Personal renewal, contact with peers, professional growth, research are all part of the reason why editors of large and small papers join

My paper, a small daily in rural New England, has been on the receiving end bigtime from our membership in ASNE. In fact, our involvement with the organization has actually altered our long-term planning.

Hosting editors from Africa and Nepal was not in our mission statement but turned out to be an enriching experience. Meeting with colleagues from around the country in a session about new media values was not what we had envisioned a year earlier, yet the experience launched some new directions in our newsroom.

My city editor had no idea he'd be going to Virginia to participate in an ASNE discussion group in the fall and that he'd return with an even stronger commitment to our daily practices.

ASNE is a growth experience. It only gets better. Attending the group's annual convention in the spring, which is a top-of-the-line event, is just the icing on the cake.

This year we used ASNE as a research tool. My request for data on a federal initiative was directed to the organization's counsel and was answered promptly with more material than I needed.

More tangible of course, is The American Editor magazine, a publication I share with my staff. It's chock-full of editors talking to editors about subjects that crop up every day. In fact, I just received a copy of an article that appeared in a recent issue, from U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy's office. Of course the article was about the senator and his involvement with federal access to information. Still, it's nice to know, we share the same reading list.

Our three-year membership in the American Society of Newspaper Editors has paid us big dividends. Our short-term relationship with the professional organization has yielded great results. We look forward to a longtime association with the group.

Dixon is managing editor of the St. Johnsbury, Vt., Caledonian-Record.

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I returned from one ASNE convention with Buck Ryan's "Maestro Concept." We used it to produce one of the best series of stories we'd done up to that time. And in modified form, it's still used to plan and put together story packages. I returned from another convention with Cokie Dishon's wonderfully designed section called "Celebrations." It planted a seed that eventually became our community pages.

Work on the Small Newspapers Committee has given me an avenue to educate myself about issues that concern small newspapers and to work on projects that have satisfied my need for more information about pagination and new media.

Convention programs have inspired and enlightened me. Ron Brown's remarks at the 1994 convention about how cultural differences affect work style was one of those moments when someone gives you a key to understand something you've been trying to get your mind around for a long time.

ASNE is also about personal renewal. I heard Gregory Favre's remarks at the 1995 convention about "a passion that is at the center of our lives" at a time when I needed to be reminded about why I am a journalist, why, no matter how many hours I work or how furious I get about "downsizing," I could never do anything else about which I would care so deeply. Gregory's remarks about his love affair re-awakened my own love affair with this business of communicating. For me, that alone was worth the price of membership.

Franklin is executive editor of the Hendersonville, N.C. Times-News.

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Given the chance to meet other editors was in itself enticement. But the real benefit was in the committee work. I immediately joined the Education for Journalism Committee. It sounded intriguing and was an area I was interested in. That same year, a new committee - Literacy - was formed midyear, and I was asked to join. I jumped at that chance since Literacy was just then getting attention as a major problem.

Joining two committees was a bit much; doing work for one is usually plenty. But it did give me a broad perspective on the work of ASNE. I was immediately impressed by things I would learn that would help me in my job. Not only did I learn a lot about education in journalism and literacy, I got tons of useful information from the work of other committees.

For instance, one committee at that time was doing groundbreaking work on the role and attitudes of copy editors. The final report became tremendously useful in dealing with the desk.

Four years ago, I became managing editor and, in that role, have found ASNE even more helpful. The practical advice is always there in committee reports. But also highly valuable are the journalistic values fights that ASNE continually battles. It is an organization that can always takes the right First Amendment stand no matter how controversial.

It feels good to be part of it.

Healy is managing editor of the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.

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At the annual meeting, you indulge in conversation that requires you to mention how wonderfully your newspaper is doing. And you either bitch or brag about your publisher, depending, of course, on how the conversation is unfolding.

OK, I'll remove tongue from cheek.

Fact is, the value of the ASNE meeting and accompanying conversation alone is worth membership.

Those of us who toil on small newspapers - and Nixon Newspapers' 12 publications are among ASNE's tiniest - come away from the annual session with bits and pieces learned from the big guys. And the big guys, I am sure, learn things about community journalism from those of us in the grassiest of roots.

While not all of the trends, issues and ideas apply everywhere, the core of what we all do is the same: journalism, pure and simple, with the same standards of ethics.

And then there is networking. It has been extremely valuable in the 16 years I have been an ASNE member, not for me personally, but for my hiring efforts. I tell job candidates that through my contacts I can help them advance after they prove themselves at our level. Without fail I have gotten a young reporter's notebook through at least one ASNE editor's door. The reporter was hired more often than not.

And then there is The American Editor, nee Bulletin. It has been consistently outstanding in helping to advance the profession.

Which gets me to ASNE committees. I have served on the Bulletin committee twice and four other committees. There is much to be gained at committee meetings in which ideas and views are freely ping-ponged.

In 1995 and '96, I was publisher of a Nixon newspaper and was unable to attend the annual meeting. But I am returning to my former role of editorial director, and I look forward to the next session.

And, of course, those little white lies.

Moscowitz is editorial director of Nixon Newspapers.