E-News : December 9, 2008
News of the Week
ABM Video Network Launches 'Business Media Minute' and Turns 70!
This week, ABM prepares to mark two special media milestones for its online Video Network. Next Monday afternoon at 2:00 EST, the Association’s President/CEO Gordon T. Hughes II will appear on the “small screen” to officially kick off the first episode of “Business Media Minute,” a 2- to 3-minute online video daily re-cap of some of the major news headlines impacting media companies in the b-to-b space.
“I am delighted to be joining the likes of Forbes.com and Ad Age with our own daily news update,” said Hughes. “We hope this will act as an incentive for our members to move in this direction with their own online video initiatives.”
Then on Wednesday, December 10, the Video Network presents its 70th weekly online broadcast! Tune in to see video highlights of the unveiling of ABM’s “Roadmap for Profitable Revenue Growth” study, conducted by Booz & Company, during our Top Management Meeting in Chicago last month.
ABM will continue to present its normal Wednesday morning broadcast format featuring one-on-one interviews and highlights from the Association’s marquee and professional development events, beginning at 9:00 EST every Wednesday morning.
At www.AmericanBusinessMedia.com, you can access any of our video content on-demand. Just click on the title in the list of videos beneath the Dragonfly player on ABM’s homepage to watch our content when and how you want!
Remember: Watching the ABM Video Network requires you to update to version 9 of Adobe’s Flash Player. And it’s easy to download: Just click here to access the update and download it to your computer!
ABM Mourns Long-Time Industry Icon and Former Chairman Paul F. McPherson
American Business Media and the entire business information industry mourn the loss of former (1980-1981) Association chairman and business information industry icon Paul F. McPherson, who passed away Sunday, December 7.
Paul joined The McGraw-Hill Companies in 1955 and rose through the ranks to become president of McGraw-Hill Publications Company, the publisher of numerous business magazines, including Business Week. He was also president of McGraw-Hill’s Information Systems Company, where Harold W. McGraw Jr., McGraw-Hill's president at the time, said he displayed “outstanding leadership and executive ability."
In 1988, Paul left McGraw-Hill and founded FM Business Publications; he sold its titles in 1992, the same year he joined AdMedia Partners, where he served as managing director.
Paul is the only individual to have served as chairman of both ABM and Magazine Publishers of America (MPA). He also served as vice chairman and board member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations and the Advertising Council; board member of the Business Press Educational Foundation (BPEF), both the Business and Professional Advertising Association and the Advertising Club; and as a member of the Overseas Press Club.
“Paul McPherson was a titan in our industry,” said ABM’s President/CEO Gordon T. Hughes, II. “He will be fondly remembered and sadly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire McPherson family.”
Membership Update
ABM Enhances Value of Membership with Series of New Initiatives and Pricing Structures
American Business Media is fully aware that many of its members are finding this time to be an extremely difficult one due to the extraordinary period of transformation confronting our industry, which is only exacerbated by today’s economic climate.
In order to meet the challenges of this period, ABM has developed a series of new initiatives, products, services and pricing structures – as well as improvements to existing member benefits – which will enhance the value of your membership during this trying time.
A Roadmap for Profitable Revenue Growth
The Association recently commissioned Booz & Company to conduct an industry study exploring the most critical issues facing our membership today. Booz has identified two key pathways to success – one more traditional pathway built on serving the marketer/seller, and one evolving approach which focuses on the end-user/buyer. We’re delivering to our members insights from the study through a variety of upcoming initiatives:
- This month, ABM will present two free members-only webcasts; both will provide an overview of the Booz study, but one will focus on the "Marketer-Driven Solutions" roadmap (December 10, 2:00 PM EST) while the other will concentrate on the pathway for those pursuing "End User-Driven Solutions" (December 18, 2:00 PM EST). Click here to register.
- Stream57, our official streaming partner, broadcasted an overview of the study from ABM's Top Management Meeting in Chicago; members can watch the archived video on demand here (at no cost). Also available are PowerPoint presentations of the overview and each of the two roadmaps.
- If you'd like to set up a meeting with Booz consultants or ask them specific questions pertaining to your business, please contact Mark Rothman at 212.681.1106.
Washington Representation
ABM provides a variety of products and services as part of its commitment to keeping members informed on the issues in Washington that matter most to them and protecting its members’ interests, including:
- Advocacy and lobbying efforts by Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates in Washington on privacy, piracy, targeted advertising, shield law, postal issues and postal reform, First Amendment and other issues affecting the print, face-to-face and digital worlds.
- Free legal consultation services on postal, fax/spam, privacy, piracy, tax and human resources issues by ABM’s Washington counsel, Thompson Coburn LLP.
- ABM’s Information Policy Committee (IPC) develops policy papers, which represent the Association’s official position on the important issues, including data breach, government information, shield law, IP, net neutrality, targeted advertising, and The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act of 2008 (which deals with open access issues).
Events
ABM’s high-profile marquee and professional development events and award programs inspire innovation, spark debate, celebrate achievement and facilitate networking. Effective now for all media members, all marquee and professional development events will have one price for the first attendee and reduced pricing for multiple attendees.
Professional Development
- Regional events in seven cities – Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. – tackle region-specific industry issues at no cost to ABM members. The LA Regional was held on October 15, 2008, and future meetings are scheduled for:
Washington, D.C.: February 24, 2009
New York City: At Digital Velocity, March 3-4, 2009, and a pre- Neals program in March 2009
Chicago: March/April 2009
Boston: June 2009
San Francisco: Spring 2009 - Seminars, breakfasts, think tanks, webcasts and forums throughout the year on critical and timely issues affecting the business information community
- Video-on-demand and podcasts of content from professional development programs
- Events Summit (February 26, 2009): Learn the latest information on how to drive profitability for your current event offerings during challenging economic conditions.
- Digital Velocity (March 3-4, 2009): This two-day conference will get down to the business of digital media in today’s economy and offer tangible ways to execute the latest digital applications.
- Women in Business-to-Business (January 21, 2009) recognizes the career achievements of today’s leading female executives in business-to-business, who will share inspiring stories and secrets to success.
- The ABM Achievement Awards (June 2009), a professional development awards program, celebrate the best and brightest in business media with the Circulation Career Award, Custom Media Innovator of the Year, HR Executive of the Year and Media Kit Awards.
Marquee Events and Award Programs
- 'Members Only’ events: The annual Spring Meeting (May 3-6, 2009) and the Top Management Meeting (November 3-5, 2009) are executive-level conferences that draw hundreds of the industry’s top leaders and decision-makers. Top Management Meeting now includes the William D. Littleford Awards for Corporate Community Service.
- The Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards (March 19, 2009), which also incorporate the G.D. Crain Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity and the BPEF Intern of the Year Award.
- The Creative Excellence in Business Advertising (CEBA) Awards (October 7, 2009): Celebrating business media’s top creative talents and advertising campaigns, the CEBA Awards are a highly-recognized brand and coveted honor.
- The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Invitational (August 10, 2009) is an annual golf and tennis tournament fundraiser to benefit the Business Press Educational Foundation (BPEF) internship and scholarship programs, which promote the business media industry to college students nationwide.
For more information about ABM's events, visit www.ABMevents.com.
Specialized Industry-Wide Research/Marketing
ABM continues to be your source for the latest research and marketing studies in business information. Its industry-wide ad campaign focusing on the power of b-to-b media includes a call to action to obtain ABM’s Forrester consulting study (see below), one of the most comprehensive ever done in the b-to-b space, and has generated more than 50,000 visits and 16,000 downloads of the research.
Click here to find:
- "The Importance and Value of B2B Advertising During Times of Economic Uncertainty” (now with updated data for 2009), which summarizes the wealth of data that has been accumulated over time, clearly demonstrating that companies who either steadily continued or aggressively increased their advertising experienced overall growth as well as continual growth past the period of economic uncertainty (FREE)
- ABM’s recently-conducted Forrester consulting study, which simultaneously examined more than 800 marketers who operate in the business media space and 800 end-users to provide an incredibly accurate and insightful assessment of the current state and value of b-to-b media (FREE)
- Free benchmarking reports, such as The 2008 ABM Financial Trend Report, The 2009 Media Revenue & Cost Report, The 2009 Compensation Survey and The 2009 Domestic/Global Vendor Survey
- A continuous stream of cutting-edge white papers on all aspects of the business information industry (FREE)
- Monthly Business Information Network (BIN) reports on business information ad spending and pages, broken out by 21 industry categories, and quarterly T-BIN reports for the face-to-face industry (FREE)
Media Services Committees & Councils
Hundreds of the industry’s brightest minds convene regularly to assess critical issues facing the industry, exchange ideas and develop solutions to address theses issues, and disseminate best practices to professionals around the globe.
By design, ABM’s councils take a highly-strategic view of the issues and develop think tanks, seminars, printed products, events and research that guide member companies in six specific categories: Agri, Business Information, Digital Media, Events, Healthcare and Marketing & Media Advisory.
Committees tackle the day-to-day challenges faced in each discipline and tackle critical industry issues like Audience Development, Custom Media, Editorial, Entrepreneurial, Global, Information Policy, Media Marketing, Operations, Production/Manufacturing Technology, Publishing, Research and Talent Management.
For more information about ABM’s Committees & Councils, or to join, contact John Holden.
Internship & Scholarship Programs
The Business Press Educational Foundation (BPEF), established in 1985 by Harold W. McGraw Jr., chairman emeritus of The McGraw-Hill Companies, actively promotes the business information industry among college students nationwide through a unique internship program and various scholarship programs.
With today’s uncertain economy, there is no better or more affordable way to enhance your workforce than with an intern. BPEF places students from the top tier of colleges and universities across the country in internships with ABM member companies, and many of them move on to full-time positions within those companies.
As an ABM member, we encourage you to help mold the future of business media and promote your brand by giving a student the opportunity to learn more about this remarkable industry.
BPEF is now accepting applications for summer 2009! If you would like to request an intern for your company, click here for the 2009 intern request form or contact Jenna Lisanti at j.lisanti@abmmail.com.
Additionally, BPEF awarded $9,000 in scholarships in 2008 to deserving students with an interest in business media, and will work to surpass that number in 2009.
The value of ABM membership is acknowledged every day. Here are just a few testimonials from our members:
Sharing ideas and learning from others is the essence of the value we receive from our membership in ABM. Our full management team is involved in a wide array of ABM committees and regularly attends workshops, conferences and committee meetings to hear how others are tackling the challenges of running a 21st century media organization. Many of our best new product ideas have come from our ABM colleagues either through these meetings or the networking opportunities which result from them.
- Bill Pollak, CEO, Incisive Media North America
Work such as ABM’s recent Booz & Co. study, “A Roadmap for Profitable Revenue Growth,” makes high-level thought leadership accessible and relevant to member organizations of all size and type – clearly a very valuable benefit of membership.
- Neal Vitale, CEO, 1105 Media
Having David Straus represent us in Washington, D.C. for postal and privacy matters has been a tremendous help to us. No one is more knowledgeable, and we’re able to tap into him for his expertise in solving problems. That has saved us countless hours and dollars.
- Ty Bobit, President/CEO, Bobit Business Media
As a new member of ABM, I wasn’t sure what to expect at the Top Management Meeting in Chicago; however, I found the conference to be invaluable for our company. The seminars and breakout sessions were relevant and extremely useful in helping with the continued development and growth of our company. Also, hearing how some of the top CEOs in the country are planning to face their many challenges in what could be a difficult year was very practical and beneficial, and I appreciated their candor. I’m so glad we’ve joined this worthwhile organization.
- Don Moores, Partner/General Manager, Maximum Yield Publications
We've found ABM's marquee events and networking opportunities very valuable as we build new relationships and develop a strong, trusted presence in the B2B community.
- Sam Sebastian, Director, B2B & Local Markets, Google
Event Report
Victoria Pao Completes Women in Business-to-Business Honoree Line-Up
Rounding out the impressive honoree line-up of American Business Media’s Second Annual Women in Business-to-Business: Real Stories, Real Successes ceremony, taking place January 21, 2009, in New York City is:
Victoria Pao, President, Platts, The McGraw-Hill Companies
As president, Victoria is responsible for 600 employees, two-thirds of which are outside the United States, in 17 offices serving 150 countries. Focusing on brand recognition, product innovation and e-solutions, Victoria has worked to strengthen Platts’ global market position, especially within international arenas like China, the Middle East, India and Russia. Additionally, under her leadership, Platts has extended its century-long price benchmark expertise to new focus markets such as steel, carbon emissions, liquefied natural gas, and risk.
Victoria’s success at The McGraw-Hill Companies began in 1997, when she joined the company through the Management Development Program. She has held a number of key positions across McGraw-Hill’s three business segments, Financial Services, Education and Information & Media, most recently serving as VP of marketing and business development at McGraw-Hill Construction. She was appointed president of Platts in 2005.
Victoria’s accomplishments have been recognized at The McGraw-Hill Companies through numerous Corporate Achievement Awards and as a recipient of the 2004 Excellence in Leadership Award. In addition, she was honored as a member of the YWCA-NYC Academy of Women Leaders in 2004. In 2006, she was the recipient of the annual Corporate Leadership Award from Asian Women in Business.
Victoria joins industry powerhouses Carla Hendra, Co-CEO, Ogilvy North America/Chairman, Ogilvy New York; Judy Hu, Global Executive Director, Advertising & Branding, General Electric; and Marion Minor, President, M2MEDIA360, as a 2009 honoree.
ABM is delighted to present this evening of inspiring success stories, hosted by CBS News Correspondent (and 2008 Women in Business-to-Business Honoree) Erin Moriarty. Attendees will network with like-minded individuals seeking to achieve their professional best while learning first-hand how each honoree has risen to the top of the industry.
Click here to register.
Neal Awards Deadline Extension Ends THIS FRIDAY!
Attention all editors!
The deadline for 2009 Jesse H. Neal Award entries is rapidly approaching. Submissions must be postmarked by this Friday, December 12 (however, submissions postmarked after December 5 with an improperly filled-out form or nonconformance with any of the competition requirements will result in disqualification without notification and forfeiture of the entry fee).
So put those finishing touches on your entries and enter for your chance to be honored with one of the most esteemed awards in business media. Entry forms are available online now. (Available formats include hard copy, InDesign, writeable PDF and online).
Dubbed "the Pulitzer Prize of business media," the Neal Awards are the industry's most prestigious and most sought-after editorial honor. Established in 1955 and named after ABM's first managing director who remained active in promoting the business press throughout his life, they recognize and reward editorial excellence in business media publications and Web sites. The awards will be presented on March 19, 2009, in New York City.
Member Event of the Week
* ABM members qualify for ASBPE member rate!
With the bears ruling Wall Street and Main Street businesses rocked by economic turmoil, business-to-business media serving all industries are being challenged to keep up not only with the impact of today's financial woes on their respective audiences, but also to keep their magazines, Web sites and conferences growing, while making do with shrinking resources in their own newsrooms.
Join ASBPE’s New York chapter over hors d’oeuvres and wine this Thursday, December 11, to hear an award-winning panel’s recommendations for confronting the challenges ahead and pursuing editorial and business opportunities, despite the grim economic forecasts. Together, the four editors will offer up a survival guide to help b-to-b editors and publishers make their way, and perhaps even prosper, in the difficult times ahead.
Click here for more information or to register.