AAN News

AAN East, West Dates Announced

The annual staff-training conferences will be held Jan. 26-27 and Feb. 16-17. The earlier weekend date is reserved for AAN West, which will be held for the first time at the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco's Japantown. Meanwhile, AAN East will return to the Hotel Washington and its remarkable view of the White House. Programming details and registration materials for both conferences will be ready next week.
AAN Staff  |  11-15-2006  2:45 pm  |  Association News

Welcome to Our New Home Page

AAN's executive director describes some of the changes and explains why they were made. (FULL STORY)
Richard Karpel  |  11-13-2006  1:36 pm  |  Association News

Interns Render Mission-Critical Assistance

Shabiroon Jumaralli (pictured) and Jarrett Keohokalole, recipients of 2006 AAN Diversity Internship grants, contributed far more to their papers than their names and the cachet of diversity. For two months, Jumaralli served as sole staff photographer while Atlanta's Creative Loafing was filling the position. And Keohokalole proved a journalist of all trades at the Honolulu Weekly, where he distinguished himself in articles capturing the distinct flavor of island politics. Both interns applied their educations not just on the job but on the run, learning things, as Keohokalole put it, that you can't learn in a classroom. (FULL STORY)
10-24-2006  7:29 am  |  Association News

Wall Between Print and Web Publishing Topples at Perestroika

Alternative weeklies are raring to lead the way in online journalism, if AAN's Web Publishing Conference this past weekend was any evidence. More than 120 publishing professionals attended the Oct. 6-7 meeting, titled Perestroika, girding themselves for the day their papers move entirely off newsprint and into cyberspace. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  10-11-2006  7:00 am  |  Association News

AAN Hires New Editor

A 15-year veteran of D.C.-based publications, Davolt (pictured) will be responsible for the content of AAN.org and AltWeeklies.com. He served as a writer and editor at the Washington Business Journal from 1999-2005, followed by a stint at Employee Benefit News. Davolt is eager to bring his diverse experience to bear on his new job. "Given the forces of darkness arrayed against the free press right now, this is an exciting time to support alternative newsweeklies," he says. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  10-06-2006  8:29 am  |  Association News

AAN Film-Industry Event Gets Rave Reviews

Sixty AAN members and 83 film-industry clients attended the Sept. 14 "AANtourage" reception on the roof of the Bel Age hotel in Los Angeles. The event was so successful that publishers and ad buyers continued the party afterward in the hotel bar. In a post-event survey, 100 percent of respondents thus far said that AANtourage was a success. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  09-19-2006  9:46 am  |  Association News

2006 Diversity Internship Recipient Offers a Fresh Perspective

Tasha Ho-Sang (pictured) parlayed an insightful letter to the editor into a summer internship at the Philadelphia City Paper, with funding assistance from AAN's Diversity Internship program. Ho-Sang had a wealth of story ideas, and during her two months at the alt-weekly she was able to develop a few of those ideas into successful articles. "Stories she pitched came from a realm that we wouldn't have found if we hadn't had the chance to bring Tasha on," Managing Editor Brian Hickey says. (FULL STORY)
Amy Gill  |  09-13-2006  9:42 am  |  Association News

AAN Conference Offers Crash Course in the Web

In briskly paced sessions, the two-day Web Publishing Conference will cover everything AAN members need to know about the Web: revenue models; online advertising operations and technology; user-generated content; multimedia; search-engine optimization; social networking; Web analytics; usability best practices; wireless Internet; legal issues; and writing and editing for the Web. The October 5-7 meeting in San Francisco will also feature big-picture overviews, vendor presentations and member roundtables. The deadline for reduced rates is Sept. 12. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  09-11-2006  9:54 pm  |  Association News

Program Announced for Web Publishing Conference

The newly announced schedule includes several confirmed speakers: Thomas Burke, a lawyer with the firm Davis Wright Tremaine; Xavier Casanova, CEO of Perenety; Bruce Dobie, owner of Dobie Media LLC; Bowen Dwelle of AdMonsters; Michael Gold and Susan West of WestGold Editorial; R. Scott Horner, co-owner of Swarm Interactive; Thomas Kenney, president of Verve Wireless, Inc.; and Dave Morgan, the founder and chairman of Tacoda Systems. Additional speakers and seminars for the October conference may be added at a later date. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  08-24-2006  12:02 pm  |  Association News

Zankowski Appointed AAN Treasurer

Fran Zankowski (pictured), CEO of the Colorado Springs Independent, will fill the position vacated by Rob Jiranek until an election is held at the June 2007 annual meeting. Zankowski is a veteran of the AAN Board of Directors who also served on the Admissions Committee for eight years. Jiranek resigned last week after announcing that he had accepted a position as vice-president of sales and strategic planning with the Memphis Commercial Appeal. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  08-22-2006  9:44 am  |  Association News

Web Publishing Conference Registration Now Open

Register for "Perestroika" before Sept. 12 to get the discounted rate. The conference, which is open only to AAN members, will be held Oct. 5 - 7 in San Francisco. Programming details are still being finalized, but topics that will be covered include Web-publishing essentials like revenue models, online advertising operations and technology, user-generated content, multimedia, search-engine optimization, and writing and editing for the Web. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  08-17-2006  1:35 pm  |  Association News

AAN Announces Film-Industry Event in Los Angeles

On Sept. 14, AAN will host AANtourage, a reception for film-industry ad buyers designed to showcase the alternative-newspaper business and demonstrate gratitude to our clients for their support. AAN members who attend will have an opportunity to schmooze with studio and ad-agency reps while enjoying gourmet food and an open bar poolside at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood. "Many of the regional agencies that we used to visit on a regular basis are no longer placing the media buys (for movies)," notes Austin Chronicle's Carol Flagg. "This party will allow us to introduce ourselves directly to the L.A. agencies that place this business." (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  07-17-2006  12:05 pm  |  Association News

ACLU Buys AAN Donated Ad

AAN Staff  |  07-14-2006  8:51 am  |  Association News

Save the Date: Fall Web Publishing Conference

Program details are still being finalized for AAN's first-ever conference dedicated to electronic publishing, but the time and place have been set: October 5-7 at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway in San Francisco. AAN editors, publishers and web personnel won't want to miss this opportunity to learn, strategize and discuss having a significant online presence and keeping up with the rapidly changing news business. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  07-13-2006  1:38 pm  |  Association News

Program Announced for AAN-Medill Writers Workshop

From young reporters needing basic skills to veteran editors in need of a recharge, alt-weekly writers of all experience levels will find training and inspiration at AAN's eighth annual Alternative Journalism Writers Workshop, on August 11-12 at Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, Ill. Presenters will include Laura Dell, Bruce Shapiro, Michael Tisserand, Alan Prendergast, and AAN editors Patricia Calhoun, Julia Goldberg and Donna Ladd. (FULL STORY)
AAN Staff  |  07-10-2006  1:44 pm  |  Association News

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