National Editorial Conference

July 24–25, 2008
Kansas City
InterContinental Hotel at the Plaza

Kansas City will host the next ASBPE National Editorial Conference. Mark your calendar for July 24–25. The conference will take place at the InterContinental Hotel at the Plaza.

The 2008 conference will feature one day of digital-related topics and one day of print-related sessions. Highlights of the conference include:

• a session on print and web staffing.
• new breakout sessions.
• top award-winner case studies.
• a special award honoring a journalist who has made a difference in his or her industry.
• a session on the art of interviewing.
• a panel discussion on how to transform poorly written technical articles into readable — even compelling — copy.

Blogger Paul Conley: “ No more cushy B2B jobs left”

This year’s keynote speaker will be consultant and B2B media blogger Paul Conley, who has worked for Bloomberg, CNN, and Primedia. Conley has broken many important publishing stories on his blog, where he takes on issues like ethics. He also blogs extensively about other B2B topics — particularly the web and how it’s changing the game for reporters.

Conley says it’s time to give up on journalists unwilling to explore multimedia or what he calls “Web-first publishing.” He’ll discuss that and other issues on July 24.

See a full list of sessions and speakers

Read keynote speaker Paul Conley’s thoughts on web publishing.

Get Conley’s suggestions on where to get web training.

Why attend the 2008 conference?

Here’s what past conference attendees say:

Nobody achieves anything without other people. That’s why the ASBPE conference is a wonderful event to attend. It’s a great opportunity to discuss the challenges and issues that face business publications in an environment that changes with the “speed of thought.”

You just can’t help but learn when you meet, listen and converse with editors, writers, and other industry professionals.

The people are great, the price is reasonable, and the takeaway really gets the wheels in your head spinning!

— Jim Romeo, Freelance Writer
www.JimRomeo.net

I found the ASBPE national conference — my first — to be very worthwhile. The speakers were top-notch, the discussions about digital media very timely, and I left feeling energized with many interesting new ideas to apply in my newsroom.

— Robert Grace
Editor/Associate Publisher and Conference Director
Plastics News

The 2007 conference gave me a broader perspective of the business publication industry. The conference sessions provided the insight and solid information I need to make strategic decisions about my own publication.

The greatest value was in meeting my peers and industry leaders, and having the opportunity to talk one-on-one about current trends and challenges.

— Mike Schreiter

About the Conference

Each summer, ASBPE holds a two-day National Editorial Conference in a different U.S. city. The conference is an opportunity for editors to meet their colleagues from across the country and to keep up with the latest on topics like doing editorial research, improving readership, and more. As part of the conference, the annual Awards of Excellence are presented at a dinner banquet. In addition, up to five editors each year can attend the conference for free through our Young Leaders Scholarship; an application form is included in the PDF version of the Azbee Awards Entry brochure (508K).

2007 Conference: B2B Editing at the Crossroads

Click to launch a slide show recapping 2007 conference highlights.

Sessions focused on Web strategies and the journalistic craft.

The many changes wrought by the move online — and how to continue producing great print and Web-based journalism — were the twin themes of the 2007 ASBPE National Editorial Conference. The conference took place Aug. 2–3 at New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel.

Day One of the conference investigated how the rise of digital technologies is adding new concerns to the age-old journalistic challenges we face. It included keynote addresses by two of the biggest names in journalism. Norman Pearlstine, the former editor-in-chief of Time Inc. Pearlstine, now a senior advisor, telecommunications and media, for private equity firm The Carlyle Group, opened the conference Thursday morning with the investor’s view on publishing.

Word from the top. Norman Pearlstine (left) will discuss the investor’s perspective on publishing. Stephen Adler will explain BusinessWeek's digital transformation.

The Day-One luncheon keynote was delivered by BusinessWeek editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler. Adler detailed how BusinessWeek transformed itself, both in print and on the web, in order to find a publishing model that worked.

Reporting on the reporters. From left: Ellis Booker, editor, Crain Communications’ BtoB and Media Business; Jeremy Greenfield, editor, min’s b2b; and Matt Kinsman, managing editor, Folio: (not pictured).

A panel on Day Two featured editors who cover the business-to-business publishing world for their magazines. Matt Kinsman, managing editor of Folio:, Ellis Booker, editor of Crain Communications’ BtoB and Media Business, and Jeremy Greenfield, editor of min’s b2b, provided an industry observer’s view of how publications are doing.

Young Leaders Scholarship

Each year, ASBPE’s Young Leaders Scholarship pays the conference and hotel room costs for five worthy applicants to attend the National Editorial Conference. (Transportation to and from the conference, any nonconference meals and other incurred costs are the responsibility of the winners or their individual publishing companies.)

Scholarship winners will also attend the ASBPE National Awards Banquet and will receive a free one-year membership to ASBPE if they are not already members.

These scholarships are open to all business editors under the age of 30, including print and Web.

Applicants must meet the following qualifications:

• Must be 30 years of age or younger.
• Must have worked at least two years as an editor of a business magazine or the magazine’s associated Internet publication.
• Candidacy must be sponsored by their publication’s Chief Editor.
• Must plan to continue in the business press as a career.
• May not be a past ASBPE Young Leaders Scholarship winner.

The deadline for applications is March 3, 2008. Learn more or get an application form (600K PDF).

If you have questions about the scholarship, please email them to hlundgren@association-mgmt.com or call ASBPE headquarters at 630-510-4588.