David Dix
By David E. Dix
Publisher, Ravenna/Kent Record-Courier
2012-2013 President, ONA Board of Trustees
An agreement that enables AdOhio to collaborate with the Florida Press Association, an entirely new and improved site to host to host public notices, a revision in our Constitution to encourage Ohio’s digital publications and more newspapers to join forces with us, and an ad network for Ohio’s eight largest newspapers represent major accomplishments that will be explained in greater detail at our upcoming Ohio Newspaper Association Convention in Columbus, Feb. 13 and 14, at the Polaris Hilton Hotel.
Your board is excited by the potential of collaborating with the Florida Press Association, whose sales last year exceeded $40 million for its Florida members. Their marketing expertise and back-office expertise will add firepower to the efforts of AdOhio’s fine staff and we believe will significantly boost placements with you, our members, both in print and digitally.
Representatives of the Florida Press Association and AdOhio will be on hand at the ONA Convention to explain their work and answer your questions.
Our new ONA Public Notice website, which Cox Newspapers, in a pioneering project, has agreed to market on our behalf, is debuting in its beta form and will roll out to all members this coming year. Executive Director Dennis Hetzel and Jason Sanford will explain our new public notice site at the Convention and provide demonstrations upon request.
Thanks to the leadership of Ken Douthit, who has a long association with the Ohio Newspaper Association board as a member, officer, and general purpose volunteer, proposed changes in our Constitution and Bylaws will be up for a vote by our members at the Convention. The updating was done to give the Ohio Newspaper Association more clout with the Ohio Legislature and to make it compatible with the digital world we inhabit.
We have excellent speakers and programs scheduled for our convention. Ken Doctor, the digital newspaper expert, will keynote the day. Caroline Little, the CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, will offer a perspective on issues facing us, including the recent agreement between the U.S. Postal Service and Valassis.
Everyone in our industry knows the challenges we face on numerous fronts. The convention is a good way for you to see the progress your Ohio Newspaper Association is making to assist all of us in meeting our challenges. I look forward to your attendance and believe you’ll find the time at the convention well spent.
