By MIKE FENDER
APPM President

If you are a managing editor who approved sending your photo editor or director to the convention in Washington, D.C., I want to thank you publicly. I really want to give you a hug, but let's leave it at thanks.

The Associated Press Photo Managers leadership worked hand in hand with APME this past year to put together an outstanding program that really hit home for the pressures and challenges we face in our newsrooms. It was my fourth consecutive convention, and they just keep getting better and better.

I want to thank those who approved sending your photo leaders because many of you did not.

I saw hundreds of managing editors at the convention. They were everywhere. Trying to find the photo directors was a struggle. As we talked with our peers before the convention, we heard a common theme across the country. At papers large and small, they were being told the newspaper was cutting back and didn't have the money to send them.

APPM is a young organization and is trying to grow. We are working hard to help each other cope with dramatic change. We are working closer than ever with The Associated Press to maximize resources and stretch the dollars you are given to run your newsrooms.

We responded to this problem by offering a half dozen scholarships for those who wanted to come but didn't have the money from their newspapers. We were overwhelmed with the number who applied and could have tripled the number if we'd had more money to give. We even teamed up directors to share rooms to save money.

This problem is more than money. It really points to a need for me and the other APPM board members to do a better job communicating with APME members on the value of our organization and how necessary it is in this new-media world.

APPM is not a club; think of it more as a survival kit.

The best multimedia training that most of us receive is coming from APPM. The conventions have focused on it the past three years, and regional workshops expand the training to bring it closer to you. We plan on doing 10 regional workshops across the country in 2008, all within driving distance of a member.

We have enhanced our Web site and added forums where members can discuss issues, ask questions, share successes. We'll be adding a directory this year so members can easily contact peers at other newspapers.

We will focus on growth in 2008. The more members we bring to APPM, the more valuable the organization will be to all of us. Photo directors will be hearing from us soon as we blitz the country with a membership drive. Please let them know you believe in them by approving their membership to APPM.

Oh, yeah. Thank you, Pam Fine and Dennis Ryerson, my editors, for believing in me.

Mike Fender is director of photography at the Indianapolis Star. He can be reached at (317) 444-6444 or by e-mail at m.fender@indystar.com