Alternative newsweeklies have always struggled to attract their fair share of political, public affairs and nonprofit advertising. Earlier this year, AAN commissioned a study by Fenton Communications -- the Washington, D.C.-based communications firm that represents MoveOn.org, Save Darfur, Rock the Vote, People for the American Way, and a host of other progressive organizations -- to find out why. The results of their research were mailed today to AAN publishers. While Fenton doesn't sugarcoat the problems alt-weeklies face in the political advertising space, they do offer several ideas about how we can improve our position. In the coming months, AAN will work on a number of action items contained in the report.

How was PortlAANd? Out of the attendees who participated in the survey, 98.6 percent agreed the convention was a success. This year, roundtables and peer-to-peer discussions earned high approval ratings. Member-led sessions also received praise, particularly presentations by Todd Stauffer of Jackson Free Press for "Online Event Listings: Best Practices and Solutions," Joe MacLeod of Baltimore City Paper for "Isn't That Special!," and Fran Zankowski of Colorado Springs Independent for "Financial Management for Ad Sales Managers." The mild weather was a big hit too, with the exception of a few Southern members who found it chilly. AAN members may download a PDF of the survey results with members' comments in the Resource Library.

Friday, July 27 is the deadline for early registration and hotel rates for the Alternative Journalism Workshop for Writers and Designers to be held Aug. 10-11 in Evanston, Ill. Speakers include Poynter writing coach Chip Scanlan, journalist-author Alex Kotlowitz and Visual Editors' Robb Montgomery, and for the first time ever, the conference will include a separate program for design staff. Lunch and dinner on Saturday are included in the $75 AAN member early-registration rate.

The little red "A" logo you see next to today's AAN News story on the Austin Chronicle means the full text of that story is available only to AAN members. Every so often, we'll use that designation to highlight features we've developed specifically for AAN members that you won't find anywhere else.

Chip Scanlan, Alex Kotlowitz, Michael Tisserand and several members of the AAN Editorial Committee will head the writers' portion of the program at the annual conference, which will be held Aug. 10-11 on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. A design track has been added this year as well; Robb Montgomery, Luke Hayman, Lesa Snider King and members of the Design and Production Committee will head that program. The registration fee is $75 for AAN members.

Recent posts on AAN's web publishing best practices blog include tips on automatically feeding paper content to Twitter, finding 2.0 trends from top conferences on Slideshare.net, and setting up an easy RSS aggregator to troll for story ideas. Seven Days online editor Cathy Resmer makes her AAN-blogging debut, contributing a post on finding and using local content on YouTube, sharing stories found online that made their way into the paper. In addition, a detailed overview of NOW's recent Box Design Challenge is featured, along with tips on Managing Your Digital Professional Identity.

For the second year in a row, AAN will host a cocktail reception for film-industry clients in Los Angeles this fall. On the heels of the success of last year's "AANtourage," "TrAANsformers" will feature hors d'ouvres, an open bar and entertainment. In addition, party-goers will again have the opportunity to win high-end door prizes donated by AAN members. Each AAN member may send a maximum of two representatives, and pre-registration is required. For more information or to reserve a spot, contact Roxanne Cooper at rcooper (at) aan.org or 202-289-8484.

Representing 90 AAN member papers and many non-members as well, 588 alties converged on Portland last weekend for a rousing 30th annual AAN Convention. There were senators, strip club tours, former US attorneys, marching bands, scores of informative sessions, and, of course, parties galore. If you missed it, or if you just want to relive your treasured memories, you can always head over to the first-ever official convention blog, which now features blog posts by convention attendees and AAN staff, as well as links to the many folks who wrote about the confab for their own papers or websites. If you've seen coverage we're missing, you can e-mail editor (at) aan.org.

Held at the Medill School of Journalism, AAN's reporter training focuses on alt-weekly-centric issues, including innovative ways to cover news and arts, as well as fresh looks at narrative storytelling. The annual workshop has expanded to include sessions for design and production staff, such as time-saving tricks for Creative Suite 3 and how to design ads for the web. Registration for members is $75 until July 27. Nonmembers can register for $150. The Hotel Orrington will provide accommodations for a special fee of $119 per night.