WINNING CONTENT: WHAT MAKES A GREAT FEATURES DEPARTMENT?
The American Association of Sunday & Features Editors recently named the top 10 sections in North America. What makes a features department great? We put that question to editors at The State in Columbia, S.C., a back-to-back winner. Here's how features editor Betsey Guzior describes The State's strategy:

"The State publishes a Life & Style section four days a week; we also publish an entertainment tab, Weekend, a Sunday Life & Arts section, and a weekly Home & Garden section. Our aim is to be relevant, draw some emotion and loyalty, and be the place to get information. A breakdown as follows:

"The mix: I believe our success with readers lies in the mix we give them in each of our sections: Each edition should have something timely, something useful, something irreverent and something South Carolina. Life & Style, while including some regular content, contains a good story mix. Theming section covers can be useful, but raises potential for weak centerpieces.

"The cutting edge of whatever: Stay on top of the news and be willing to play off it. We turned around a guide to Hollywood single women two days after Britney Spears filed for divorce. We covered the CMA awards live for our section. As You Tube hit big, we did a story on local stars on You Tube.

"The 'Big Wow': Never go a week without busting out of your routine to present something special. Just before the election, we offered readers a look at the political nightlife in our capitol city. Our coverage of an annual arts festival in Charleston included full-page graphics, including one deconstructing the eclectic stage used for 'Don Giovanni.'

"Hook up with online: For a special series highlighting a new encyclopedia. we offered online extras, including a audio-slideshow narrative on South Carolina architecture. We also tout online reviews of concerts, and post extra nightlife photos from our Weekend section. Our favorite? An online trivia game about Sherman's march through Columbia. Answer the questions correctly, and prevent another part of Columbia from burning."

Other winners in this year's features contest were the Houston Chronicle, Edmonton Journal, Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y., Chicago Tribune, The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, San Jose Mercury News, Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Denver Post and the Dallas Morning News.

NEWSTRAIN: NEXT STOPS VANCOUVER, MEMPHIS – ALL ABOARD!
The best bargain in newsroom training is coming to Vancouver, B.C., Jan. 23-24, and to Memphis, Feb. 9-11.

The lead trainers in Vancouver will be Jacqui Banaszynski and Edward Miller. Jacqui holds the Knight Chair in Editing at the Missouri School of Journalism and is on the visiting faculty of The Poynter Institute. Ed is managing director of The Newsroom Leadership Group, a coaching and consulting consortium based in Marietta, Ga., and an affiliate of The Poynter Institute. He writes "Reflections on Leadership," a weekly e-mail essay on newsroom management that is sent to more than 6,000 newspaper editors around the world.

The Memphis workshop is packed with big thinkers in our business, including Keith Woods, Kristin Gilger, Dick Weiss and Randy Covington. Keith is dean of the faculty at the Poynter Institute. Kristin is director of student media at Arizona State University, and also teaches in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication as ASU. Dick runs WeissWrite, a coaching business, available at www.weisswrite.com. He currently is touring as a speaker for the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. Randy is director of the IFRA Newsplex at the University of South Carolina, a newsroom of the future jointly operated by the University and IFRA, the international press consortium.

The complete programs and registration information are available with a click here.

ONLINE CREDIBILITY: HOW BIG OF A CONCERN IS IT? TAKE APME SURVEY
Are you struggling with whether to edit reader-posted comments? Are you talking with your advertising department about what's acceptable online? How do you maintain journalism values and standards as you post more breaking news? APME is conducting a quick online survey of top editors to get a snapshot of where our newsrooms stand. The survey was e-mailed to managing editors earlier this week, but in case you missed it, click here. The survey takes just a few minutes.

MEMBERSHIP: TIME TO SIGN UP FOR 2007
It's time to renew your APME Supporting Membership or Editors Circle membership. Supporting Memberships are $100 a year while Editors Circle memberships are $250. Both give you discounted entry fees for one of APME's prestigious journalism excellence awards next summer and a reduced registration rate for the 2007 APME annual conference in Washington, D.C. Plus, you will have the satisfaction of supporting APME's efforts to improve the practice of journalism by making a tax-deductible, charitable donation to the APME Foundation.

If you've been an APME Supporting Member in the past, please consider becoming a member of the Editor's Circle. Your increased contribution to APME's programs will count towards our Challenge Fund, which the Knight, Ford and Ethics and Excellence in Journalism foundations are matching 50 cents for every dollar you contribute. So your $150 increased giving will result in a total benefit of $225 for APME's vital programs, such as NewsTrain and Credibility Roundtables.

If you are not a Supporting Member or Editors Circle member, please consider becoming one before the end of the year. Your new contribution also will count towards APME's Challenge Fund goal of $152,000. If there are colleagues in your newsroom who would benefit from APME's programs and activities please give them involved, too.

To renew your Supporting Membership or Editors Circle membership, click here.

To sign up as a new Supporting Member or Editors Circle member, click here.

Have you moved or changed jobs? Has your e-mail account changed? Please update your member profile by clicking here.

SAVE THE DATE
Next year's APME conference will be Oct. 3-6 in Washington, D.C. There are two big reasons to join us. We'll have one of the first tours of the new Newseum. And we guarantee you'll go home with 500 ideas for your newsroom. All managing editors, online editors, assistant managing editors, deputy managing editors and senior editors are invited. And, in case you missed it, APME is partnering with the Society for News Design on a joint meeting in Las Vegas in 2008. Click here for more.

To receive e-mail notification of new APME Updates, write to APME@ap.org

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