Fran Zankowski (pictured), CEO of the Colorado Springs Independent, will fill the position vacated by Rob Jiranek until an election is held at the June 2007 annual meeting. Zankowski is a veteran of the AAN Board of Directors who also served on the Admissions Committee for eight years. Jiranek resigned last week after announcing that he had accepted a position as vice-president of sales and strategic planning with the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Register for "Perestroika" before Sept. 12 to get the discounted rate. The conference, which is open only to AAN members, will be held Oct. 5 - 7 in San Francisco. Programming details are still being finalized, but topics that will be covered include Web-publishing essentials like revenue models, online advertising operations and technology, user-generated content, multimedia, search-engine optimization, and writing and editing for the Web.
On Sept. 14, AAN will host AANtourage, a reception for film-industry ad buyers designed to showcase the alternative-newspaper business and demonstrate gratitude to our clients for their support. AAN members who attend will have an opportunity to schmooze with studio and ad-agency reps while enjoying gourmet food and an open bar poolside at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood. "Many of the regional agencies that we used to visit on a regular basis are no longer placing the media buys (for movies)," notes Austin Chronicle's Carol Flagg. "This party will allow us to introduce ourselves directly to the L.A. agencies that place this business."
Program details are still being finalized for AAN's first-ever conference dedicated to electronic publishing, but the time and place have been set: October 5-7 at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway in San Francisco. AAN editors, publishers and web personnel won't want to miss this opportunity to learn, strategize and discuss having a significant online presence and keeping up with the rapidly changing news business.
From young reporters needing basic skills to veteran editors in need of a recharge, alt-weekly writers of all experience levels will find training and inspiration at AAN's eighth annual Alternative Journalism Writers Workshop, on August 11-12 at Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, Ill. Presenters will include Laura Dell, Bruce Shapiro, Michael Tisserand, Alan Prendergast, and AAN editors Patricia Calhoun, Julia Goldberg and Donna Ladd.
The entire two hours with former President Bill Clinton, including the question-and-answer session, have been transcribed and posted here. Short Quicktime clips are included; DVDs are available for purchase. The convention wrap-up page has been updated with recent coverage from members and other sources. And all of AAN's on-the-spot coverage is still readily available from the 2006 Convention page.
After weeks of uncertainty, details started to firm up by the day before the former president was due to arrive in Little Rock. He'll take only two questions -- none about Hillary -- his handlers said, and it would be nice if one of them was about Clinton's new school of Public Service. But then Elvis showed up back stage, "flanked by Secret Service agents and more handlers, and all bets were off," writes Westword Editor Patty Calhoun, who by then had been anointed Clinton’s designated interviewer. "I would have packed something other than flip-flops had I known my feet were going to be on stage," says Calhoun.
