeing them get more involved in ASBPE in the future,” she said.
Scholarship winners must be 30 years old or younger, worked for at least two years as an editor at a business magazine or associated Web publication, be sponsored by their chief editor, and plan to continue in the business press as a career.
ASBPE covers the hotel costs and the conference fees. Winners also receive a free one-year membership to ASBPE.
Darcy DeVictor is the associate editor for Golf Course Management, the publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America based in Lawrence, Kan. DeVictor previously worked for a produce business weekly newspaper and a trio of construction related monthly magazines. She earned her bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism and French from Drake University.
Leah Garris is an award winning senior associate editor at Buildings, a business publication/media brand that reaches 72,000-plus building developers, owners and facility managers. In her present role, she is actively involved in editorial planning and processes, reporting and writing exclusive content for the publication and related electronic media, coordinating freelance and industry-expert content for the publication, and copy editing all editorial content for the Buildings brands. Garris is a 2002 graduate of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, with a degree in journalism and psychology.
Andy Hanacek is the executive editor of The National Provisioner magazine, which serves the meat, poultry and prepared-foods industries. Prior to joining the Provisioner in October 2005, he served as the managing editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery. For three years, Hanacek served as an associate editor with Pro Football Weekly, a consumer magazine and multimedia franchise that covered the National Football League. He attended Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
Andy Hoskins is deputy editor for London-based BMI Publications, which publishes B2B magazines for the travel, leisure, and hospitality industries. In his current role, he was heavily involved in the conception and launch of The Business Travel Magazine, which was voted best in its field last December at the annual Business Travel Journalism Awards. He earned his bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Southampton in England in 2001. Hoskins then lived in Peru for four months, participated in charity projects and traveled around South America.
Jeff Lee has been associate editor of Building Products at Washington, D.C.-based Hanley Wood since joining the company in the summer of 2006. He has written freelance articles for Architect, Builder, and Remodeler, and is a contributing editor for EcoHome and eBuild.com. Jeff attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in magazine publishing. He has previously worked for Homeland Protection Professional, the AFP news service, and Windy City Sports.
Kate Rau is editor SALESGURU magazine, South Africa’s only publication focused purely on the subject of selling. She began at Orange Press as an assistant editor and was soon promoted as the editor of her own magazine. She transformed the look, feel, and content of the magazine to better suit the reader and is working on a Web site to complement the publication. Rau studied law for two years and freelanced for an American magazine before earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Melissa Tracey is the associate online editor of Realtor for the National Association of Realtors in Chicago. Her work focuses on multimedia, blogs, editing e-newsletters and writing for the Web and magazine. She has worked for a daily newspaper in southwest Michigan and for The Chicago Tribune, People, and The Monitor on Psychology. She also taught journalism to graduate students at Northwestern University. Tracey was attracted to business reporting after a CNBC internship and working for Inside Business. She has a master’s degree in magazines, newspapers and online journalism from Syracuse University and her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Grand Valley State University.