In a tragic note, one recipient is mourned.
Four young Americans and two international editors will attend ASPBE’s National Editorial Conference August 2–3 in New York City as 2007 Young Leaders Scholarship winners.
This year, the announcement of our YLS winners was touched with sorrow, as one YLS recipient — Terrence Nguyen, Web editor for Fleet Owner — died in a swimming accident in Florida weeks after his selection by ASBPE (see below).
“Terry’s contribution to Fleet Owner’s online media products was highly deserving of this recognition,” said Penton CEO John French in a note to employees.

Intensive selection process

The six YLS winners in attendance at the conference will learn about digital media and how to achieve editorial excellence and enhance their careers.
ASBPE’s Young Leaders Scholarship committee selected the 2007 winners based on their résumés, clips, recommendation letters from their chief editors, their essays on how they became involved in the business press, their biggest challenges as business- to-business (B2B) editors, and their future career goals.
ASBPE received more entries this year than last year, and the experience and professionalism of the applicants was impressive, said Amy Fischbach, herself a 2002 YLS winner and 2007 YLS committee chair.
“B2B companies often have tight travel budgets and can’t afford to send all their young editors to the national conference,” she said.
“This scholarship gives the winners the opportunity to network with B2B editors nationwide and learn more about what ASBPE is all about. It’s the experience of a lifetime.”
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 as well as the conference fees.Winners also receive a free one-year membership to ASBPE.
Excited winner Sarah Yaussi said, “This scholarship is a way for me to think smarter, get motivated and work harder.”
Vincent ter Beek, is editor for Pig Progress, an international trade journal (and associated Web site). The magazine is a Reed Business publication, produced in Doetinchem, the Netherlands, and is geared toward highly educated employees in pig production facilitating companies, animal science researchers, and larger pig producers.
Ter Beek joined Reed Business in 2005 and has also worked on articles for the company’s publication Flower Tech.
Prior to that, he worked as a journalist at several newspapers, including De Twentsche Courant Tubantia and Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, and he continues to freelance.His assignments included court reporting, features, political news, interviews, and sports.He also spent one year as a college history teacher, and speaks English, Dutch, German, French, and Spanish.
Vincent graduated from Groningen University, the Netherlands, and has an M.A. in history and journalism.
Deborah Cassell is managing editor of Stagnito Communications’ Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery. After joining the staff in January 2006, Cassell oversaw a redesign of the monthly. She also contributes to a weekly e-newsletter.
Prior to joining SF&WB, she was managing editor of Furniture Style, where she worked for five years. She also spent a summer working as a reporter for Medill News Service in Chicago.
Cassell is a member of the American Society of Baking, and has served as a two-time judge of amateur and commercial entries in the National Pie Championships. Cassell is a graduate of Wittenberg University, having studied English and political science. During college, she also studied English literature at the University of York in York, England. She has a masters degree from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
Vanessa Chris is associate editor for KMI Publishing’s Canadian Mortgage Professional,Canada’s leading independent publication for mortgage brokers. She writes at least five features for each issue, in addition to hunting down and editing contributed pieces, hiring photographers, and searching for artwork for the magazine.
After graduating from the University of Western Ontario in 2003 with an M.A. in journalism, Chris began her career as a columnist for Canada’s leading newspaper, the Toronto Star, before finding her way into B2B publishing. She has also worked for CLB Media’s Advanced Manufacturing, Product Engineering and Maintenance and Canadian Occupational Safety.
Marisa Palmieri is associate editor of GIE Media’s Lawn & Landscape and its ancillary publications. She writes and edits profiles, in-depth features, and research reports. She also works on such online projects as producing podcasts and engaging readers on the online message board. In her previous job, she helped launch the group’s first editorial Web conference.
Palmieri was previously associate editor of Paperboard Packaging and Official Board Markets and has written for various trade publications including Interior Business, Commercial Dealer, Snow Business and Hotel & Motel Management. She also served as the editor-in-chief of Southeast Ohio magazine and a student writer for Ohio Today magazine.
She graduated cum laude with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in history from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
Travis Stanton has worked for the Exhibitor Magazine Group since 2005 and is editor of Exhibitor. He is responsible for planning, selecting, coordinating, assigning, writing, and editing the content of each issue. His work as a writer and editor has earned him recognition from the Lambda Literary Foundation, Minnesota Magazine and Publications Association, and the Western Publications Association.
Prior to joining Exhibitor, Stanton served as interim editor of Corporate EVENT magazine and managing editor of Lavender Magazine.
Stanton has a degree in English and theater. He was named a Regent Scholar in college and a Presidential Scholar at Watertown Senior High School in Watertown, SD.
Sarah Yaussi has served as the news editor for Hanley Wood’s Big Builder since February 2005. She manages the content for the news section, researches and writes feature-length articles and analyses of news and trends, runs the APEX awards competition, and helps plan the Big Builder conference.
Previously, she was the managing editor for The Clearing House/Germanic Review/ Monographs for Heldref Publications. Additionally, Yaussi was a newsgathering assistant for the BBC in London and an English editor and news assistant in Paris.
While there, she translated editorial content and wrote feature articles for a monthly tourism magazine, and wrote news summaries and recorded them in French for the government television news station.
She also served as a contributing writer to a daily newspaper in Syracuse and a weekly paper in DeWitt, both in New York.
She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English from Colgate University, and an M.A. from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

Nguyen a ‘kind spirit’

In his ASBPE Young Leaders essay, Terry Nguyen described an emotional moment during one reporting assignment in his years at the University of Connecticut.
“I vividly remember at UConn working on a story that had moved me more than any other,” Nguyen wrote. “A music student was performing a practice recital in front of her classmates when she collapsed onstage and died shortly thereafter. I learned that she played the trumpet with a prosthetic arm. I spoke with her friends, her teachers, university officials, and her father — who at times fought through tears to speak to me. For obvious reasons, it was an extremely sensitive topic, and I got no sleep the night my article was sent to the printer.
“I bring this particular story up because I learned very early in my career the value of journalism,” Nguyen continued in his essay. “What I wrote has an impact on how a deceased person will be remembered, and that article is most likely sitting in a scrapbook right now. This example illustrates why I believe journalism is truly a public service — one that’s worth preserving with integrity at whatever cost.”

The words of colleagues

Terry Nguyen, who died weeks after being selected a YLS winner, now is himself remembered in the words of other journalists.
“As those of us who knew him and worked with him mourn his loss, we take comfort from the public recognition [ASBPE] offered him,” said his editor-in-chief, Jim Mele. Nguyen was “quite honored” by the scholarship he received from the Society, Mele recalled.
In a letter to Penton employees, Mele added that Nguyen exhibited “a professionalism that most journalists only achieve after many years of experience. Perhaps more importantly, he was constantly looking for ways to both improve the quality of his work and the level of his editorial responsibilities.”
Indeed, Nguyen was named a Jesse H. Neal award finalist in 2005, for coverage of the effect that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had on trucking.
In the note to employees, Penton CEO John French also called attention to Nguyen’s talent and enthusiasm, but added that his “kind spirit will be greatly missed by all at Penton who had the pleasure of knowing him.”
Nguyen previously worked as a newspaper reporter and feature writer. He received a B.S. in journalism from the University of Connecticut in 2003.
ASBPE offers condolences to his family and colleagues and will be making a contribution to the Greater Hartford United Way in Nguyen’s name.