Two Deadlines Approach for International B2B Competitions

Think you're creative? You have two days to prove it by entering the TABPI Design Challenge, sponsored by Trade Association Business Publications International. The challenge is to design a cover for a hypothetical issue of an imaginary magazine, Concrete Times. The reward is $250 for the overall winner. The challenge is open to all B2B art directors and designers.

The TABPI Design challenge deadline is this Friday, Feb. 29.

Also looming is the deadline for TABPI's Tabbie Awards. This international awards competition is open to trade, association and business magazines published at least four times per year, completely or partially in English. Magazines must accept paid advertising. This year TABPI has added a new web category, Online Feature. (Online entries don't need an associated print publication, but they must be b2b-oriented and accept advertising.)

Entries for the Tabbies must be submitted by Wednesday, March 5.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 @ 12:38 PM
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Site for Learning Multimedia Skills

Note: This post comes from Erin Hallstrom-Erickson, via the ASBPE Chicago Blog. Link: CopyBlogger: A great website for multimedia editors in training

Trying to wrap your head around Search Engine Optimization? Not sure what keywords have to do with your writing? Then click over to CopyBlogger and set yourself a RSS feed.

I forget how I came across the site, but it's become one of my favorites lately. From posts like how to create a blog that people will want to Digg to how not to commit grammar errors that make you look dumb, the site has a lot of easy-to-digest information.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on Monday, December 03, 2007 @ 4:02 PM
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Hate Transcribing? Try This.

Say your publication is doing podcasts and you're responsible for editing the audio. Or maybe you just have a half hour or so of audio from an interview to transcribe. Here's a great tip from the just-launched ASBPE Cleveland blog about a service that will transcribe your audio from a computer file quickly, cheaply, and accurately.

Of course, using this service for interviews assumes that you are no longer using tape to record them.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on @ 11:27 AM
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Web 2.0 Resources

Via the ASBPE Chicago blog, a useful post about the site J-Learning and its Journalism 2.0 blog. J-Learning provides information on topics such basic HTML coding, marketing your content, new reporting methods, and blogging. Chicago chapter board member Erin Hallstrom-Erickson makes special mention of the PDF download Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive. The site map is also a good starting point.

In a related post, Chicago board member Nikki Golden wonders when and how editors will be paid for new web-related duties. And ASBPE members can visit our forums to discuss how we're trained (or not) for new, web-related duties.

And of course, we'll discuss answers to questions about revenue and business models at our Dec. 12 State of the Industry panel, Integrated Media: A Work in Progress.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 @ 12:49 PM
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Upcoming MediaBistro Courses and Videos

MediaBistro has some great educational offerings coming up, both here in Boston and online. The site also offers short educational videos that you can pay for and watch online. Some are one-offs and some that are part of series on a particular topic.

Here are two online classes of interest--but both start today, so you'll have to sign up ASAP:

Boot Camp for Magazine Editors
Designed for assigning editors.
4 weeks, $350. Starts Sept. 11, 2007

Intermediate Copy Editing
6 weeks, $425. Starts Sept. 11, 2007

And these also start this week:

Writing and Editing for the Web
4 weeks, $350. Starts Sept. 12, 2007

Advanced Copy Editing
4 weeks, $350. Starts Sept. 13, 2007.
Cheryl Della Pietra

Intro to Copy Editing
6 weeks, $425. Starts Sept. 13, 2007.

Other online classes:

Grammar, Punctuation, and Meaning
4 weeks, $350. Starts Sept. 17, 2007.

Online News Writing
4 weeks, $350. Starts Sept. 17, 2007.

Create and Launch a Website
8 weeks, $599. Starts Sept. 18, 2007.

Writing Scripts for Online Video
4 weeks, $350. Starts Sept. 25, 2007.

Feature Writing
Researching, writing and selling narrative-driven features
4 weeks, $350. Starts Oct. 2, 2007

Classes taking place in Boston include:

Writing and Editing for the Web Essentials
3 hours, $65. Starts Oct. 9, 2007.

Breaking into Financial Writing
3 hours, $65. Starts Oct. 9, 2007.

Copy Editing Essentials
3 hours, $65. Starts Oct. 30, 2007.

And some videos you can pay for and watch online:

Blogs Every Media Professional Should Know
Course description from Media Bistro:
Find what you need on the Web without drowning in too much info
2.5 hours, $29

From MediaBistro course synposis:
For those struggling to keep pace with the blogosphere, tech expert Sree Sreenivasan gives a thorough introduction to the key players of the online world, delving into the present and future of the web as a media outlet.

It covers all the blog basics but focuses on the best blogs for and by media professionals. Topics include:
1) blogs that are changing America and the world,
2) how to read blogs without drowning in too much information,
3) how to create a blog and raise your Google rankings,
4) why journalists should and should not be blogging, and
5) what to expect next: photoblogging, videoblogging, tagging, podcasting, wikis, RSS, and XML.
His presentation is a fun, informative, fast-paced survey of the blog world.

Get Noticed on Wikipedia
Course description from Media Bistro:
Increase and influence your web presence on the world's largest encyclopedia

How Online Video Is Changing the Internet, Part 1: Overview
Course description from Media Bistro:
Understand how online video works, where and how it's being used on the web, what makes it effective, and what the future most likely holds
21 mins., $15

How Online Video Is Changing the Internet, Part 2: Making Your Mark -- and a Healthy Profit
Course description from Media Bistro:
How amateurs, corporations, and mainstream media are making money with online video, plus tips for creating compelling content
15 mins., $15

Web 101: Understanding Blogs, Wikis, Social Networking, and Mobile Internet
Course description from Media Bistro:
Make sense of the internet today and get ready for the future
15 mins., $15

Writing for the Web: Guidelines for Writing Online
Course description from Media Bistro:
A 15-minute crash course on understanding your online audience and writing copy that's searchable and user-oriented
15 mins., $15

Writing for the Web: Is Writing for the Web Different from Print?
Course description from Media Bistro:
A crash course for editors and writers making the switch from print to online
15 mins., $15

Writing for the Web: Understanding How Readers Use the Web
Course description from Media Bistro:
A crash course for editors and writers to master site usability and drive traffic
15 mins., $15

See a full list of MediaBistro's upcoming Boston and online classes and training videos.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 @ 12:29 PM
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ASBPE Joins TABPI in Offering Magazine Critique Service

ASBPE and Trade, Association and Business Publications International (TABPI) are offering the Magazine Critique Service (MCS), which is designed as an affordably priced entry-level option for B2B magazines interested in improving their content. Two editors and a designer examine two of your recent issues and provide a report with detailed feedback on your publication. The editors and designers who do the critques have judged magazine awards competitions, won awards themselves, and/or actively work in their professional associations.

A Standard Critique from the MCS is $625 -- $575 for ASBPE members. If you want more feedback, you can opt for a Premium Critique, priced at $975 ($925 for ASBPE members). The Premium option includes a TABPI/ASBPE-approved editorial consultant as one of your publication's reviewers. In addition to the report you receive, you and your staff will get a one-hour conference call with the consultant so you can ask questions about the review.

The MCS is a seasonal offering, and there is a deadline for submissions of Oct. 1.

• See a sample MCS report (535K PDF).
• Download an order form (49K PDF).
 • See the MCS FAQ.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on Tuesday, September 04, 2007 @ 9:02 PM
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ASBPE National Editorial Conference Sessions Focus on Web, Career Enhancement

This year, ASBPE's National Editorial Conference is a hop, skip, and jump away (or an easy drive, train ride, or flight, if you prefer) in New York City. The dates are Thursday and Friday, Aug. 2-3, so you can easily make a long weekend out of it.

Day One of the conference will focus on the shift to online. Day Two will concentrate mainly on achieving editorial excellence and enhancing your career. There will also be some optional networking events.

Highlights of the conference:

  • A special Day-One session on Web ethics will include topical scenarios — much like our successful ethics program at last year’s conference — and will include a “tips & tactics” discussion, with open Q&A time.

  • On Day Two, one highlight will be an Azbee Excellence Clinic, an interactive, roundtable session that will examine publications. The discussion will be divided into categories, with an expert assigned to each.
And, as always, the national Azbee awards will be presented on the first night of the conference.

Read about all the conference sessions scheduled so far.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 @ 1:59 PM
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Good Copy, Bad Copy

Another report from ASBPE Kansas City's recent Magazine Boot Camp:

Ron Johnson, an assistant journalism professor at Kansas State University, took on the role of bad cop, grilling attendees with a grammar and style quiz. Johnson led the Boot Camp session “Brushing up on AP style and advanced editing techniques.”

Johnson inventoried some of his style pet peeves:
  • The words major, unique, reaction and impact -- all are overused.
  • Using parentheses inside quotes -- for three reasons:
    • The parenthetical detracts from the accuracy of quotes.
    • It’s weak writing.
    • It makes the source appear stupid.
He also recommended his favorite dictionary and gave advice to copy editors on working with writers.

For more on Johnson's session, see "Catch bad copy" from the ASBPE Kansas City blog.

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Posted by Martha Spizziri on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 @ 8:58 AM
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