AAN News
Agenda Available for AAN's Annual Meeting
The Association's Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, June 7, at the
Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. A PDF copy of the notice and agenda for the meeting, along with a proxy form, is available here. During the meeting, AAN members will consider new member applications and the five current members up for review, elect 10 members of the Board of Directors, discuss and approve fiscal year 2009's budget, and consider and vote upon a proposal to amend the Association's bylaws.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
05-29-2008 3:18 pm |
Association News
Membership Committee Recommends Two Papers for Admission to AAN
This year the committee recommends two of the 12 applying papers for admission to the association: City Pulse from Lansing, Mich., and Hawaii Island Journal from Hilo, Hawaii. The committee also recommends that the five papers that have changed ownership recently be re-affirmed as members of the organization. Those papers are: Metro Pulse, The Other Paper, Cityview, East Bay Express, and Boston's Weekly Dig. The committee's complete report is available in the Resource Library, along with a document featuring ownership reports on each of the applying papers and the papers up for review. The reports will also be available in printed form during this year's Convention in Philadelphia. Each AAN member paper can vote for or against the acceptance of an applying paper at the association's annual meeting, which will be held on the last day of the Convention, Saturday, June 7.
(FULL STORY)
Erin Sullivan |
05-29-2008 9:34 am |
Association News
AAN Launches AltWeeklies.com 2.0
After months of planning and preparation, the Association of Alternative
Newsweeklies today debuted the second iteration of AltWeeklies.com, the
association's story-sharing and content-portal website. The new site
incorporates many new types of content and organizes it all in a way that
makes it much easier for users to find what they are looking for. Read here to learn more about the changes.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
05-22-2008 5:15 pm |
Association News
AAN.org Introduces Comments
AAN this week is launching a comments feature on stories posted to this site. AAN members must be logged in to read and/or make comments.
AAN |
05-19-2008 4:22 pm |
Association News
| Comments (1)
Make the Most Out of Your Mornings in Philly
In case the seminars, parties and after-parties aren't enough to fill your days at the Convention, our sponsor GPTMC has created special guided morning experiences (from 7:30-9 am) just for convention attendees. On Friday, June 6, you have a choice of a trip that includes a visit to Philadelphia's Magic Garden (and a soft pretzel fresh out of the oven), or Punk Rock Boot Camp, a fun and effective fitness alternative. Saturday morning offers a running or walking loop on the Schuylkill River Trail, as well as a private tour of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall -- including a trip to the rarely visited second floor of Congress Hall. All tours are limited to 25 participants. To register, please email Debra Silvestrin at debra (at) aan.org. Please visit the Special Events page on the Convention website for full descriptions. And if you're looking to explore on Sunday morning after the Convention is over, GPTMC has created a handy guide of potential self-guided tours, including "Brewadelphia," "Philly: A Green Kind of Town," and seven others that you can check out in this PDF.
AAN |
05-19-2008 2:07 pm |
Association News
AAN and Medill Announce Editorial Layout Finalists in AltWeekly Awards
Washington City Paper and Santa Fe Reporter each add another finalist to their awards counts, bringing the papers' totals this year to seven. Click here for the Editorial Layout finalists or here for the full list of finalists. AAN and Medill will reveal the order of finish at the AltWeekly Awards luncheon on June 7 in Philadelphia.
AAN |
05-19-2008 11:53 am |
Association News
Tags: Design & Production, Editorial
2008 Academy for Alternative Journalism Fellows Named
Ten fellows have been chosen from a field of about 330 hopefuls to attend the Academy for Alternative Journalism summer residency program at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, to be held June 22 to August 15. The academy trains young journalists in long-form feature writing with the aim of recruiting them into the alternative press. "This class has a lot of career-changers, including a flight attendant, a former truck driver and an elementary school teacher," says program director and Northwestern journalism professor Charles Whitaker. "It's one of the most diverse classes we've had in several years."
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
05-15-2008 1:15 pm |
Association News
AAN and Medill Announce AltWeekly Awards Finalists
The finalists this year, selected from more than 1,400 entries and over 90 participating papers, run the gamut from investigations of errant public officials to stories about green living. L.A. Weekly leads the pack with eight winners. Washington City Paper and Santa Fe Reporter follow closely with six nominees each. The order of finish for the 13th annual AltWeekly Awards contest will be announced on June 7 in Philadelphia.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
05-14-2008 5:29 pm |
Association News
Tags: Design & Production, Editorial
Philly 2008: Gourmet Food, Historic Surroundings and Great Music
Philadelphia City Paper today announced the details of the evening
festivities at this year's AAN Convention, and, as always, there will
be plenty to ingest, imbibe and experience as attendees catch up with their
AAN colleagues. From the opening night "Get on Board the Love Train" reception, featuring food from some of Philly's most well-regarded restaurants, to a closing night party across the street from where the U.S. Constitution was drafted, City Paper has our party needs covered. Other events include a restaurant and pub crawl through the hip environs of an historic neighborhood known as Northern Liberties, and a Saturday afterparty for about 75 attendees at The Roots Family Picnic. More afterparties are in the works -- be sure to check the Convention website for details.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
05-08-2008 3:51 pm |
Association News
Convention Early Registration and Hotel Deadlines Approaching
This Friday, May 9, is the deadline for early registration for the 31st Annual AAN Convention, June 5-7 in Philadelphia. Early rates are $295 per person for members, and $425 per person for non-members, and each will increase by $50 per person after this Friday's deadline. Registration is available via the Convention website. Next Friday, May 16, is the deadline to book a room at the special AAN rate of $169 single or double occupancy at the Marriott. Hotel rooms can also be booked online. Remember that the hotel could sell out before May 16, so book your room(s) as soon as possible. In addition, this Friday is the deadline for trade show exhibitors to receive a confirmed listing in the convention program. If you have any questions about your listing, or the trade show in general, please contact Debra Silvestrin at debra (at) aan.org or 202-289-8484.
AAN |
05-07-2008 2:25 pm |
Association News
Ownership Reports on Applying Papers Now Available
The reports provide background information on the companies and individuals who hold ownership stakes in the 12 papers that have applied for AAN membership in 2008; they are now available in the Resource Library. The Membership Committee is meeting this weekend in Washington, D.C., to discuss the applicants, and will issue its recommendations prior to the Annual Meeting, which will be held on Saturday, June 7 at the AAN Convention. The applying papers must be approved by two-thirds of the members voting in order to be accepted into the association.
AAN |
04-30-2008 1:48 pm |
Association News
AAN's Inaugural Web Publishing Survey Sent Out Today
The confidential survey (click here for PDF copy) covers a broad range of topics, including financial info, web traffic, staffing, software, marketing, email newsletters, blogs and multimedia. It was emailed to AAN publishers today. The results will be compiled by AAN staff; Jackson Free Press' Todd Stauffer will analyze the results and present the findings in a closed session at the AAN Convention in Philadelphia. Only those papers that substantially complete the survey by the close-of-business on May 12 will receive a copy of the results and be allowed to attend Stauffer's presentation at the convention.
AAN |
04-28-2008 3:37 pm |
Association News
AAN Promotes Regional Staff Training Fund
At the annual meeting in Portland last year, AAN members approved a budget that eliminated funding for the regional staff training conferences that had been held annually in San Francisco and Washington D.C., AAN Board president Stephen Leon explains in a memo mailed to publishers this week (and available in the Resource Library). In lieu of the conferences, the Board allocated a sum of money to "regional staff training," without specifying dates or locations. The idea was that individual publishers, or small groups of publishers, could submit conference proposals to AAN to apply for "grant" money from the budget. This year's AAN West conference was the first conference organized under the program; in a document that was attached to Leon's memo, the organizers share their "formula for success."
AAN |
04-10-2008 2:11 pm |
Association News
AAN Board Member Carol Flagg to Step Down
The Austin Chronicle's advertising director -- and AAN Retail Advertising
Committee chair -- says she's leaving the paper in the first week of July.
Flagg plans to move back home to Phoenix to start a new company that
provides consulting services. She will step down from her position on the AAN Board of Directors following
the board's meeting in June in Philadelphia. Her departure means someone will be
elected at the convention to serve the one year remaining in her term as retail ad chair.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
04-08-2008 4:20 pm |
Association News
Think of it as Kinda Like AAN East
A new twist this year: The final day of the convention will feature sales training seminars for beginning- and intermediate-level sales staff that will be accessible under a separate, less-expensive registration schedule. The idea is to provide regional training for papers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions who would have sent sales staff to AAN East, which was canceled this year. We've lined up two highly regarded professional speakers -- Rita Bailey and Dianne Ciotta -- to provide the training. This special program is $125 for AAN members and $200 for non-members (until May 16) and the separate registration includes access to the Bailey and Ciotta sessions, as well as the convention parties on Friday and Saturday. Fully registered convention registrants will also be allowed to attend these special sales-training seminars.
AAN |
04-03-2008 7:03 pm |
Association News
