Last Updated: June 29, 1999
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Convention experience
Spend a couple more days in San Francisco?
Come on, twist my arm. That would have been my response if ASNE’s convention
program planners had asked me whether they should offer some special events
before and after the 1999 convention.
But they didn’t. They asked me to find out afterwards if editors who
participated found them worthwhile.
Three add-on events were offered: a daylong tour of the Silicon Valley
on Monday; a seminar on total community coverage on Tuesday before the
convention opening; and a minority job fair after the closing luncheon
on Friday.
Were they worthwhile? The answers tended to be yes, yes and maybe.
Silicon Valley tour
The Silicon Valley tour was a big hit. Those who went were fascinated
by the glimpse at the management of high-tech companies. “When we went
to IBM, for example, and talked about the future of storage, they were
talking about years ahead,” said Brian Stallcop, editor of The Sun in Bremerton,
Wash. “We never do that in a newsroom.”
Stallcop also was struck by the flexibility of Solectron, a company
that manufactures for other firms. “It reinvents itself every single day,”
he said. While newspapers obviously fill their pages with new material
every day, “we’re still filling the same old buckets,” he said. “They switch
buckets every day.”
Mary Jo Meisner, editor of Community Newspaper Co. in Needham, Mass.,
also appreciated the management lessons gained in Silicon Valley. “It placed
us right there where all those things are happening and where our industry
needs to get very fast,” she said.
Meisner is particularly interested in integrating interactive and print
media. “I think that’s the way to go,” she said. “Anybody who doesn’t think
that has his head in the sand.”
Asked if ASNE should include an outside tour in the Washington area,
where the convention will be held for the next three years, all editors
interviewed said yes.
Total community coverage session
Another success story was the total community coverage seminar held
before the convention on Tuesday. The session was practical training for
editors in auditing the content of their newspapers for diversity. After
hearing a presentation by the Maynard Institute, participants broke into
small groups and tried their hands at auditing stories from the San Francisco
Examiner.
“The hands-on experience we got at that session was very useful in understanding
that concept and applying it,” said Ray Ollwerther, executive editor of
the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey. “My interest tends to lean towards
more nuts and bolts, and it certainly filled the bill on that course.”
Paul Keep, editor of The Bay City (Mich.) Times, agreed. It “was practical,
something you could use in your newsroom.”
Job fair
The third add-on event, Friday afternoon’s job fair, got mixed reviews
from the people I talked to. Everyone contacted seemed to agree that the
turnout was excellent. An organizer said there were 155 job seekers and
53 newspapers represented.
Editors also agreed that the fair was an excellent way to emphasize
ASNE’s interest in increasing the diversity of editorial staffs. Some questioned
whether there were tangible benefits beyond that.
While some editors were present, others opted to have recruiters fly
in for the four-hour session, such as Janet Grimley, assistant managing
editor for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
She arrived Thursday night and felt fresh, but sensed that some of the
editors there were exhausted. “I know by the end of a convention you’re
talked out, your brain is mush.”
Like many papers, the P-I filled its summer internships months earlier,
and most attendees were students. “I had no jobs I could offer anybody
there,” Grimley said. “I really don’t have entry-level spots for someone
still in college.”
She did find value in promoting her newspaper to minority applicants
and “seeing young talent.” She’s also hoping those who attended the fair
tell others with more experience about the P-I.
As for next year, Grimley suggests the job fair’s hours be extended.
She also hopes ASNE will find a way to attract more experienced candidates,
which might be easier in Washington.
She also noted that many editors are unfamilier with the ins and outs
of working a job fair. She always brings handouts about her newspaper and
job descriptions, for example. “You don’t just walk in and sit down.”
She said organizers should see that interviewers get resumes and clips
in advance. “We did not get packets ahead of time,” she said. “Everybody
I interviewed was cold.”
Evaluations following the fair found that several recruiters planned
to make an offer to someone they talked to or to invite them for another
interview. Evaluations also revealed that recruiters were enthusiastic
about repeating the job fair next year.
Friend is managing editor of the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail.
