Bill Clinton, Wesley Clark, Ted Conover and Susan McDougal to Headline Alternative Newsweeklies' Annual Confab

WASHINGTON, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) will hold its 29th Annual Convention June 15-17 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Daytime meetings will take place at the Peabody Hotel and the adjoining Statehouse Convention Center. The main evening social events will be held at the Clinton Presidential Library, the Arkansas Art Center and the Historic Arkansas Museum.

A keynote by President William J. Clinton at a luncheon scheduled for Saturday, June 17 at the Statehouse Convention Center will highlight the three-day event. A number of sessions that focus on digital publishing are also on the agenda, as well as the trade association's annual membership meeting. Gen. Wesley Clark (USA retired) will welcome attendees during the convention's opening evening social at the Clinton Presidential Library and Pulitzer Prize-winner Ted Conover will conduct two editorial sessions.

"These are exciting times for the alternative press. At a time when the mainstream media has come under increasing criticism, our newspapers are more relevant than ever to the communities they serve. We are honored that President Clinton will be joining us at this year's AAN convention, and look forward to his remarks."

As in years past, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies will hold the AltWeekly Awards Luncheon, as well as its annual membership meeting, in conjunction with the annual confab. The AltWeekly Awards Luncheon will be held Friday, June 16 at the Statehouse Convention Center. The annual meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 17 from 3 to 6 pm.

The full convention schedule is available at http://aan.org/Convention2006. Programming highlights follow:

  Thursday, June 15

  3 to 4:15 pm: Tales of the Unconsulted (And How to Consult Them)

Many of today's important stories could be better told by use of creative strategies, including the seeking out of unusual perspectives. Alternative newspapers need no schooling in the value of alternative sources, of course. But there are ways of telling that editors and writers often don't consider, perspectives that are ignored because, somehow, the fit seems wrong. Ted Conover will discuss the making of his books Coyotes, about undocumented migrants, and Newjack, about work as a guard at Sing Sing prison, and of several articles he's either written or admired that made similar use of contrarian tactics. Among the themes: stereotypes are our friends, scandals (such as James Frey's) give rise to opportunities, and keeping readers guessing keeps us fresh.

3 to 4:15 pm: 2006 Outlook: Real Estate Advertising

This session will examine ad spending figures for alternative newsweeklies and their Web sites, as well as emerging trends in housing advertising. Various strategies, the competition and the future of Web and print

advertising will be discussed. Peter Conti of Borrell Associates Inc. will present.

4:45 to 6 pm: Air America Radio: An Alt-Weekly Partnership?

The new progressive radio network is interested in forming local editorial and business alliances with AAN-member papers. In this session, AAR representatives will discuss the progress of their network and will describe the various forms that a partnership might take. Air America's co-founder and president of programming, Jon Sinton, and Jaime Horn, vice-president of communications, will present.

4:45 to 6 pm: Art and Editorial: Journalistic Marriage Counseling

Still struggling with the intersection of design and content? The paper suffers when presentation doesn't effectively take content into consideration. Explore the obstacles to successful collaboration with editorial, as well as the advantages. Chris Clonts of the Minneapolis Star Tribune will present.

  Friday, June 16

  9 to 9:45 am: Keynote, General Wesley K. Clark (U.S.A., Retired)

  10 to 11:15 am: Management Tools for Editors Who Don't Like to Manage

Consultant Laura Dell will address some of the common challenges AAN editors face in managing editorial staff, including dealing with reluctance to direct others and managing cynicism, egotism, and other tough personalities.

11:45 am to 1 pm: Where Journalism Meets the Cell Phone: An Introduction to Mobile Content

An introductory look at the exploding industry of so-called "mobile content" -- information presented on cell phones, smart phones, PDAs and other mobile devices. Former AAN member Bruce Dobie will look at the industry, its players and emerging revenue models.

11:45 to 1 pm: Art and Editorial: Journalistic Marriage Counseling

Newspapers suffer when presentation doesn't effectively take content into consideration. This session, led by Chris Clonts of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, will explore the obstacles to successful collaboration between art and editorial, as well as the advantages.

1 to 3 pm: AltWeekly Awards Luncheon, emceed by Michael Tisserand, formerly of Gambit Weekly

3 to 4:15: It's the Cover, Stupid

Is a newspaper cover a marketing tool or editorial content? Or both? This discussion panel -- which includes Bob Newman of Fortune Magazine, Luke Hayman of New York Magazine and Will Swaim of OC Weekly -- will explore great design in the context of fulfilling many agendas.

3 to 4:15 pm: Winning the Local Battle for Political Advertising

Attendees of this session will learn how to capture their share of the current political media-buying frenzy from an all-star panel that includes Henry Copeland of BlogAds, Bill Paschall of Paschall Strategic Communications, Skip Rutherford of Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods and GOP Political Consultant Bill Vickery.

4:45 to 6 pm: The Odd Couple

As the number of connected households in the country grows, the pairing of effective Web and print advertising has never been more important. And with more and more small, local businesses looking to expand their traditional advertising spend, the opportunity to enhance campaigns with online components is growing exponentially. Join the team at Clutch Creative as they walk though their process and best practices in developing print and Web campaigns. They will talk technology, usability design, and creative and discuss tracking techniques.

  Saturday, June 17

  9 to 9:45 am: Keynote, Susan McDougal

  10 to 11:15 am: How Blogs Changed My Paper

Many AAN papers are investing a lot of energy in blogging. But is it worth it? Does anyone read them? Is anyone advertising? Are blogs a meaningful addition to our arsenal or just a costly diversion that cannibalizes editorial and IT resources without contributing to the paper -- or the bottom line. Two editors and two publishers from papers that have embraced blogging will discuss the medium's pros and cons with one non-blogging skeptic. At the very least, we'll find out why Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee shut the Arkansas Times out of the state capitol.

10 to 11:15 am: Free Online Classifieds: Do They Work?

About half of the papers in AAN have launched free-classifieds Web sites to help stem the loss of readers and advertisers to other online products. How are these sites working? Are they generating incremental revenue? Attendees will hear from a panel of AAN members who will talk about the impact the sites have had on their papers.

  1 to 3 pm: Keynote Luncheon, President William J. Clinton

  3 to 6 pm: Annual Meeting


  PRESS CREDENTIALS

Members of the working press who wish to cover the 2006 AAN Annual Convention may request press credentials by contacting AAN Director of Sales and Marketing Roxanne Cooper by phone at (202) 289-8484 or by E-mail at rcooper@aan.org. The deadline for requesting press credentials is June 1, 2006.

All news media will be asked to show photo identification and current press credentials or a letter from an assigning editor when they pick up their badges at the AAN Convention registration desk at the Peabody Hotel. Advance notice of attendance is required as no onsite processing will be available.

As daily newspaper readership continues to deteriorate, as radio and television audiences become progressively more fragmented, as competition for the 18- to 39-year-old demographic soars in an already cluttered marketplace, alternative newsweeklies continue to engage young, active, educated and influential readers.

Since its founding in 1978, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has grown to include 125 free-circulation weekly newspapers throughout North America. More than 21 million readers in markets as diverse as Memphis and Montreal, Pittsburgh and Pasadena, Chicago and Charlotte, rely weekly on their local alternative newspaper.

For more information about AAN, go to http://www.aan.org/.