March 2003 Western Workshop Focuses on the Web

Posted on | by ASBPE Staff

Award winning speaker Ann Wylie to lead workshop; DenverPost.com editor to keynote.
January 2003ASBPE’s second Western Winter Workshop will be an intensive, one-day event focusing on ways to build and keep your online readership.
The workshop will be presented Wednesday, March 19, by editorial consultant Ann Wylie of Wylie Communications. It takes place at the Denver Marriott West in Golden, Colo.
Conference Offers Exceptional Value
ASBPE has worked hard to keep the registration fees affordable. That means you get:

  • a full-day workshop,
  • continental breakfast,
  • luncheon and
  • keynote speech

for a low price of only

  • $115 for ASBPE members.
  • $135 for nonmembers.

Hotel rooms at the Marriott are available for $139 per night. Just ask for the ASBPE rate when making your reservation.
The workshop consists of three modules:
Cut Through the Clutter
This back-to-basics writing workshop will include work on “editing by the numbers.” How long should your paragraphs be? Your sentences? Your words? Attendees will learn a seven-step “funnel system” that makes the editing process more efficient and effective. They’ll also learn to:

  • Avoid a reader backlash that could be causing people to toss your publication without reading it.
  • Solve the “visual duration-sensing apparatus” problem.
  • Write the way you speak with easy technique for making your copy more
    conversational.

Reaching Readers Online
Learn how to present your online copy to communicate with — instead of discombobulate — your readers. Specifically, you’ll learn how to:

  • Make sure your designer doesn’t make your Web site too cute to read.
  • Write microcontent that’s easy to understand no matter where it shows up.
  • Pass a test to ensure that your copy is broken into small enough chunks.
  • Avoid dropping a key piece of microcontent that helps readers get the gist of the story, even if they don’t read the text.
  • Write links and buttons that get clicked.

Writing for the Web: Creating Copy that Clicks
Write Web copy that overcomes the obstacles of online reading and really gets the word out on the Web. Attendees will learn how to make copy more readable and engaging:

  • Increase the usability of your copy by 124% with three simple steps.
  • Avoid a common hyperlinking mistake that drives readers nuts.
  • Create Web copy that works with readers’ natural online reading habits.
  • Apply the 30-3-30-3 rule to give online readers what they’re looking for.
  • Make feature stories work on the Web.
  • Run a skim test to make sure your online copy is scannable enough.
  • Develop a voice for your online communications.

The luncheon keynote speaker for the event will be Todd Engdahl, editor of DenverPost.com. Engdahl will tell attendees what the main daily for the Rocky Mountain West is doing online and discuss the thinking that’s going on editorially about:

  • what content is posted on the site,
  • how it is packaged,
  • how the editors try to capture readership and
  • what role they want the site to play relative to the print newspaper.

About Ann Wylie
Wylie’s work has earned 40 communication awards, including a Women In Communications (WIC) Clarion and two Gold Quill awards from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Before starting her firm, Wylie was editor of Hallmark Cards’ employee magazine, CROWN, which was named the best publication of its kind in the nation by WIC and best of its kind in the world by IABC.
Wylie has also served as editor of a regional business magazine, where she interviewed CEOs and billionaires — and the guys who change the light bulbs at Hallmark — and learned a lot about what makes successful companies tick.
As president of Wylie Communications, Ann handles special writing and editing projects for Sprint, Readers Digest, The Mayo Clinic and dozens of other major clients. She helps organizations like FedEx, Sprint PCS and Accenture launch or improve their publications.
About Todd Engdahl
Todd Engdahl is editor of DenverPost.com. Before launching the company’s first Web site in 1995, he served as executive city editor, city editor, night city editor and other editing and reporting jobs during his 27- year career at The Post. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
Download a registration form (100K PDF).