Summer 2015 oregon publisher NEWSLETTER OF THE OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Annual ONPA convention coming in July It’s time for the summer ONPA convention, a per- fect opportunity to share ideas, meet your fellow SCHEDULE newspaper professionals and come away with a new Thursday sense of purpose. 3:45 p.m.- ONPA Board Meeting This year the editorial and advertising conventions 5:30 p.m: Past Presidents Recep- will once again overlap, on July 16-17. tion Kelly Wirges of Promax Training will be at this 6 p.m.- General Reception (everyone year’s convention to help us understand how to welcome) maintain a competitive multi-media advantage in 7 p.m.- Better Newspaper Contest advertising as well as how to create a motivated top- Awards Banquet performing team that will feel rewarded. Friday Both news and advertising specialists will be able 8-9 am.- Breakfast to learn from experts and each other during the con- 8:45 am.- Business meetings (As- vention, which offers break-out sessions and speak- sociated Press, ONPA). ONPA meet- ers designed to inspire. ing will have Gallatin Group lobbyist Award-winning journalist Brent Walth will share presenting on the 2015 legislative his expertise in investigative journalism and how session. sometimes small watchdog stories can have a bigger 9:15 a.m.- Speaker Kelly Wirges, impact than the large ones. “Leading Through Change.” See inside this newsletter for AD-CON schedule 10:30 a.m.- Speaker Brent Walth, and agenda, as well as more information about the “Small watchdog and Investigative speakers. Stories make more of a difference than big projects.” REGISTRATION AND AGENDA DETAILS CAN BE 12:30 p.m.- General Excellence FOUND ONLINE AT WWW.ORENEWS.COM Awards Luncheon and installation of new ONPA board. ONPAONPA CONVENTIONCONVENTION When: July 16-17, 2015 When: July 16-17, 2015 Where:Where: Salishan Salishan SpaSpa && GolfGolf Resort 7760 North 7760 Highway North Highway 101 101 Gleneden Gleneden Beach, Beach, OR Ore. Reserve your room by calling 1-800-452-2300 and Reserve your room by calling 1-800-452-2300 and men- tionmention ONPA ONPAto get todiscounted get the discounted room rates room rates OREGON PUBLISHER SUMMER 2015 • Brent CONVENTI Walth isON the, continuedmanaging editor from for page news at1 Baer Award, Oregon’s top reporting prize, and in 2001 he shared the Pulitzer Prize for Public Brent Walth is the managing editor for news at Service. Willamette Week, Portland’s alternative weekly newspaper. A 1984 graduate For over 25 years, Kelly Wirges has assisted of the University of Oregon companies increase sales and revenue in all fac- School of Journalism and ets of business. In her career, Communication, Brent cov- she has enjoyed positions in ered the Oregon Legislature sales, marketing and manage- and served as Washington ment and has been a partner D.C., correspondent for The at an advertising agency Oregonian, where he later focusing on small business worked for a decade as senior investigative development. reporter. In 1993, she founded Pro- He’s the author of “Fire at Eden’s Gate,” a Max Training & Consulting, Inc. ProMax de- biography of former Oregon Gov. Tom McCall, velops practical, customized solutions that help and his work has appeared in Best Newspaper companies retain, develop and align talent with Writing. He has taught journalism at the U of business strategies. O, Portland State University and Harvard Uni- versity. He is a five-time winner of the Bruce AD-CON presentations by Kelly Wirges • Prospecting that Pays Bottom line: Most salespeople detest and therefore avoid prospecting. This session will help implement a methodology that not only creates sales opportunities, but is also enjoyable. It will provide guidance on prepar- ing a sales strategy each month and determining your individual “magic prospecting number” to achieve your goals and give yourself a raise. You will learn how to successfully approach prospects in a manner that opens doors, and keeps them open, even if prospects initially tell you they are not interested. This session is a must for those that sell, and those that lead sales teams. • RAVE -- Retain Advertisers by providing Value & Expertise Acquiring new clients is difficult. Keeping them is also a challenge. Join this session to learn retention techniques to ensure you have enthusiastic, long-term clients that RAVE about you, and provide you referrals to help you increase your customer base and commissions. • Ring/Rope Exercise – Teamwork & coaching exercise • Developing a Competitive Multi-Media Advantage Advertising options are great; competition is fierce. This session teaches methods to assist salespeople in becoming the media consultant of choice by recommending the right combination of solutions, at the right AD-CON time, to produce the right results. Tips and techniques are shared to July 16th and 17th at Salishan Spa encourage representatives to establish their personal competitive advan- and Golf Resort. Reserve your room tage by offering strategic multi-media advice and developing customized by calling 1-800-452-2300. Mention solutions that create a win for clients, a win for the company, and a win in ONPA for room discount rates. Regis- commissions. tration is $135, a great price for the Of course we will also have the Best Ad Ideas Contest amount of expert training provided. Awards and the Best Revenue Ideas Session. OREGON PUBLISHER SUMMER 2015 ONPA legislative reception another success Thank you to all the members who participated in our legis- lative reception Jan. 13 at the Salem Convention Center. It is important to keep lines of communication open with your legislators. ONPA hopes that holding this event each year allows our members an opportunity to visit with multiple legislators in an enjoyable setting. This was ONPA’s second year holding this event and it continues to grow and get more popular with legislators each year. It was great to see our mem- bers take advantage of this opportunity to have great discussions, connections and collaboration with their legisla- tors. The legislators loved the post- ers that we printed from your PDFs. We had several of them tell us that they were going to hang this year’s poster in their office next to the one they re- ceived last year. The ONPA board wants to continue this event every year, so please be setting aside ar- ticles that you think would be appropriate. We hope to make it bigger and better next year. If you haven’t participated before, we hope that you make it a point to “The legislators loved the posters that we print- participate next year. ed from your PDFs. We had several of them tell us they were going to hang this year’s poster in their office next to the one they received last For more information about year. The ONPA board wants to continue this the news story PDFs, email event every year, so please be setting aside ar- Laurie Hieb at laurie@orenews. ticles that you think would be appropriate.” com. OREGON PUBLISHER SUMMER 2015 MEMBER OBITUARIES MOLLY WALKER and he joined the News-Regis- intent was to free time for them OCT. 31, 1958- MARCH 20, ter staff as sports columnist in to pursue another passion, 2015 order to retain qualification for involvement in Rotary Inter- that state. Subsequently, Molly national. Nominated for mem- Molly Walker, longtime jour- Walker joined the News-Reg- bership by her father, Walker nalist, died ister staff, initially as business became one of the first women March 30, editor and religion and social to to join the Gold Beach Ro- 2015, in her issues reporter. tary Club in 1987. Her husband West Salem During her time at the News- followed her into Rotary 10 home. She Register, Walker covered years later. spent the last efforts by San Martin de Por- His election to the governor- seven years res parishioners to keep open ship of Rotary’s District 5100, with the Yam- the Dayton mission and social which promised to involve a hill Valley News-Register, cov- issues such as the homeless great deal of travel, is what ering religion, business, social counts and efforts to feed the prompted them to leave the pa- issues and letters to the editor. hungry. She wrote about se- per. Walker said she loved her The paper was only her second nior events and the arrival and job and was reluctant to give it in her 40-year career. departure of local pastors. She up, but was looking forward to Walker grew up in a newspa- penned feature stories, such as accompanying her husband to per family. Her parents, Robert one about a man who figured foreign destinations like Brazil, and Betty Van Leer, graduated out how to cut his large lawn as well as various places in the from the University of Missouri by hooking a number of mow- U.S. School of Journalism, widely ers together. The Walkers continued as considered to be the nation’s Walker won several awards members of the McMinnville best. They owned several over the years, including one Rotary Club after leaving the newspapers on the southern for a business feature on Sav- News-Register. They hosted Oregon coast over the years, age Apps, a local tech compa- students from Poland, Brazil, including the Coquille Valley ny, and another in the business France and other countries Sentinel and Port Orford News. news category for a story about through Rotary’s exchange Walker’s first job was at credit card companies taking program, and traveled to South another weekly owned by the users to court. Africa to visit one of their ex- family, the Curry Coastal Re- Coworkers remember her change daughters in her home porter in Gold Beach.