September 2014 Colorado Editor

editor colorado

Black Forest flag squirrels may be on borrowed time.

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Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXV, No. 9

Woodside new CPA board director

Rawlings:A living legacy Iconic Pueblo newsman still going strong in 90th year

Lubich named board secretary Staff report

Jason Woodside has been selected to be on the Colorado Press Association Board of Directors.

Woodside —the advertising director of the Aurora Media Group — replaces Laurena Mayne Davis, who resigned her position on the Board on Aug. 1.

As a director, Woodside Woodside will help direct and set policies for the CPA and its forprofit affiliate, SYNC2 Media. The Board is made up of 11 newspaper members, and it meets quarterly.

“I am very excited to accept the nomination to the CPA Board of Directors as I will be able to apply the knowledge I’ve gained by working in a variety of markets across the country in a way that will have a positive impact on our industry as a whole, and especially for publishers in Colorado,” Woodside said in a statement.

“I have a strong enthusiasm for our products and believe that newspapers remain as the best way for a business to reach a diverse audience at a great value and drive a strong return on their investment.”

Woodside has nearly 15 years of experience in print and digital advertising sales and management for companies such as The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group, Lee Enterprises, Swift Communications and the Aurora Media Group.

Per CPA bylaws, the board president — Terri House — selects the person to fill a board position that is vacated during its term.

“Jason’s strengths in development of innovative products, product management, consultative sales and service and financial analysis along with his persuasive approach and his determination to be successful make him a great addition to our already amazing group of diverse and talented professionals who serve as directors,” House said.

Woodside will finish out this BOARD on Page 6

September 2014

By Chris Woodka The Pueblo Chieftain

COURTESY PHOTO Pueblo Chieftain Publisher Bob Rawlings, shown here in 2012, celebrated his 90th birthday in August with a surprise party thrown by the paper’s staff and members of the community.

Looking back at the past five decades, it is clear that most major events in Southern Colorado have been in some way influenced by Robert Hoag Rawlings, publisher and editor of The Pueblo Chieftain.

Water wars, military expansion or base closures, economic development, colleges and universities, retention of state facilities in the region and community amenities such as libraries all have been passions of the man from L.A. – that’s Las Animas to the uninitiated, as he would almost certainly let you know.

Rawlings turned 90 years old in August, and is still hard at work protecting his vision of Southeastern Colorado.

The Chieftain staff and community threw him a surprise birthday party, and don’t think that’s easy for a man whose finger has been on the pulse of the community all these years.

Praise for Rawlings and the work of The Chieftain has come from many corners over the years.

In 1994, when he won the state’s top business award for the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, then-Gov. Roy Romer declared: “He is one of the greatest human beings we have in this state.”

Rawlings’ donation of $4 million to the city library that bears his name today was lauded by architect Antoine RAWLINGS on Page 6

Annual CPA contest to kickoff Sept. 8 Lower cost for entries if received by Oct. 7 Jean Williams CPA staff After a year of hard work, it’s time to select the best efforts for submission to this year’s Colorado Better Newspaper Contest. The contest will start accepting entries Sept. 8.

The contest is open to regular newspaper members of the Colorado

Press Association. Associate members, such as free distribution sister newspapers of regular members, may also participate. The selected submissions must be from Sept. 1, 2013, through Aug. 31, 2014.

Entries may be submitted online at www.betterbnc.com.

Entries received by 4 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 7 will cost $7 per entry; selections received after that, up to 4 p.m. Oct. 14, will be charged $10 per entry. No late entries will be accepted after the Oct. 14 late deadline.

n Complete list of 2013 CPA Contest winners. Page 8

Jerry Raehal, CEO of the Colorado Press Association, said the competition creates a sense of pride for newspapers for the work that they’ve done.

“Newspapers are such a rushed business that it’s a great opportunity for us to take a moment and reflect on our work,” Raehal said.

Last year saw a change in the point system that included website

points in general excellence.

This year the editorial section has been modified to better explain the qualifications. Raehal said: “There was a lot of confusion last year about the editorial judging and what to submit, so we’ve tried to clarify that in the guidelines.”.

Winners will be announced Feb. 19-21 during the annual Colorado Press Association convention.

For more information on the contest, contact Lisa Woodworth at 303-571-5117, or by emailing coloradopress@colopress.net.

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colorado editor

September 2014

Colorado Newspapers

colorado editor ISSN #162-0010 USPS # 0122-940 Vol. LXXXV, Issue 9 September 2014 Colorado Editor is the official publication of the Colorado Press Association and is published monthly at 1336 Glenarm Place.

Denver, CO 80204-2115 p: 303-571-5117 f: 303-571-1803 coloradopressassociation.com

Subscription rate: $10 per year, $1 single copy Staff Jerry Raehal Chief Executive Officer jraehal@colopress.net Brian Clark Design Editor Board of Directors OFFICERS Chair Bryce Jacobson The Tribune bjacobson@greeleytribune.com President Terri House The Pagosa Springs SUN terri@pagosasun.com Vice President Keith Cerny Alamosa Valley Courier krcemail56@gmail.com Treasurer Bart Smith The Tribune bsmith@greeleytribune.com Secretary Matt Lubich The Johnstown Breeze mlubich@johnstownbreeze.com DIRECTORS Don Lindley The Durango Herald dlindley@durangoherald.com Larry Ryckman The Denver Post lryckman@denverpost.com Joe Hight The Gazette joe.hight@gazette.com Beecher Threatt Ouray County Plaindealer beecher@ouraynews.com Lisa Schlichtman Steamboat Pilot & Today lschlichtman@steamboattoday.com Jason Woodside Aurora Media Group jwoodside@aurorasentinel.com Periodical postage paid at Denver, CO 80202.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Colorado Editor 1336 Glenarm Place Denver, CO 80204-2115

In the News Prop 104 to be on general election ballot A statewide initiative that would require school boards to let the public observe collective bargaining negotiations will appear on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office announced.

Proponents of the measure, which is backed by the libertarian-leaning Independence Institute, submitted 129,850 signatures earlier this month. An analysis by the Secretary of State validated more than the 86,105 signatures needed to make the ballot.

Barring a successful protest, the initiative will be numbered Proposition 104.

Under the current wording of the state Open Meetings Law, collective bargaining negotiations already would be open to the public if they involved a quorum or at least three elected members of a school board.

But negotiations may be held behind closed doors if that responsibility is delegated to administrative staff, as typically happens, and/or a smaller number of board members.

If Proposition 104 passes, an open meeting will be required if “members of a board of education, school administration personnel, or a combination thereof ” discuss a collective bargaining agreement with a representative of an employees’ group.

Because personnel costs constitute much of a school district’s operating budget, Independence Institute President Jon Caldara says that negotiations with labor unions “should be transparent and open.”

The Colorado Education Association, which represents teachers throughout the state, has come out against the measure for local-control reasons. It argues that each school board should decide whether to open collective bargaining negotiations to the public.

Sky-Hi News adds reporter to staff Lance Maggart, former managing editor of the Lamar Ledger, has joined the staff of Sky-Hi News in Granby as a reporter. His assignments will include the Grand Lake and Granby areas, plus crime and courts.

A Colorado native from the ranching and farming community of Lamar, Maggart earned an associate’s degree at Lamar Community College and a bachelor’s degree in political science at Colorado State University.

Maggart makes the move to Granby after two and a half years at the Lamar Ledger. “I am very excited about the opportunity to work for the Sky-Hi News and thrilled to be living in the area,” said Maggart. Managing Editor Drew Munro said, “We’re very happy to have Lance on board and look forward to expanding coverage now that we’re fully staffed again.”

Maggart, his wife Monica and 10-year-old stepson Casimir are looking forward to the outdoor opportunities in the area, including fishing, hunting, camping, hiking and snowboarding.

What’s new in Colorado news?

The Colorado Editor wants to hear from you. We’re on the lookout for news about your staff, publications and businesses for our all-new columns and features in the Colorado Editor – your monthly membership newspaper from Colorado Press Association.

Send us your “breaking news” on: • New Hires • Promotions • People Moving On • Anniversaries • Retirements • Contest or Staff Awards & Honors

• New Building or Equipment Projects or Updates • Meetings, Seminars and Training • Community Projects • College-Related News and Events • Industry news that affects you • And any other personal news your staff members might want to share

Send your news items of 150 words or fewer (photo also welcome) to Cheryl Ghrist – cghrist@colopress.net – using subject line “Colorado Editor News.”

Veteran Summit Daily staffer Moberly retires Jackie Moberly retired at the end of July after more than two decades at the Summit Daily News, more than any other current employee at that newspaper. Moberly, 64, joined the staff in 1994, first in the classified advertising and subscription departments, later adding public notice work. She was a familiar face to customers near the front door, noting, “I feel like I know a lot of people in Summit County and I’ve always enjoyed the face-to-face aspect of it.”

Moberly also worked as a liaison between the public and the editorial department, forwarding information and typing letters to the editor and news releases. “I kind of miss the one-on-one stuff because I always used to work more closely with editorial,” she said.

“Email has changed that. Things go straight to editorial that aren’t intercepted by the front desk anymore.”

A Colorado native from Denver, she earned a degree in English at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she also met her husband, John. They shared a love of skiing, and after living in Boulder for some time (where their daughter Kelly was born), they bought a home at Copper Mountain.

John commuted to work in Denver for 10 years, but their goal was always to live in the mountains. They currently reside in Frisco.

SPJ hosts Denver Newspaper War event “Five Years Later: The Denver Newspaper War and Life After the Rocky” is the topic of a program at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at the Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm Place. The program, sponsored by the Colorado Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, is free and open to the public. Former Rocky Mountain News executive Denny Dressman will moderate the panel discussion. Dressman retired from the Rocky in 2007, two years before the newspaper ceased publication. He served as president of the Colorado Press Association in 1993 and was inducted into the Denver Press Club Hall of Fame in 2008.

The former Rocky panelists are staff writer Mark Wolf, investigative reporter Laura

Frank, and television and radio columnist Dusty Saunders. Frank is now executive director of I-News, the Rocky Mountain News Network at Rocky Mountain PBS. Saunders writes a weekly sports media column for The Denver Post.

The Rocky started on April 23, 1859, and folded on Feb. 27, 2009, less than two months shy of the newspaper’s 150th anniversary. The Post and the Rocky were locked in a fierce newspaper war that featured circulation battles and reporting competition in one of the last two-daily cities in the nation.

The two newspapers entered into a joint operating agreement in 2001 and the Denver Newspaper Agency was formed to provide advertising and circulation services for both papers.

Their news departments remained separate. The Rocky won four Pulitzer Prizes beginning in 2000 under the direction of publisher/editor John Temple. The last two Pulitzers were awarded in 2006 for feature writing and feature photography. The frontpage headline in the final edition of the Rocky read “Goodbye, Colorado.”

Marcus joins Durango Herald Peter Marcus joined The Durango Herald news staff as its Denver-based capitol reporter. He comes to the Herald from The Colorado Statesman.

In addition to covering the Colorado Legislature when in session, Marcus will keep an eye on the courts and state agencies, especially those involved in regulating mining, water, wildlife and oil and gas.

Marcus’ hiring preserves what Herald editors see as a crucial news connection between the Capitol and Southwest Colorado.

He will allow the Herald to continue providing a local focus on state-level news out of Denver that is not covered by other news organizations serving the region.

Marcus has worked previously as an assistant reporter for the Longmont Daily Times-Call. His reporting repeatedly has won top honors in the Colorado Press Association’s annual journalism contest.

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10 Questions with: Bob Sweeney

By Cheryl Ghrist Contributing Editor

newspaper career in this state. What would you do over?

I can’t think of anything that I would do differently. My life has been fun, challenging, and rewarding in all respects. I dreamed of owning The Denver Post, but I hope that doesn’t come true.

This issue, “10 Questions” checked in with Robert F. “Bob” Sweeney, co-publisher of The Villager newspaper in Greenwood Village, and past-president of both the Colorado Press Association (1979 while at the Craig Daily Press) and the National Newspaper Association (NNA, 2003). For 30 years, he and his wife Gerri have led their family-owned and operated group, which also includes the Denver Herald-Dispatch in Sweeney southwest Denver, and the Colorado Gambler.

In 2009, he received the NNA’s highest honor, the James O. Amos Award, given to a working or retired newspaper person who has “provided distinguished service and leadership to the community press and their community.”

7) Neat desk, messy desk? What would we see there?

I have a messy desk. I have to keep my working world in front of me on my desk.

Once something goes into a file it is gone forever. My desk is cluttered, but I understand that Richard Ballantine’s (at Durango) is worse. One must keep the paperwork moving all the time. Down through the years I have worked most Saturdays at the newspaper office because I wanted to be there. A strong work ethic is required in this business.

8) What’s your next big project?

My next big project is to just “keep on keeping on…” Nothing planned except my dream of buying the Denver Post. Ha.

1) How many hats are you wearing these

9) Will you ever retire?

I have no plans to retire, but hope that I am smart enough to know when to quit.

I’m finding that people are now realizing that their local newspapers are the strongest segment of the print industry. I hear that comment all the time from strangers who relate that community newspapers are survivors in a very crowded media world. We need to make our newspapers the very best that we can so people will continue to enjoy them and subscribe. Not an easy task, but achievable. Failure is not an option.

days?

I have always worn many hats: community involvement, political interests, service clubs, sports and organizations. Networking is part of the newspaper business and we should get off the bench and play ball with the public in many ways.

2) Talk about the time you lived in Craig – how many hats were you wearing then?

I was born in Craig and grew up on a cattle ranch 28 miles from town. I was a third-generation native with a grandfather who came from Ireland and homesteaded in the Craig area in 1885. I went off to CSU to become a veterinarian and instead fell in love with the newspaper world. After graduating, I returned home to become involved in a new newspaper startup in my hometown. That project took 19 years and included being mayor of the town.

3) Tell us about how you wound up in the newspaper industry in the Denver metro area. Did you plan that?

I sold the Craig Daily Press to Howard Newspapers; their nearest newspaper was in Casper, Wyo. Then we moved our family to Denver, where Gerri and I got back into the newspaper business. Without her hard work and leadership, I would have become

Bob Sweeney (right) accepting an award “from some Craig folks” from a friend from that city, Bill Terrill, on a 1980 trip to Denver. a cowboy and would be herding cattle in northwest Colorado.

4) You’ve held onto your Villager newspaper group while others around you have been bought by other chains. How did that happen?

I did sell the Craig newspaper to a chain, then I started over again when we moved to Denver.

5) You’ve been active with Colorado Press Association and the fight to keep

public notices “public” in our newspapers.

What all have you accomplished and how much satisfaction do you get from being a part of that?

I have always participated in Colorado Press and public notice and information issues. We are the center of the community and we don’t want to give up that voice and role that local newspapers still hold today. We cannot, and will not surrender the service that we provide to our citizens.

6) You’ve had a long, productive

10) What words of wisdom would you give to young people starting out in the newspaper business these days, whether it’s on the editorial, advertising or business sides?

Learn all of the parts of the business: sales, writing and production, then concentrate on the area you like and excel at. Be the first person in the office in the morning and the last to leave at night. You will meet the boss coming and going and pretty soon he, or she, will recognize your work effort and dedication. Lastly, life is a game of inches, not miles. Success can be measured by small gains and constant effort. Enjoy your job and it becomes fun, not work. Being able to read and write will take a person a long way down the road of life.

Salespeople as hunters and farmers I was talking to Kirby marketing level. about the makeup of the ad “It’s important to have team he manages. “A big key both types,” Kirby said. “In is to match personalities with industries like real estate job tasks,” he said. “For years, and automotive, it’s fine I’ve heard that salespeople to have a lot more hunters can be categorized as either than farmers, because hunters or farmers.” they’re always dealing These terms are selfwith new prospects. But explanatory. Hunters live for in the media business, John the thrill of the chase. Ask where you build long-term Foust them to find new prospects, marketing partnerships, and they’ll be out the door you need more balance.

Ad Libs in an instant. They love to Hunters keep the sales attend networking events, pipeline filled and get find people who have just opened new advertisers started in the right businesses in town, and make direction. And farmers strengthen presentations to new prospects. existing relationships.”

On the other hand, farmers are at In other words, hunters provide their best when they are providing width and farmers provide depth. customer service and working with Hunters specialize in bringing in new clients to move them to the next advertisers. And farmers specialize

in helping those advertisers develop, analyze and tweak their marketing campaigns.

One is not better than the other.

They’re simply different.

By nature, hunters need the stimulation of newness. New prospects. New contacts. Instant results. Get a contract today and start looking for the next one tomorrow.

Farmers take a longer view. Plant seeds and help them grow. What did they learn from the last marketing campaign? How can they build on that?

“Obviously, it’s not always practical to have one group for new business and one group for existing accounts,” Kirby explained.

“That’s why the best managers become matchmakers with account assignments. In addition to making

the right hires, they have to figure out how to make the best use of the talent on their staffs. Along the way, it’s part of their job to help hunters become better farmers and farmers become better hunters.”

Kirby’s comments are right on target. In general terms, many hunters need to work on providing better customer service – an area which does not produce the instant gratification of a new contract. And many farmers need to cultivate prospecting skills which require a higher level of assertiveness.

Kirby also had some observations about sales managers. “A lot of managers have risen through the ranks,” he said. “They became sales managers, because they did a good job as sales people. It’s human nature for managers to want to

surround themselves with people like them, but that can be a mistake.

They have to be flexible enough to cultivate personalities that may be the opposite of theirs. They shouldn’t approach management like they approached selling. Now, their success depends on helping others perform at their best.”

Hunters and farmers. Effective ad departments have both. And effective managers know how to develop both.

2014 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. Email for information: john@johnfoust.com

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colorado editor

September 2014

Newspapers are still here and still making money

Ron and Cindy Richardson are the new owners of the Black Forest News & Palmer Divide Pioneer.

New owners at Black Forest News & Palmer Divide Pioneer

By Cheryl Ghrist Contributing Editor Ron and Cindy Richardson recently purchased the Black Forest News & Palmer Divide Pioneer from Judy von Ahlefeldt, taking over operation of the newspaper as of Aug. 1, 2014. New to the newspaper industry, they are eager to take on the challenge.

We checked in with them just days after they took over as the fifth owners of the CPA awardwinning newspaper that has been in business since 1960.

Where are you from, where are you currently living and do you have plans to move to the Black Forest area soon?

Ron and I grew up in Bennett, Colorado. We raised our daughters in Sterling and we currently reside in Brighton, but plan a move to the Black Forest as soon as we can.

We believe we cannot effectively represent the Black Forest or keep up on what’s happening here without living here.

What are your current professions?

Ron is a contractor; he builds things – decks, sheds, barns, pole barns and garages. He also has some livestock that he loves – six pigs, a couple of ponies and a couple of yellow labs. I am a teacher, just resigning my position at Hope Montessori Academy, their Westminster school, teaching preschoolers. And I have a cockatiel named Jake, he’s amazing!

The Richardsons may be planning a change to the flag of their newly acquired newspaper.

Do you have a publishing background?

No! That’s what makes this adventure so wonderful – the entire thing is a learning process that we never anticipated.

Hopefully we will not step on too many toes in our development and be able to put out an even better paper than Judy did for 17 years. That would truly be an accomplishment!

What interested you about this newspaper?

To be honest, it was a little self-serving on Ron’s part. He has been talking lately about when the time comes to retire, what profession he would have so he didn’t have to “pound nails” forever. He walked into Judy’s life only to place an ad, and ended up buying her newspaper. The history and potential for healing in this community, through this paper, is what we we’re most interested in.

Will you keep the full name of the newspaper, or are you planning any type of change?

The name stays as is, it’s worked for 54 years. However, those squirrels (on the front page flag)

may go someday, just sayin’.

What is it that attracts you to living in and covering the Black Forest area? Do you have friends there?

The people and their stories are what attract us. There is so much color and character to all of them, even before the fire that took so much from them, that we can’t wait to hear all of their stories. We have no friends here as of yet, but that will change.

Yes, actually we have had a lot of great feedback from this community: compliments to Judy as to what she did in her 17 years, along with where they would like to see the paper head. We plan on including more human-interest stories as well as local school activities, sports and clubs. We also will be adding Letters to the Editor, (scary!) editorials from us, and once we are actually a part of the community instead of being apart from it, more writing from Ron and myself. We truly are excited for what lies ahead. We consider this to be such a blessing for us and we can’t wait to pass that on to others.

The sky is always falling rapidly. and newspapers are always What is also true is that dying. the public’s thirst for news For more than a decade, keeps rising. that has been a common Data from the digital and constant refrain. While measurement firm comScore working at washingtonpost. show that 161 million people com, the Guardian US, visited newspaper websites and now, the Newspaper in the month of March. We Association of America, I are witnessing audience Caroline have been asked frequently increases across the country, Little about the state of the from the aforementioned industry as people search NNA President Washington Post to The for the worst.

Times-Picayune, which & CEO Though newspaper announced 5.6 million media is enjoying the largest unique visitors to NOLA. audiences ever as well as continuing com this July. to play a unique and critical role in There is more demand than ever our communities, there is one fact for news and journalism. There that always tends to be obscured or are also more competitors. There outright ignored – newspapers are was no BuzzFeed or Facebook or still making money and newspapers Huffington Post 15 years ago. New remain a good investment. digital channels offer consumers a A year ago at this time, John dazzling array of options, all of which Henry and Jeff Bezos made highcompete for time and attention. And profile acquisitions of The Boston advertisers face challenges in trying Globe and The Washington Post, to catch up to these fragmenting respectively, which confirmed that audiences. newspapers are viable investment In my three years as CEO of options with the ability to grow.

NAA, I have witnessed an amazing Earlier this month, The Washington transformation. Newspaper Post announced record web traffic companies look drastically different for July as well as hiring more than in 2014 compared to 2011. There has 60 people in the first seven months of been an increased focus on digital the year. properties. Newspaper reporters and A company hiring 60 people in columnists have taken advantage seven months sounds like a healthy of Twitter to build brands and large one to me. readerships. Innovation on the design This summer, the newspaper side has led to beautiful works of industry has seen a wave of spinlong-form journalism, which include offs, with Tribune and Gannett The Unforgotten by the Boston both forming publishing-only Globe and Breaking Ball from The companies. E.W. Scripps and Wall Street Journal that ran in July.

Journal Communications spun their Newspaper companies are using combined publications off into a new the power of their brands to create company, Journal Media Group. This new, non-traditional streams of is an exciting time for the newspaper revenues from event hosting to digital industry as these companies will now marketing. devote their undivided attention to The evolution of the newspaper their publications. industry continues every day. The However, as with the investments explosion of mobile readership last year, these spin-offs have been thanks to smartphones and tablets spun into more gloom and doom for has caused newspapers to create new the industry. It is simply not accurate. mobile strategies. There is increasing In fact, buried in the depths of one demand from readers for more particular article that signaled the targeted content, which has given rise death of newspapers is this gem of a to niche sites and blogs developed by sentence: “Newspapers continue to newspapers devoted to special areas generate cash and solid earnings.” of interest, such as food, high school Think about that for a moment – sports and fashion. an industry that generates cash and For me and many in the solid earnings is on its death bed? I newspaper industry, it is a fascinating refuse to accept that. and exhilarating time. We are in the What is true is our industry’s midst a dramatic, historic shift for an business model has changed industry that has been around as long dramatically in the past half-dozen as the United States of America. years. In 2007, 80% of newspaper The world has changed and media revenue was generated from newspapers have changed. The notion advertising. In 2013, less than half of what a newspaper company is of total revenue (46%) was from should change for the general public. advertising in the daily and Sunday It is no longer simply about print. It print newspaper. Revenue from is about all platforms. People don’t readers paying for print and digital think, “I’m reading the newspaper” news and information accounted when scrolling through nytimes.com for nearly three out of ten revenue but they should. dollars, up from less than two in ten Despite all the changes, one thing in 2007. Income from new, nonremains the same – newspapers still traditional sources is now rising make money.

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September 2014

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You’ve got email (blasts)

By Luke Graham SYNC2 Media

As we here at SYNC2 Media continually reshape the products we offer, one thing remains clear: Email blasts are becoming more and more popular industry wide and with our client base.

But what sets email blasts apart?

It’s quite simple to see the benefits. Email advertising helps build brand awareness and delivers a great return on investment.

Direct Marketing Association

said for every dollar spent on email marketing generates $43.62 in revenue.

There are other benefits, but that’s the one clients care about most.

Other benefits include low costs, real time messages and finding an advertiser’s dream client.

In a recent email blast for a real estate company we targeted people with a household income of $250,000 or more with an interest in finance.

The click thru rate was 2.04 percent. This means that the real

estate company reached 1,200 consumers that otherwise wouldn’t have reached the advertisers website.

At SYNC2 our email lists have been developed with a double opt in, meaning the people have opted in to receive these emails twice. The lists are consistently scrubbed to make sure that email accounts are live and active. The email database was created in 1999 and includes more than 200 million active emails.

We are able to target based on gender, race, age, income, geo, hobbies and interests just to name

a few. There are more than 700 B2C categories we can target by. For B2B demos we use Geo, SIC codes, titles, sales and employee size.

There are many factors that go into making an email blast successful, from subject line importance, creative and the day you decide to send it.

One thing, though, is transparent.

Email blasts are a growing thing in a wide digital market and are proving to be a great way to reach your desired clientele.

Email blasts are becoming more and more popular industry wide and with our client base.

The dos and don’ts – mostly don’ts – of using email for public officials

By Jeffrey A. Roberts CFOIC Executive Director On a Friday afternoon earlier this month, a town trustee in Berthoud emailed six fellow board members “to give you all a heads up on a critical issue we will be voting on next week.” Paul Alaback’s message argued against the appointment of a former trustee to the town’s planning commission.

Berthoud Mayor David Gregg rightfully sounded an alarm in his response 48 minutes later: “This is the sort of discussion that should take place in the light of a public meeting, not working to influence ahead of the public meeting,” the mayor wrote back. “’Copy’ all emails to fellow trustees are a wee dangerous if they contain anything other than informational content.”

According to the email thread obtained by the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor, only Trustee Mike Henning continued the electronic conversation, chiming in a few days later to say that he would be a “no” vote on the nominee for planning commissioner.

Henning’s email demonstrated a lack of understanding of Colorado’s Open Meetings Law (OML). “Not sure what David is talking about,” he added. “We have email to use for these kinds of things.”

No, Trustee Henning, you don’t. Not unless you can figure out a way to invite the entire Berthoud community to join your electronic conversations with two or more fellow trustees regarding this or any policy matter under your purview.

And you would have to give the public 24 hours’ advance notice, publish an agenda and, in certain circumstances, keep minutes.

For local public bodies like the

Berthoud town board, there are rules for conducting meetings under the OML, also known as the Sunshine Law, which Colorado voters initiated in 1972. The statute emphatically declares that “the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret.”

The law, since updated, defines a meeting as “any kind of gathering, convened to discuss public business, in person, by telephone, electronically, or by (any) other means of communication.” This includes emailing, texting, tweeting, instant messaging, Facebook messaging, Snapchatting and forms of communication that haven’t been invented yet. Moreover, the law makes it abundantly clear that “if elected officials use electronic mail to discuss pending legislation or other public business among themselves, the electronic mail shall be subject to the requirements” of the OML. To be covered under the Sunshine Law, the subject matter of the discussion must be “rationally connected to the policy-making responsibilities of the public body holding or attending the meeting,’’ according to an analysis of the law by the Spencer Fane law firm, which represents local governments in Colorado. It’s OK for a board member to email a party invitation to her fellow board members. It’s not OK for her to email a discussion of rules, regulations, ordinances or possible formal action.

Technology makes it incredibly easy to reach out to others nowadays. But when three or more members of a city council, county commission or school board use electronic devices to talk policy – it can be just two members if two constitutes a quorum – they deny the public its right to “attend” that meeting. The same would hold true if two or more members of a state public body, such as the Colorado House or Senate, exchanged emails or text messages about pending legislation.

This is the crux of the controversy in Pueblo that, as of Friday, has led to the resignation of one city council member and the start of a recall movement against two others. As reported by The Pueblo Chieftain, the three councilors engaged in illegal online discussions about several controversial issues with a political adviser, Pueblo County’s transportation director.

Edge-evolutionThe county official emailed two city council members who then included a third member, council President Sandy Daff, in their replies. Daff responded by saying she typically does not respond to group emails. But that was inadequate to avoid a Sunshine Law violation, according to attorney Steve Zansberg, president of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and an expert on the OML. “Had Ms. Daff said she simply did not want to receive any further such communications, and that all such discussions among three or more council members must be done in the open, at a properly noticed public meeting, that would be a very different set of facts,” Zansberg told The Chieftain.

Forwarding the thread, which clearly discusses public business, to a third council member made the email exchange a “meeting” under the OML. You might wonder if it’s acceptable under the law for a member of a public body to simply receive such emails in their inbox and do nothing else. It’s not.

Says Zansberg: “One unsolicited email would be understandable and forgivable. Receiving a series of emails on a subject, however, without saying ‘DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL TO DISCUSS THIS,’ is tacit participation in the conversation. That’s how I’d draw the line.”

Whether a gathering is convened in person, by phone or via email or Facebook, it is not necessary for each participant to actually contribute to the conversation by speaking or writing. A “public meeting” is any gathering of the minimum

number of members of a public body “at which any public business is discussed.” The discussion need not be by ANY member of the local public body (such as in a public hearing or fact-finding meeting).

The Spencer Fane law firm offers this advice to local government clients: “The ease with which email allows for communication among board members offers a convenient way in which to discuss issues, but it also provides an easy way in which a board can unintentionally enter into a public meeting that must comply with the requirements of the OML. If an email chain begins to take the tone of a board discussion of a formal action, take a step back, inform other participants of the potential OML implications, and determine whether the email chain is the appropriate venue for discussing the issue.”

What else should state-and-local elected officials and other public employees in Colorado keep in mind before using their computers or handheld devices to communicate?

Think before you hit “send.”

Know that any electronic communications that discuss public business can be requested under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). There is no quorum requirement for public employees who are not elected or appointed members of a public body. Any emails they send or receive whose content discusses public business are subject to disclosure under CORA, unless an exemption applies.

It doesn’t matter if you use your personal email or text-messaging account or device, rather than a government-owned account or device. Your communications may be considered public records if they address public business.

Private matters discussed on email can remain private, even if they are sent using government systems or hardware. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that sexually explicit messages exchanged by two county employees were not subject to disclosure. But if public matters are

discussed in the same emails, those portions should be released with the private portions redacted.

Labeling emails as “attorneyclient privileged” does not automatically exempt them from disclosure under CORA. The mayor of Colorado Springs recently ordered the city utilities agency to stop this practice, which was seen as attempt to avoid releasing information on a power plant fire. The attorney-client exemption applies only to materials prepared by an attorney when litigation is anticipated.

When the public learns something about their government via the release of emails, often the information comes from a journalist who gets a tip and makes a records request. Recently, a few local governments have taken steps to let the public see the emails of elected officials – other than those exempt from release under CORA – without having to make formal requests.

Fort Collins’ Email Transparency Project is one such effort. The Larimer County Commission offers something similar.

Ashlin Cross, an intern with the Colorado Press Association, surveyed some other local governments in Colorado to gauge their interest in creating similar systems for their constituencies.

Most aren’t considering the idea because they don’t get a lot of requests for emails. The cost of implementing this kind of system also is a concern.

“If requests for access to city council email increase, the council would discuss a similar project to Fort Collins’ Email Transparency Project because open and transparent government is so important to us,” said Boulder spokesperson Sarah Huntley. “But right now we just don’t have enough requests for that to be necessary.”

For more on the impact of technology on access to public records and meetings, download a July 2014 white paper by Steve Zansberg.

6

colorado editor

September 2014

‘One of the greatest human beings ... in this state.’

RAWLINGS from Page 1 Predock, who observed that The Chieftain publisher never stopped dreaming of a better Pueblo.

“The aspiration to the sky that the building represents is a symbol of that attitude,” Predock told donors to the library at a fundraiser in 2001.

Rawlings was born in Pueblo on Aug. 3, 1924.

The son of John and Dorothy Hoag Rawlings, he was reared in Las Animas, where his father was a banker, and graduated from Bent County High School in 1942.

Those early years formed the basis of his fierce defense of the Arkansas Valley’s water. He explained this in an opinion piece he authored on Dec. 12, 2004: “My particular story started in the 1930s,” Rawlings wrote. “The Arkansas Valley was experiencing the most severe drought in recorded times, resulting in horrific weather conditions we called the Dust Bowl.

These conditions lasted nearly 10 years. Hundreds of people in the Valley lost their jobs and the farmers, while laboring valiantly to raise a crop without adequate water, found market prices so low it wouldn’t even pay them to harvest the meager crop they had. School teachers were let go. . . .

“The storms were frightening.

A virtual wall of dirt moved relentlessly toward us. Propelled by fierce winds, they picked up tons of topsoil, tumbleweeds, trash, parts of building materials, whirling all this in a scary wall some 2,000 to 3,000 feet high.”

Rawlings spent years trying to convince others to share his alarm at the sale of water from farm ground in the Arkansas Valley, and was never one to hold his tongue when he perceived that position to be compromised.

He concluded that particular oped with this statement, one he often repeated: “The sad fact is that many of our local water officials still can’t seem to comprehend that to continue to pursue these unwise agreements with Colorado Springs and Aurora is to further assure that the entire Lower Arkansas Valley will become another Crowley County.

“How shortsighted can we be?”

If there is anything that motivates

COURTESY PHOTOS Left: Rawlings talks with the late actor Dennis Weaver about water quality issues on Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River during a 2003 visit. Above: Rawlings in the Chieftain pressroom in 2009.

Rawlings more than water, it is patriotism.

“This stirring memorial will be a tribute to Pueblo’s four Medal of Honor recipients and also to all those heroes who contributed so gallantly to ensure the freedoms we enjoy in this wonderful country,” he said during the 1998 unveiling of bronze statues outside the Pueblo Convention Center.

He chaired the committee that erected the statues.

Two years later, Rawlings was a major sponsor for the national Medal of Honor Society convention.

He continues to advocate for the return of the USS Pueblo to the United States. The ship was seized by the North Korean government in 1968.

The publisher set a standard for all daily newspapers in publishing a full-page American flag in the newspaper on national holidays.

There is more than symbolism to his activities, however, including

his ringing support for the Armed Forces and its activities in this part of the state.

Of particular concern over the years has been maintaining activities at Fort Carson and finding new uses for the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

There also has been the wise counsel against further destruction of ranch land that would come with the expansion of Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site south of Pueblo.

That fervor also goes back to episodes from his own life.

Rawlings enrolled at Colorado College in Colorado Springs in the fall of 1942 and in December of that year enlisted in the United States Navy V-12 at the college. The following year he was transferred to the Navy ROTC unit at University of Colorado in Boulder where he subsequently received a commission as an ensign in the Navy.

He spent a year and a half in the South Pacific as supply officer and later executive officer of the

Subchaser 648, serving in Leyte Gulf, Mindanao, Subic Bay and Manila in the Philippine Islands, and in Brunei Bay in the province of Sarawak, Borneo. When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, he helped liberate from a Japanese prisoner of war camp near Kuching, Sarawak, more than 100 British and Dutch officers who had been imprisoned by the Japanese for five years.

He received an honorable discharge from the Navy in July 1946 and returned to Colorado College to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1947.

That launched his career later that year as a reporter for The Chieftain and The Pueblo Star-Journal.

In 1951 he became an advertising salesman for the two newspapers; in 1962 he was named general manager; and in January 1980 he was appointed publisher and editor; in 1984 he was elected president of The Star-Journal Publishing Corporation.

The career has been personally rewarding.

Rawlings is a past chairman of the board of the Colorado Press Association; he was president of the association in 1985-86. He is a member and past-chairman of the Colorado Bar-Press Committee; past president of Rocky Mountain Ad Manager’s Association and past president of The Colorado Associated Press.

More importantly, Rawlings has given back to the community in numerous ways.

He was instrumental in helping to form the Pueblo Economic Development Corp., which sought to bring new industry here after massive layoffs at CF&I Steel in 1982.

Rawlings has tirelessly advocated for the city’s half-cent sales tax, and continues to protect it from those who would use it for purposes other than creating primary jobs.

To name a few of his other activities: He is past-chairman of the advisory board of Colorado National Bank-Pueblo (now US Bank); a member of the Air Force Academy Foundation and the University of Southern Colorado Foundation.

He is president of The Robert Hoag Rawlings Foundation and the Southern Colorado Community Foundation.

His work has not gone unnoticed in the community.

In 1994, Rawlings was awarded the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award, which recognized his all-out plunge into philanthropy through his business, professional, political and personal activities.

Abel Tapia spoke for the community when he said at the time: “Even with these outstanding gifts to the community, one of the substantial benefits to the community has been the continued professional management of The Chieftain and the use of the newspaper to work for improvements which enhance the lives of all the citizens of Pueblo and Southeastern Colorado.”

Taking an active part in future of CPA BOARD from Page 1 year’s term as Davis’s replacement.

Davis had been on the board since April 2011 to August 2014.

She left the board because she no longer works for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

“Serving on the Colorado Press Association Board was a highlight of my newspaper career,” Davis said. “These high-performing executives were forward-thinking, collaborative and conscientious. I also had the pleasure of working with two “exemplary and dedicated executive directors: Samantha

Johnston and Jerry Raehal.

I encourage CPA members to reach out to board members to have their opinions and suggestions heard, to follow and support CPA’s work, and to serve on the board themselves, when the opportunity arises.”

Davis was also on the CPA Board’s executive committee as the board secretary.

Matt Lubich, of the Johnston Breeze, has agreed to fill the position, saying he would write the minutes in Abraham Lincoln-type tone.

Filling vacancies during the year is never easy, said Jerry Raehal, CEO of CPA and SYNC2 Media.

“We had several qualified people put their names up for consideration, and in talking with Terri, I know it was a difficult decision,” he said. “It’s great to have so many outstanding people put their names in, but it also makes it difficult to decide.

“It’s a good problem to have, and we’re thankful so many people have an interest in the future of the CPA and want to take an active part in it.”

Stay up to date at coloradopress association.com

colorado editor

September 2014

7

PART 1

Colorado Press Days Past Current and former staff members check in as CPA plans a change from an iconic building to a new downtown location

Daycare, Dems & one very dark day

By Ed Otte I have three memorable stories about the Colorado Press Association building during my work there.

First – the Denver Athletic Club on the opposite side of Glenarm Place had chronic problems with faulty fire alarms. The alarms would sound, the signal lights attached to the building would flash, and the DAC guests and staff would wait on the sidewalk for the fire engines to arrive.

One time, it was a chilly day in late fall, the alarms sounded and three daycare staffers herded a group of children across the street, where they huddled in front of the CPA building.

We opened our door and told them to bring the children into our front office. The kids, many clutching blankets and stuffed animals, sat on the floor around the secretary’s desk and in the hallway. Three wandered into my office and eyed the stacks of paper on my desk.

Some of the kids were scared and cried.

We offered to get snacks and drinks from the second-floor vending machines but the daycare workers said we weren’t allowed to feed them.

A few minutes after the kids settled in, the postman opened the front door and wheeled in four tubs of newspapers and mail on a dolly.

The kids were fascinated by either his uniform or the plastic tubs and they stared at him. The postman looked at the kids and then at us.

“Are you starting a new business?” he asked.

The second memory involves the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Downtown streets resembled an armed camp with Denver police officers, Colorado State Patrolmen and sheriff ’s deputies from several counties at intersections and on the 16th Street Mall.

The DAC hosted a number of panel discussions involving convention speakers.

One morning, after a session at the DAC, two foreign journalists sat on our front steps. They were examining a downtown street map, trying to determine where they could go to file their stories. We invited them into our building and led them upstairs to the conference room to work. Soon, two more reporters and a photographer joined them.

For a few days, the conference room served as a temporary newsroom for visiting journalists and for the three college journalism students CPA paid to cover the convention.

The third memory involved 9/11. After watching the TV coverage of the two airplanes flying into the Twin Towers, I drove to the CPA building. Morning traffic was lighter than usual and I assumed many downtown workers opted to stay home in front of their TV sets.

All of the CPA staff came to work but they would walk into the conference room to watch the TV coverage or listen to a radio at their desk.

I wanted to see what was happening downtown. I headed toward the 16th Street Mall, walking past empty stores and restaurants. Security guards stood at the

A lizard named Clyde once put the Colorado Press Association building on the national media map. entrances of two large office buildings, telling people the businesses were closed and letting employees leave.

At the Colorado State Capitol, State Patrol vehicles were parked in front of the steps leading up to the doors. That was strange, I thought. Passenger planes had been hijacked.

How could parked cars make buildings safe?

When I walked back to the CPA building, the streets were gridlocked. Downtown workers, released from their office jobs, were trapped in their vehicles. They were probably listening to their car radios, wondering what was happening to their country. Back at our office, I told the staff that they should return home. Little if any work could be done that day and they should be with their families.

Ed Otte retired in 2010 as executive director of the Colorado Press Association. He began a two-year term in August as president of the Colorado Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Jurassic Park & Ghosts in the fire machine

By Rob Carrigan It started out like one of those B-grade movies you love when you are about 12 years old. Picture a wide shot with a woman preparing to fill up a glass bowl in the sink of an old building.

Everything is normal, calm and tranquil.

The old building has been there in downtown Denver for at least 100 years and the plumbing probably saw its last update about 1920. Then the shot zooms in tighter, focusing more on the glass rose bowl and the sink as the water is turned on, and tighter yet, to the tap, as the water begins to fill and then, something small and unrecognizable plops into the bowl. She notices and holds it up to the light to better see.

What is it? It is moving. Are those claws? That, for sure, is a tail. Yikes! I think it is a baby alligator. Immediately that opens up the realm of possibilities in my over-active imagination.

How did that get in the tap water. I’ve heard of ‘gators in the sewers before, but is it warm enough in Denver for them to survive? And that was from the tap – hopefully tap and sewer shouldn’t have any connection. And it’s cold, almost Thanksgiving.

According to (that) month’s Colorado

Editor, “Clyde, a lizard who mysteriously appeared in running water from a tap in the Colorado Press Association bathroom, has garnered media attention from the Denver Post and National Public Radio, to Channel 7 and Channel 9 News. The lizard, which is approximately 1-1/2 inches in length, is thought to have crawled into the tap rather than being a product of the Denver water system. He now resides at Scales ‘N Tails in Lakewood where they hope to determine his exact identity.”

Samantha Johnston, Colorado Press Association’s executive director (and my boss), found the little bugger when she was filling up the glass bowl upon returning from a recent trip to Mexico.

I think it gives new meaning to the oft-used admonishment for travelers to, “Whatever you do, don’t drink the water.”

• At least one fellow employee in the historic, downtown Denver building where I work swears the place is haunted. And maybe it is.

I don’t know much about the history of the building itself, but I suppose it is possible that ghosts, from the terrible 1951 fire across the street at the Denver Athletic Club that killed four people and injured dozens, could have wandered over to our side of Glenarm Place. What is haunting to me, however, is the photograph snapped by legendary Rocky Mountain News staffer Bill Peery showing two men, 12 or 15 feet apart, at two different, fourth-story windows, hoping for escape or rescue by the fire department. “‘Why the hell don’t they do something?’

One bystander asked,” according to Dick Kreck in his 2000 book “Denver in Flames: Forging a New Mile High City.”

Trying to find firm footing on 6 inches of ice in the alley behind the building, firefighters strained to raise a heavy, 50-foot wooden ladder to the window while carefully avoiding telephone and high-voltage electrical wires crisscrossing the alley like a spider web.

“Then suddenly,” the Denver Post reporter wrote, “the man’s hand relaxed. The hat dropped straight, brushed against the wires and tumbled to the alley. There was nothing but smoke at the window. ‘He’s gone,’ someone said.” The Peery photograph, winner of a national Headliner award for spot news photography, shows Dr. Dan Monaghan and

J. Charles Wild trying to escape smoke pouring out the windows of the DAC. Monaghan was rescued in time by the firefighters.

Wild, a 55-year-old retired businessman living at the club at the time, perished along with three others in the $1.5-million fire.

“The DAC had planned a Valentine’s Dance on Saturday, Feb. 17, 1951. There were 400 reservations made for dinner and dancing that night. Many Members/Owners had decorated the gymnasium (which is the ballroom today) with cardboard cupids and Valentines’ hearts.

The excitement was building for what was to be a memorable event,” says the DAC’s website.

“About 3 p.m. that day, a flash of flames came from the speaker system. Something had gone wrong with the wiring and the flames leapt to the curtains and tablecloths. There were about 100 people in the club at this time. The fire grew so quickly that four of them would not get out alive.” Dozens of employees and residents were trapped in the smoke-filled building that had recently been renovated.

Nearly 600,000 gallons of water from 18 fire trucks were dumped on the building to douse the fire. According to firefighter Stan “Smokey” Sorenson, quoted by Kreck, “That Glenarm entrance looked like Niagara Falls.”

In the March 2 edition of the Rocky Mountain News, Denver safety manager Harold MacArthur explained the firefighters’ decision process in a public statement. “Due to the direction of the fire and smoke, it was necessary to make evacuations from the alley si de. Life nets could not be used as this alley carries electrical wire on alley fixtures. Some of these wires carry as much as 4,000 volts and clearance between DAC and the alley fixtures carrying these wires is about three feet. The order of evacuation was so made because it appeared the one initially evacuated (Dr. Monaghan) was in much more precarious situation. It was honestly felt that this individual might jump because the smoke and noxious fumes about his window were terrific.”

In addition to Wild, those killed in the fire were Ernest D. Bowman, 55; John McGinley King, 65; and Jane “Jennie” Meade, 63.

Rob Carrigan is publisher and editor at Colorado Community Media, running three newspapers in Teller and El Paso counties: The Pikes Peak Courier View, the Tri-Lakes Tribune, and the Teller County Extra. Prior to that, he was the advertising manager at Colorado Press Association/Colorado Press Service. Postings reprinted with his permission from his blog, Restless Native. The first story was covered by the Denver Post; look to their online post of Nov. 23, 2010, for more details. The second appears in various forms on the Internet.

CPA and SYNC2 are moving The Colorado Press Association and SYNC2 are slated to move from their downtown location to the Chancery at 1120 Lincoln St., Suite 912, Denver, CO, 80203. They should keep the same main line phone number, 303-571-5117, but will be getting direct lines, as well.

Look for more memories from the historic Colorado Press Association building in future issues of the Colorado Editor.

8

colorado editor

September 2014

CPA Marketplace ADVERTISING SALES LEADER WANTED Prairie Mountain Publishing/Prairie Mountain Media, the leading source of local news and advertising information in the Boulder/Longmont/Loveland market, is looking for a growth-motivated Advertising Manager to lead a dynamic sales team at the Daily Camera and Colorado Daily as well as to drive new business development and print, niche and digital (banner/mobile display, social, SEO, SEM, e-mail) revenue growth.

This leadership position manages a sales team to achieve print and digital goals. You will support the team with a consultative needs-based selling approach from sales proposal development to execution. You will lead team sales training. You will be in charge of your earning potential by meeting and exceeding monthly team revenue goals.

We ask that you have a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and talent, a reliable vehicle for meeting with advertising clients, and a valid Colorado driver’s license.

If you have demonstrated success in leading an advertising sales team with 2 to 4 years of experience and thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented, but highlyrewarding environment, this may be just the opportunity you have been looking for. Your energy and burning desire to meet and exceed sales opportunities and challenges will ensure your success in this position.

We offer a competitive base salary plus a generous commission/bonus plan and

excellent benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance, life/AD&D, short- and long-term disability insurance, a 401(k) investment savings plan, plus immediate eligibility for paid time off.

Interested applicants may apply by emailing a resume to jobs@dailycamera. com.EOE

Prairie Mountain Publishing is part of the Digital First Media family and a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Prairie Mountain Media, the leading source of local news and advertising information in the Boulder/Longmont/Loveland market is searching for an Account Executive to sell the Colorado Daily and Daily Camera product line, including print and online products.

This person will be responsible for developing and implementing a strategic plan to build new business revenue to achieve monthly sales goals. This position is perfect for the person who is a selfstarter and confident to knock on doors and close sales while creating unique advertising programs for your clients.

Responsibilities include: • Develop and implement a strategic plan to build new business revenue to achieve monthly sales goals.

• Grow the four basic sales categories: ad count, active accounts, average dollar sale, and average accounts sale while excelling at customer service and creating raving fans.

Requirements: • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and talent required.

2013 CPA contest winners Rising Star Award: Paul Berry, The Fort Collins Coloradoan

• Minimum two years of sales experience is preferred. Previous work in a mediaadvertising environment is preferred.

Editorial Innovator of the Year: Josh Awtry, the Fort Collins Coloradoan

• Must be detail-oriented and understand the consultative sales process.

Advertising

• Ability to identify customer needs and effectively match to solutions.

• Strong customer relations, sales and effective communication skills are necessary.

• Computer skills beyond basic keyboarding required.

• Ability to prioritize and complete multiple tasks under the pressure of deadline and through interruptions is vital.

• Valid driver’s license, reliable vehicle and good driving record are required.

We offer competitive pay, which includes a base salary plus commission, and excellent benefits, including a choice of medical insurance, dental and vision insurance, life/ AD&D, managed disability insurance, and 401(k) investment savings plan as well as immediate eligibility for paid time off.

Interested applicants may apply to Prairie Mountain Media by sending an email to jobs@dailycamera.com or fax to 303-4492063. EOE. Prairie Mountain Media is part of Digital First Media and a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.

Class 1 – Tri­Lakes Tribune Class 2 – The Citizen Telegram Class 3 – The Pagosa Springs SUN Class 4 – Golden Transcript Class 5 – Highlands Ranch Herald Class 6 – Craig Daily Press Class 7 – Steamboat Pilot

& Today Class 8 – The Pueblo Chieftain Class 9 – No awards.

Monthly – North Forty News Editorial Class 1 – Windsor Beacon Class 2 – The Citizen Telegram Class 3 – The Colorado Springs

Business Journal Class 4 – Sky­Hi News Class 5 – Denver Business Journal Class 6 – Craig Daily Press Class 7 – Steamboat Pilot

& Today Class 8 – The Daily Sentinel

& The Tribune Class 9 – The Denver Post Monthly – Redstone Review Photo/Design Class 1 – Tri­Lakes Tribune Class 2 – Middle Park Times Class 3 – The Pagosa Springs SUN Class 4 – Sky­Hi News Class 5 – Denver Business Journal Class 6 – Cortez Journal Class 7 – Steamboat Pilot

& Today Class 8 – Daily Camera Class 9 – The Denver Post Monthly – Southern Ute Drum Online Class 1 – The South Fork Tines

& The Windsor Beacon Class 2 – High Timber Times Class 3 – The Pagosa Springs SUN Class 4 – Sky­Hi News Class 5 – Denver Business Journal Class 6 – Craig Daily Press Class 7 – Steamboat Pilot & Today & Durango Herald Class 8 – The Daily Sentinel Class 9 – The Denver Post Monthly – The Southern

Ute Drum General Excellence Awards Class 1 – Tri­Lakes Tribune Class 2 – The Citizen Telegram Class 3 – The Pagosa Springs Sun Class 4 – Sky­Hi News Class 5 – Denver Business Journal Class 6 – Craig Daily Press Class 7 – Steamboat Pilot

& Today Class 8 – The Daily Sentinel Class 9 – The Denver Post Monthly – North Forty News