SABEW shucks "American" and emphasizes a new, global focus

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has rebranded, dropping the "American"reference (at least in part in deference to the fact that the association expanded into Canada in 2010) and unveiling a new name (and logo) to represent its wider ambitions, becoming the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

“The logo better communicates what SABEW stands for today,” said executive director Kathleen Graham. “We’ve used visual elements to emphasize our forward-thinking mindset, and digital and global expansion objectives.

SABEW presents an annual business awards competition among professionals and students.
It  recently become more focused on press freedom. To that end, it has issued statements and created events and training highlighting the importance of journalism, including the principle that fact-based reporting is necessary for the health of robust democracies.

Latest business media white paper released by Magazines Canada

The fifth in a series of white papers to emerge out of the annual Business Media Summit has been released.  The paper is titled "Moving Forward from a Position of Strength" and is authored by John Milne and me. It may be downloaded from the Magazines Canada website. 

White paper summarizes business media summit lessons & strategies

The white paper that resulted from the third annual Business Media Leadership Summit in February has been released by Magazines Canada. Publishing Leadership Today for Tomorrow's Readers is the third such paper co-authored by industry consultant John Milne and me, summarizing the lessons offered (and learned). The Business Media Summit is the only Canadian event specifically for senior business media executives. 

• Download the 2015 white paper
• Planning for Growth Across a Turbulent Horizon (2014)
• Plotting a Course across Canada's Business Media Landscape (2013)

Business media whitepaper from Magazines Canada looks at good operations and practice

Magazines Canada has released its second business media whitepaper, Planning for Growth Across a Turbulent Horizon. The whitepaper (authored by John Milne and me) is the outcome of a recent Business Media Leadership Summit held north of Toronto a couple of months ago. The document intends to capture the essence of presentations made, questions asked and the informal discussions which resulted.

Last year's summit resulted in a white paper which looked at how business media reflected economic health and the pace of change.  This second one places its emphasis on what constitutes good business media operations and practice. It shares the participants "life learnings" and discusses such topics as dealing with agencies, the efficacy of paywalls, multi-platform sales challenges, resourcing online teams and preparing magazines for sale and evaluating acquisition opportunities. 

A sample of the white paper's observations:

"In the good old days, multi‐platform sales consisted of a couple of pages and a few online ads. Today they can include contests; events; sponsorships; e‐newsletters; social media; specialty tools; analytics; corporate journalism; native advertising – the list is an evolving and constantly expanding one. Respecting this and instilling this respect in your sales and entire publishing team is the first and most important step toward success."