Midwest-South Azbee Awards Finalists Announced

The list of finalist publications in the Midwest-South Region competition of the Azbee Awards of Excellence has been released; exactly which publications won which awards will be announced at the regions awards banquet, to be held July 17 in Washington, D.C.

The national awards ceremony will take place the evening of July 24 at the National Editorial Conference in Kansas City. Names of national finalist publications will be posted soon at www.asbpe.org.

President's Welcome: ASBPE 2.0

A better writer than I once said, “All the world’s a stage.”

I wonder what Mr. Shakespeare would have thought of today’s world, in which everyone not only gets a turn on stage, but is a theater critic besides, not to mention a playwright?

These days more people are more involved in thinking about, and writing about, the issues that affect their personal and professional lives — a development that can’t be seen at anything but positive. Indeed, many of our readers, and even some our biggest advertisers, are now publishers in their own right.

Add the clamoring for attention from all the e-Bells and iWhistles of this digital age, and it is becoming clear that in order to maintain relevancy and market share we need to leverage the talents of our community to effect an upgrade of both process and content.

How will we do this, and what will the “Business Press 2.0” look like when we do?

This is what the American Society of Business Press Editors is about — finding the answers to the most pressing questions facing us today. In fact, that’s why I agreed to serve — I’d like to get editors, artists, events organizers, marketers, what will the “Business Press 2.0” look like ...? webmasters and everyone else interested involved to help develop this community of ours, so that those of us like myself who are just building our careers have a vibrant, flourishing trade publication industry 10, 20 or even 30 years from now. (After all, with lifespans lengthening and social security receding ever further into the future, we may have many more years of work to look forward to!)

This brings up my final point — to make these developments arise, we need your input. We need to know what’s working these days, and what's not. Any triumphs or tragedies to share? Anything you’d like to see a meeting about?

And most importantly, do you have an interest in serving the Cleveland chapter, either on the board or leading a committee, organizing an educational or social gathering or just participating in the online forum?

There’s lots to do, and so my first official act as chapter president is to welcome any interested parties to nominate themselves (or others) for a leadership position. If you would like to be a chapter officer, or just help out behind the scenes, please email me your name and some quick background, (i.e., areas of interest or specialty and in what capacity and level of commitment you’d like to serve) and I will find something for you to do to help build this community, as well as your resume and professional skill set.

Please pass this along to anyone else you think might be interested, and I look forward to meeting everyone soon!

Best,
Brad Kenney
bradkenney@gmail.com