You'll find a preliminary convention schedule on the site, along with everything you need to know about registering for the annual confab -- including the fact that AAN member papers are once again eligible for up to two free registrations. The programming at this year's conference, which will be held June 14-16 in Portland, Ore., will focus heavily on web publishing and management training.

Continue ReadingAAN Convention Website Open for Business

The first live chat will take place this Thursday, April 12, at 1 pm EDT, with subsequent sessions offered the first Thursday of each month at 1 pm. The format will sometimes be like a roundtable and other times will feature specific presenters or topics. This Thursday's session will focus on new technology and a discussion about future Webinar topics. Members with questions about the Webinars or suggestions regarding potential subjects for discussion should contact AAN Sales and Marketing Director Roxanne Cooper.

Continue ReadingAAN Offers Webinar Sessions for Classified Managers

AAN launched a new web publishing blog today at web.aan.org. The blog is designed to be an in-depth, concrete resource on web publishing news, online innovations and journalism trends. For more information on the blog, visit the about page, the editorial policy, and the blog style guide. The blog coincides with the launch of other 2.0 AAN identities, such as the AAN MySpace account, del.ico.us account, and Flickr account. Recent posts on web.aan.org:

Continue ReadingWeb.AAN.org Launches

The Molly Ivins First Amendment Award will be presented at the AAN convention to a journalist or media figure who has taken a courageous stand challenging the preferred narrative of powerful government or private interests; whose reporting and/or commentary has had a profound impact on the public's understanding of the issue; and whose work embodies the spirit of Ivins' legacy -- speaking truth to power with wit and style. All AAN members are eligible to submit a nomination to web at aan.org. The deadline is Tuesday, April 2.

Continue ReadingCall For Nominations: Molly Ivins Award

"Being pregnant doesn't change the fact that there are issues in Jackson that I can bring to light through this newspaper," writes 19-year-old Melishia Grayson in her introductory column for the Jackson Free Press. Grayson is one of four recipients of AAN's Diversity Internship grants for the Winter/Spring 2007 cycle. The other grant recipients this cycle are Amanda Miller at Washington City Paper, Tuyet Nguyen at Westword, and Lauren Parajon at the Oklahoma Gazette. Established in 2001, the AAN Diversity Internship program awards four annual grants of up to $2,500 to talented young journalists of color.

Continue ReadingAAN Diversity Intern Uses Stereotypes as Motivation

The best way to find out is to participate in our annual Financial Standards survey, a confidential benchmarking study that many AAN publishers consider the most important benefit the association offers to its members. AAN financial consultant Seija Goldstein will once again compile the survey and present the results -- to participants only -- at the annual convention, which will be held in Portland June 14-16. The deadline for participation is Monday, April 2. For more information on the survey, please contact the AAN office.

Continue ReadingHow Do Your Financials Compare to Other AAN Papers?

Creative Loafing Inc.'s former web editor will be responsible for overseeing the development of AAN's websites -- AAN.org and AltWeeklies.com. She will also share editing duties on both sites with Jon Whiten, the organization's senior editor. Fries got her start in journalism at the San Antonio Current, writing news and editing the food section. She also was the food editor of Tampa's Weekly Planet (now called Creative Loafing) for a short time before she was tapped for the web position in Atlanta.

Continue ReadingLaura Fries Joins AAN Staff as Web Director and Editor

Newly elected Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), the first non-African American representative since 1974 from Tennessee's majority-black Ninth District, will keynote this weekend's staff-training conference, AAN announced today. Cohen served Memphis in the Tennessee State Senate for 24 years before replacing Harold Ford, Jr. as the city's congressman. For the first time since it premiered in 2004, attendance at AAN East is likely to exceed the total at AAN West, which was held in San Francisco in late January. MORE AAN EAST NEWS: Helen Sutton, who spoke in Little Rock at the 2006 convention and racked up one of the highest scores in the history of AAN's post-convention survey, has been confirmed as the sales-track speaker on Friday afternoon.

Continue ReadingMemphis Congressman to Speak at AAN East