“How to Sell in the New Age of Classifieds” is a 75-minute webinar scheduled for April 7. Instructor Peter Zollman has more than 35 years in the news business and is executive editor and publisher of “Classified Intelligence Report.” He has written many industry “white papers” and special reports about interactive media and classified ads.

Zollman will discuss how the role of the inside sales person for classifieds has changed just as much as the landscape for classified advertising. The webinar will include:

• Reasons for the changes in the classified category
• Tips on how to shift from accepting calls to prospecting for leadsThe most effective methods for outbound calls
• How to encourage upsells to help customers with quick sales of merchandise
• And ample time for questions from participants.

Consultant Barbara Cohen will lead a separate 75-minute webinar titled “Emerging New Audience Strategies” on April 21. Cohen has more than 30 years experience in marketing strategy.

A newspaper is not simply a “general circulation” or “mass media” product anymore. With the evolution of newspaper Web sites, handheld devices and new habits, there are new audience models for publishers, editors and salespeople to track if they are to be successful. As one of the leading experts in this field, Barbara Cohen will help webinar participants with details on:

• Market segmentation
• Turning demographic numbers into nine consumer “Lifestages”
• How age & presence of children help define “Lifestage groups”
• Strategies to reach these groups

And how use of smart phones and mobile devices is changing strategies.

For more information and to register visit training.ohionews.org. Contact Sue Bazzoli with questions at sbazzoli@ohionews.org or (614) 486-6677 ext. 18.

Elected as vice president of ONA and president of The Ohio Newspapers Foundation was David Dix, publisher of the Kent/Ravenna Record Courier. Del Varney, vice president of operations for The Columbus Dispatch, was elected treasurer. All are two-year terms ending in February 2012. Frank Deaner continues as executive director and secretary to the board.

At the ONA Annual Meeting on Feb. 11, Jerry Mossbarger, publisher of The Telegram, Jackson, OH, was elected to ONA’s board of trustees. He will serve a three-year term representing weekly newspapers. He succeeds Douthit, who has retired from the board. Dix was re-elected to a three-year term on the board, representing daily newspapers of 10,000 to 50,000 circulation.

Also re-elected to the board for three-year terms ending in February 2013 were Brian Cooper, senior vice president of operations, Cox Ohio Media Group, and Andrea Mathewson, publisher of The Akron Beacon Journal, representing daily newspapers over 50,000 circulation; Scott Gove, publisher of The Shelby Daily Globe, representing daily newspapers under 10,000 circulation, and Keith Rathbun, publisher of The Budget, Sugarcreek, representing weekly newspapers.

As a newly-elected officer, Varney joins the Executive Committee of the ONA board. He has been a trustee since 2007. Varney has also served on the Convention Committee for the past three years and was chairman of the 2010 convention.

Mossbarger joins the ONA board following two years on the ONA Weekly Newspaper Committee. Since 2002, he has been the chief operating officer for Jackson County Broadcasting, Inc. In that position he serves as publisher of The Telegram and as general manager for WKOV-FM, WCJO-FM, WYRO-FM and WYPC-AM.

Mossbarger received his Bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1973 and his Masters in Business Administration from The Ohio State University in 1981. He was on active duty with the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1979 and retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel after 23 years of service.

A native of Jackson, Mossbarger’s business career includes corporate positions with National City Bank, MasterCard International, AT & T, NCR and Harris Corporation in several cities including Dallas, Los Angeles, Dayton, San Francisco and New York.

Mossbarger’s current civic activities include the board of the Jenkins Memorial Health Facility and the Jackson County Economic Development Board.

The new plan is the result of deliberations last year by a task force of the board that also reviewed membership dues and non-dues revenue. Walterry has offered libel insurance coverage to ONA members since 1993 as part of a program established by the National Newspaper Association (NNA).

Under the new ONA plan, all that is required is membership in ONA. Walterry will be offering discounted premiums and expanded coverage not available on the open market. ONA members who are currently covered through their own local agents will still be able to move to the ONA plan, as Walterry has offered to work with local agents in those instances.

Walterry will also offer additional property and casualty coverage to ONA members. Through a marketing agreement, ONA will receive a marketing reimbursement on policies written by Walterry.

Watch for complete details that will be coming in the next two weeks!

The Sharing Session runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes lunch. The agenda includes a review of current ONA activities related to NIE, discussion of potential future projects and a chance for local NIE coordinators to share materials from their own programs. Anne Coburn-Griffis, director of educational services for The Lima News, is chairman of ONA’s NIE Committee and will chair the March 25 session.

For additional details and to register for the Sharing Session contact Sue Bazzoli, manager of administrative services for ONA at sbazzoli@ohionews.org or (614) 486-6677 ext. 18.

General Excellence—Collegiate Newspapers

The Daily Kent Stater, Kent State University

Best Collegiate Newspaper Website

The Daily Kent Stater, Kent State University

General Excellence—Weekly Newspapers Division A

Chagrin Valley Times

General Excellence—Weekly Newspapers Division B

West Life, Westlake

General Excellence—Weekly Newspapers Division C

The Telegram, Jackson

General Excellence—Weekly Newspapers Division D

The Granville Sentinel

Best Independent Newspaper Website

The Telegram, Jackson
www.thetelegramnews.com

Best Newspaper Group Websites

Cox Media Group
www.fairfieldecho.com
www.oxfordpress.com
www.westernstar.com
www.pulsejournal.com

Convention Summary

Coming Feb. 16

A convention edition of the ONA Bulletin, prepared by students from the Kent State University School of Journalism & Mass Communication, will be emailed to all ONA members on Tuesday, Feb. 16.

Nau will cover such topics as qualities and habits of the online audience, selling the video and social media applications, selling techniques and presentation styles, ways to combine print and online strategies for prospective advertisers, ways to convince advertising clients to maintain or resurrect their ad budgets during these tough economic times.

This session is intended for ad directors as well as sales reps with virtually any level of selling experience. It is specifically targeted to those who want to expand their knowledge and skills in both print and online sales.

Nau, who is based in Seattle with Murray & Nau, Inc., is one of ONA’s most popular instructors, drawing enthusiastic reviews. With over 20 years experience as a publishing consultant, Nau previously held a number of management, marketing and sales positions with the Seattle Times, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, and Tribune Company in Chicago.

For complete details on the March 17 session and to register go to training.ohionews.org. Also watch for details on additional training opportunities including April webinars on Classified Advertising Sales Strategies, Growing Your Newspaper Web Site Audience, and Emerging New Audience Strategies.

Frank Deaner

• Sessions on pricing online content as well as protecting its use, emerging audience strategies, outsourcing & operational efficiencies
• An update on the Detroit delivery model with Janet Hasson & Rich Harshbarger of the Detroit Media Partnership
• New Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly & National Public Radio correspondent Ari Shapiro
• Awards presentation for winners in the Weekly Newspaper & Collegiate Newspaper Contests

And numerous opportunities to share ideas and have some fun with your ONA colleagues.

It all starts with the Welcome Reception sponsored by The Blade on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. at the Hilton Columbus at Easton Town Center. For complete details and online registration go to convention.ohionews.org.

If you need any help in registering or attending the convention contact anyone at the ONA office (614-486-6677). We look forward to seeing you at the convention.

Our thanks to convention sponsors!

We gratefully acknowledge these additional sponsors who have signed on since our last Bulletin (Jan. 22):

Gold Level
CNN Wire
CompManagement

Silver Level
AdWriter
MultiAd

Response this year has been overwhelming. Make sure you visit our sponsors in the exhibit area and thank them for their participation.

Joe McKinnon, vice president of operations for what has now been renamed Cox Ohio Media Group, will focus on the outsourcing portion of the discussion, including examples of the work his company is taking “in” from other newspaper operations.

Joining him on the panel to describe their own efforts in cost-saving efficiencies will be Monica Nieporte, publisher of The Athens Messenger and regional vice president of ACM Ohio, and Tom Voigt, vice president & general manager of The Bryan Publishing Co.

McKinnon joined the Dayton Daily News in 1997 and was responsible for process design of Cox Ohio’s state-of-the-art Print Technology Center in Franklin, OH. The PTC currently produces five dailies, 39 weeklies and several commercial print and direct mail publications. He has over 30 years of experience in newspaper production and was previously director of manufacturing for Pioneer Press.

Nieporte will discuss some recent operational changes made within the ACM Ohio group, which includes The Logan Daily News, Circleville Herald, and additional weekly newspapers. Previously she served as managing editor of The Athens Messenger and publisher of the Logan paper. A graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, she remains an adjunct instructor there.

At Bryan Publishing Co., Voigt is responsible for The Bryan Times and Napoleon Northwest Signal, both dailies, and The Leader Enterprise, a weekly. He joined The Bryan Times as advertising director in 1967 and is a past president of the Ohio Newspaper Advertising Executives (ONAE). Voigt will describe the cost-savings involved with the recent change to mail delivery for The Northwest Signal.

Deadline for Hilton room reservations is Monday, Jan. 25 !

The deadline for making room reservations at the special ONA reduced rate is Monday, Jan. 25! Don’t delay, because this limited number of rooms may sell out and higher rates may be quoted after Jan. 25. To make your reservation use the link at convention.ohionews.org or call the Hilton at (614) 414-5000.

Also remember the deadline for convention registration with ONA. That’s Friday, Feb. 5!

Thank you, sponsors!

We gratefully acknowledge the following convention sponsors who have registered since our previous Bulletin (Jan. 8):

Gold Level
Woodwing USA
Frost Brown Todd

Silver Level
ACCRAPLY Inc.
SAXOTECH Inc.
MediaSpan Software
Managing Editor, Inc.
PPI Media US
Southern Lithoplate
Walterry Insurance
Dawson Companies

Bronze Level
SS & G Financial Services
GatesMcDonald HealthPlus
There’s still time to register as a sponsor. Contact Frank Deaner at ONA.

In the Jan. 20 announcement, the company stated Gallo’s promotion is based on his success in information technology and related issues since being hired in 2005. He was previously with The New York Times organization where he was executive director of information technology for the company’s Shared Services Center.

In a related note, American Press Institute has announced release of an insight report with ITZ Publishing and Belden Interactive that examines paid online content models. Titled “Paid Access Models: Practices and Profiles,” the report is available for $500. Contact Kathy Guilfoyle at ITZ Publishing at kathy@itzpublishing.com.

Drew Davis, president of API, will moderate the ONA Convention session, providing some examples of the pricing models being implemented around the country.