Adell Crowe

Standards and Development Editor

USA Today
McLean, Va.

Crowe

Career summary: Started with Gannett as the first female copy person at The Tennessean in Nashville when I was 16. After college, I was a reporter at The Tennessean, Gannett News Service and an editor in the News and Sports departments of USA Today. I have been in my current position 15 years (and with Gannett for 29).

Recent accomplishments: In the past 12 months, USAT University, a staff training program I created in 1992 and administer, offered 56 sessions at which 2,463 staff hours were spent. A packed fall 2007 semester led by staffers and industry experts and focusing on developing online content kicks off after Labor Day. My collection of the best tips and training presented at USATU over its 15 years is being published this fall. I created and write a weekly electronic newsletter for college administrators to showcase USAT content and market our college readership program. Starting with several hundred subscribers two years ago, the newsletter circulation now tops 10,000.

APME activities: Because USAT is the host newspaper, I have been heavily involved with many facets of planning the 2007 convention. With Rosemary Goudreau I developed the "mini-editor" campaign and the conference publicity; I co-edited the pre-conference tab with Rob Humphries; and I worked with Suki Dardarian to gather some excellent items for the APME Foundation Auction (keep that credit card handy!)

APME should:

■ Create strong relationships with APME groups on a state-wide basis to facilitate mini-gatherings and regional training.

■ Offer a mentoring program for newly-named managing editors.

■ Build an effective campaign to educate top editors and publishers about the work and value of APME.

■ Most importantly, resolutely challenge with a united voice the predictions that newspapers are near death. We have a platform we must use to champion measurements other than circulation to show our value, our successes and in some areas, our growth. APME must become a champion of newspapers before the gloomy forecasts become self- fulfilling.

In my spare time: I am a masters swimmer, a quilter and a mommy. This summer I participated in RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) took up rowing (my first regatta is the weekend before APME) and two weeks after APME I'm rafting in the Grand Canyon for two weeks.