This issue: General news from APME

Conference 2005: "The Next Big Thing," or what your newspaper needs to be to reach readers in an electronic era. Click here to learn more.

Auction 2005: The APME Foundation auction promises to entice you with great items for sale. Click here for a preview.

Conference 2005: Los Tigres del Norte is a Grammy-winning band that regularly tops Latin music charts. You'll see a special performance at the opening reception Oct. 26 in San Jose. Click here to learn more.

Readership help: The readership committee has built a beefy archive of articles that can help you unsort challenges such as packaging for time-starved readers and whether to consider a tab format. Click here for more.

McGruder Awards: The deadline is Sept. 9. Click here for a link to details.

ALSO: AP Cooperation: Members cited for recent assistance. Click here for more.

APME 2005: "THE NEXT BIG THING"
What's the next big thing? It's your newspaper in the 21st Century. What will it look like? What stories and images will it carry? Will it still be printed on newsprint and tossed on the driveway? Or will it increasingly show up on the Internet? Or in PDAs? Or cell phones?

The APME conference in San Jose Oct. 26-29 will help you begin to answer those questions and others as the news industry moves into new and exciting times. Hear Silicon Valley venture capitalist and blogger Roger McNamee offer keys to success in "The New Normal." The new normal likely will include fewer resources for the newsroom; a market expert, a futurist and an investor will discuss with newspaper editors how organizations can respond to increasing investor pressures and still produce high-quality news products. The restructuring will require making tough calls, something NFL Hall of Fame Coach Bill Walsh had to do when he replaced quarterback Joe Montana. Walsh and former safety Ronnie Lott will share tips on having the courage to make difficult decisions — and emerge a winner. Other conference sessions will look at photo ethics and access, restructuring newsrooms, reaching younger readers, new products for new readers, religion and family values coverage, crisis management and public access, just to name a few.

A 12-page conference tabloid, "Be Part of the Next Big Thing!!!," is being mailed to AP member newsrooms. It is full of information about the conference, the program and San Jose. (If you did not receive the tab send a note to apme@ap.org).

The full conference schedule is posted at www.apme.com/conferences/2005/080205schedule.shtml

Register online at https://www.123signup.com/register?id=fvjvd or use the form at www.apme.com/registration

EVENINGS IN SAN JOSE
Part of the APME experience is the chance to get together and relax after a full day of informative, how-to-do-it sessions, and San Jose will be no exception.

On Wednesday evening, APME will welcome its newcomers at The Fairmont. Then everyone will take a short walk next door to the San Jose Museum of Art for the opening reception sponsored by the host San Jose Mercury News and Knight Ridder. Grammy-winning Norteno band Los Tigres del Norte will entertain. (See more below). Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been invited.

At 8 p.m. APME will auction gifts donated by member newspapers. The line-up of items already is impressive: a Nelson Mandela banner; two nights deluxe accomodations at Coeur d'Alene Resort and a round of golf; two Washington National baseball tickets, including two nights at a Washington hotel; four executive field seats at Wrigley Field; four live Maine lobsters; tickets to a Philadelphia Eagles game; a Cactus League resort package; and much more. Proceeds support educational programs through the APME Foundation. (There's still time to donate an item. Find out more at www.apme.com/news/2005/060705donation.shtml

On Thursday evening the Freedom Forum will debut a film on Pulitzer Prize-winning photography and the stories behind the photos. A group of top news photographers will discuss what makes great images.

A wine-tasting event Friday will feature a selection of top regional California wines as well as locally-brewed beers.

OPENING RECEPTION FEATURES LOS TIGRES DEL NORTE
A Grammy-winning band that regularly tops Latin music charts will entertain editors at the San Jose conference.

The Oct. 26 opening reception, hosted by the San Jose Mercury News and Knight Ridder, will feature a special performance by Los Tigres del Norte.

The San Jose-based band has performed for more than 35 years, "musically narrating the trials and tribulations of the Latino migrant community in the United States," according to a profile by writer Claudia Melendez for Nuevo Mundo, a Spanish-language publication of the San Jose Mercury News.

"Norteno is rooted in polka rhythms, with generous doses of accordion, giving it a distinctive sound," Melendez wrote in her 2003 article. "It's a regional sound — associated with the migrant and border population of Mexican descent. The Tigres specialize in corridos, norteno's narrative ballads that often serve as social commentary."

The band has more than 30 records and more than 500 songs to its credit. Their album "Herencia del Familia" was honored for best norteno performance in the first Latin Grammy Awards, according to the Web site AllMusic.com. Their current release, "Directo al Corazon," reached No. 1 on Billboard's Mexican Regional chart and No. 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart.

Jorge Hernandez founded the group with his brothers and a cousin and told Nuevo Mundo he believes their music resonates with fans because they are keenly aware of the challenges people face in everyday life.

"We have grown with the people and we have always paid attention to them," Hernandez said. "They are the main characters of our songs, and that's what makes Los Tigres del Norte the group that we are."

For complete details of our conference schedule, go to www.apme.com/conferences/2005/080205schedule.shtml

To register and for hotel information, go to www.apme.com/conferences/2005conference.shtml

APME READERSHIP COMMITTEE OFFERS ARTICLES TO HELP
Newspapers throughout the United States are taking many innovative approaches to growing their readership. Some of those ideas are highlighted each month at APME.com's readership section at www.apme.com/committees/readership/readership.shtml.

The section's archive of monthly features is a helpful bookmark at www.apme.com/committees/readership/readership_archive.shtml.

The archive includes stories on how editors:

— Tackled redesigns and "going tab."

— Reached out to immigrant readers.

— Documented those important "moments in life" that shape our culture.

— Brought the war home to readers. 

— Packaged news to reach time-starved readers.

Are you doing neat things, big or small, to grow readership? Share your ideas with Logan Molen of the Readership Committee at lmolen@bakersfield.com and we'll consider them for inclusion in APME Update.

DEADLINE NEARS FOR McGRUDER DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Sept. 9 is the deadline for the Robert G. McGruder Diveristy Leadership Awards, which will be presented during the San Jose conference. The awards honor the late Robert McGruder, a former executive editor of the Detroit Free Press who died in 2002. Individuals, teams and newspapers are eligible for the awards, which consider efforts in recruitment, retention, staff development and content. Use this links to jump to complete details: www.apme.com/awards/2005/051405mcgruder.shtml

COOPERATION KUDOS
Members help AP cover the news, even when it breaks on the other side of the continent.

Such was the case July 25 when Sheila Toomey, assistant city editor of the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News, called the local AP bureau. A parent whose son was attending the Boy Scouts Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia just relayed an incredible story about people dying in an electrical mishap; Ms. Toomey asked if AP had anything on it.

The Anchorage AP bureau messaged their counterparts in Richmond, Va., who checked and quickly learned four adult Scout leaders — three from Alaska and one from Ohio — had been electrocuted while setting up a tent near power lines. The resulting story made headlines nationally and dominated that week's news in Virginia and Alaska. The Anchorage paper's call allowed AP to break the story before officials with the Boy Scouts of America or the Army issued formal releases.

For its extraordinary help, the Anchorage Daily News is being recognized by the Associated Press Managing Editors with an Instant Citation. Other AP members being cited for recent cooperation are:

— The Herald and News, Klamath Falls, Ore., for help covering the shooting death of a camper at Crater Lake National Park. News editor Todd Kepple alerted AP to the story July 28 and provided AP with a photograph.

— KLAS-TV, Las Vegas, for providing crucial information for AP's story about a local woman killed in a terrorist attack in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. KLAS' assistance allowed AP to reach relatives and get photos and recollections for the AP report.

— The Rapid City (S.D.) Journal, KOTA Radio, Rapid City, and KBHB, Sturgis, for helping with coverage of a fire in South Dakota's Black Hills.

— The Charles City (Iowa) Press for sharing its coverage of the July 1 disappearance of a 5-year-old girl and discovery of her body in a river six days later. The death was ruled a homicide.

— KTAR-AM, Phoenix, for alerting the AP bureau in Phoenix that two firefighters had been injured while battling a fire at a paint company.