February 14, 2005

VNU'S WHITNEY SIELAFF TO BE HONORED WITH TIMOTHY WHITE AWARD
Whitney Sielaff, publisher/editorial director of VNU Business Media's National Jeweler, has been chosen as the 2005 winner of the Timothy White Award, which salutes individual business-to-business journalists for editorial intergrity.

Named after the fearless editor of Billboard magazine who passed away in June 2002 at age 50, the Timothy White Award recognizes business journalists whose work demonstrates the integrity, courage and passion that White displayed in his career. Billboard is also a property of VNU Business Media.

Sielaff's history of active campaigning for objective reporting and a firm separation of church and state dates back to 1989, when, as an assistant editor covering the diamond beat for National Jeweler, he exposed a program in which the world's predominant diamond supplier, De Beers, was handpicking diamond manufacturers to distribute substantial quantities of diamonds in the United States and directly influence polished diamond supply and pricing. Despite pressure from De Beers, National Jeweler published the story after the young editor took his supervisors through the thorough process he used to report it.

After becoming editor-in-chief of National Jeweler in the mid 1990s, he led the magazine to two Neal Awards in 1998 for news and opinion coverage of a widespread - but undisclosed - industry practice of treating gems to enhance their color. One of those stories was selected for the Grand Neal Award.

More recently, as a member of VNU Business Media's editorial committee, Sielaff spearheaded a project to develop a companywide code of ethics to uphold editorial integrity. Now an official company policy, the ethics code includes a multiple-step procedure for resolving disputes.

As a member of the American Business Media Editorial Committee, Sielaff served recently on the Code of Ethics subcommittee.

Sielaff said the Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity is especially meaningful because "if I were to rank my own personal values, integrity and ethics would be at the top of the list. To be recognized for my craft is a great honor, but the fact that this honor is for the most important value within my craft is wonderful and humbling."

 Because Sielaff joined VNU through its acquisition of Miller Freeman, which previously owned National Jeweler, he was only a colleague of Timothy White for about a year, Sielaff noted, and the two never met.  "I'm honored to win as a VNU employee," said Sielaff, "because this company had the presence of mind to support an award for editorial integrity to honor Timothy White, who was a legend."

Sielaff graduated from Rutgers College at New Jersey's Rutgers University in 1988 with a dual major of English Literature and Journalism. Barbara Reed, PhD, of the Department of Journalism & Media Studies at Rutgers University, taught Sielaff  years ago in his basic reporting class. "Everyone here at Rutgers is just so proud of him," said Reed upon learning of Sielaff's honor. "To see the strides he has made is just so wonderful, and I wish him all the best."

Sielaff is the second winner of the Timothy White Award, which was given for the first time at last year's Neal Awards to Maryfran Johnson, then editor-in-chief of IDG's Computerworld. Last September, Johnson joined TechTarget as editor-in-chief of newly launched CIO Decisions and vice president of the CIO Decisions Media Group.

Judy Garlan White, Timothy White's widow, will present the award to Sielaff at this year's Jesse H. Neal Awards luncheon at New York's Waldorf=Astoria on March 16th. To register for the event, visit this URL.

SUMMIT ON B-TO-B EVENTS & TRADE SHOWS  TO BOW NEXT WEEK
On Wednesday, February 23rd, American Business Media will hold its first professional development seminar dedicated to the business of conferences, events and trade shows, called the Trade Show Summit. Reflecting the fact that 60% of ABM members host conferences, events and trade shows, the summit utilizes experts from within the B-to-B media who will share the ways they have used live events to solidify their relationships with advertisers and readers, build market share, expand their audience, and generate additional revenue and profits.

Don Pazour, CEO of new ABM media member Access Intelligence, will preside over the day-long program and open the meeting. Four 90-minute panels will focus on the synergies between magazines and events, trade show marketing best practices, new trade show models, and the best practices in conference and continuing education programming.

Speakers from B-to-B media companies include Margaret Pederson, president of Primedia Exhibitions; Kelvin Marsden-Kish, industry vice president, Reed Expo; David Korse, president of IDG World Expo; Rick McConnell, senior show director, Hanley Wood; David Johnson, vice president of business development at McGraw Hill, and Kim Fine, vice president at ALM.

The summit will take place from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm at The Essex House, 160 Central Park South, in New York City. Continental breakfast will be served. ">Register here. For more information, contact Jane O'Connor or call (212) 661-6360 x3332.

FRESH CREATIVE ENLIVENS B-TO-B AD CAMPAIGN
In the wake of a successful run of its advertising campaign to promote the power of B-to-B media and distribute the results of the Yankelovich/Harris study of how purchasing executives use B-to-B media, ABM is refreshing the program with new creative. Like the first wave of the campaign, which launched in September 2003, the advertising "is designed to tell the marketplace of advertisers and agencies about the power of B-to-B's three most important platforms - magazines, websites and trade shows," said Mark Rothman, ABM's marketing consultant.

Rothman added that the new ads continue with the "mystery icon" theme of the first group, in which a blurred face represents a key marketing executive at an advertiser, someone who does not want to be identified and doesn't want his/her competitors to know of B-to-B's power.

The new creative features three new ads. With the headline, in quotes, "My secret weapon is B-to-B magazines. I've said enough," a mystery male senior vice president of marketing promotes the B-to-B magazine component. A female tagged as a CEO is quoted as saying, "B-to-B magazines and websites give me a competitive edge. I don't want to lose that by talking about it." Finally, conferences and events are presented by a male vice president of sales, stating, "I'm not going to share what I know about B-to-B trade shows. Is that being selfish or smart?"

On behalf of all B-to-B media, ABM is reaching out to national advertisers and advertising and marketing agencies. The ads are starting to run this month in Crain's Advertising Age and B-to-B, CMO from CXO Media, Chief Executive and Forbes.com.

Through the middle of February, the campaign has generated 150,000 downloads of all or part of the Yankelovich/Harris study, which can be found on the ABM website.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK
In which of the following electronic media do you expect to see the greatest PROFIT growth in 2005? (Choose one answer.)

A. E-mail newsletters
B. Webcasts or webinars
C. Advertising (banner, button, tower, etc.)
D. White papers
E. Online continuing education
F. Sponsorships other than the above
G. None of the above

Vote now on the ABM home page!

Here are the results from our last poll:

By how much do you expect your company's trade show revenues to grow in 2005?

4% or less- 25.5%
5% to 9% - 33.3%
10% to 14% - 15.7%
15% to 20% - 2.0%
more than 20% - 23.5% 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Contact American Business Media for more information on any of these events. Remember: ALL employees of ABM member companies are ABM members, and thus automatically qualify for member rates on all of our events!

Trade Show Summit, Feb. 23
Learn best practices from today's most successful trade show and event operators. This one-day summit at the Essex House in New York is presented by ABM's Trade Show Council. Register here. For more information, contact Jane O'Connor.

Unleashing the Power in B-to-B Media: Successful Sales Strategies in Print, Online and in Person, March 10
Hear it straight from marketers and ad agency execs: what do they need and expect from media companies? For details on this half-day New York event, contact Jane O'Connor. A preliminary agenda and registration form are ">available here.

51st Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards, March 16
The most prestigious b-to-b editorial honors will be awarded during this luncheon ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Register here.

Online Revenue Strategies, March 24
Find out how leading edge b-to-b media companies have used digital technologies to increase revenue, streamline operations and open up new markets. Register here.

ABM Advanced Leadership Forum at Kellogg/Medill, April 3-6
In partnership with two of the nation's most prestigious academic institutions-the Kellogg School of Management and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University-ABM presents an unparalleled learning opportunity for senior-level executives. Attendees will learn how to gain strategic strength for a changed media environment. Register here.

JOB OF THE WEEK: MANAGING EDITOR
Every week in E-News, we feature one of the job listings from our Job Board. If you post a job on the ABM website, it will automatically appear on mediabistro.com also, allowing you to reach two targeted audiences for the price of one.

Managing Editor, Allured Publishing Corp.
Requires 2-4 years experience managing deadlines and workflow, as well as writing and editing features, preferably for b-to-b publications. Also looking for 1-2 years experience telephone and in-person interviewing skills, and web authoring and maintenance. Located in Carol Stream, IL, Allured employs about 50 people and promotes a friendly, casual and endlessly creative environment.

Post a job or find a job today!

MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

• Advanstar Communications has named Mark Cooper publishing director of the newly created Travel Education Media Group. In his new post, Cooper, former associate publisher of Travel Agent Magazine, will lead the new group in selling and developing educational media, electronic marketing and other custom publishing programs for Advanstar's travel industry properties.
• Wicks Business Information is refocusing its strategy around its core properties of its Investment Advisor Group and Treasury & Risk Management magazine, according to CEO Douglas J. Manoni. Following its recent sale of Alternative Investor to Dow Jones & Co. and divesture of Briefings Publishing Group to Douglas Publications Inc., the Wickes Group of  Companies is making a recommitment to Wickes Business Information (WBI). The new strategy will center on the acquisition of businesses with specialized information products serving the financial markets and, in particular, those segments with compliance and regulatory requirements, said Manoni.
• Ziff Davis Media Inc. appointed  Stephen Veith as vice president and publishing director of CIO Insight and Baseline magazines. In his new role, Veith will continue to report directly to Sloan Seymour, president of Ziff Davis' Enterprise Group. Prior to this promotion, Veith was publisher of CIO Insight since its 2001 launch. In his 15 years of experience, Veith was involved in launches of six technology publications, five of them with Ziff Davis Media.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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