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Is print dead?

Newsweek

At the end of 2012, when Newsweek magazine ceased printing and moved all content online, some media observers declared print was “dead.” Predictions were that, within a decade, all content would be online, accessed by on-the-go readers using tablets and other smart devices.

Immediacy, accessibility, searchability, interactivity, embedded video – all available for free – give online media huge competitive advantages over traditional print. Early in the online vs. print debate, magazine and newspaper publishers questioned how they could hold onto paid subscribers if they gave away the content on their website. Publication websites were mostly placeholders, where past issues could be warehoused along with media kits and subscription information.

Now, more publications are making their websites their primary delivery method. The shift from traditional print to web forces publishers to rethink every aspect of their business. How can they continuously produce fresh content? Where will the revenue come from to support a staff of writers, editors, designers and salespeople? Can they afford to create two versions of the publication? How will they build in interactivity? Who will monitor and respond to readers’ comments? How will they use social media to extend their reach?

One of the magazines to which I contribute articles from our members made this transition in the past year. Now, instead of submitting a bimonthly column for the print magazine, we are posting a weekly blog written by our members. The editors then choose among the blog posts for the print edition, based on web traffic and knowledge of their print audience.

I believe the publishers that reinvent themselves as online content providers will be the ones that flourish in the future. They will examine traditional business models and develop new ways to attract readers and advertisers. They will provide a nonstop flow of information that it is timely and relevant. They will engage readers in conversations that add perspective to the content. Their websites will be multimedia, multidimensional vehicles for news, opinion, entertainment and connectivity.
Print isn’t dead, but I think it’s safe to say it’s on the endangered list. Start charging your smart devices.

 

Addendum: Shortly after I finished writing this blog, the new owners of Newsweek announced they would resume publishing a print version of the magazine in January or February. The New York Times reported that the magazine will focus on in-depth, global reporting and rely on subscribers rather than advertisers for revenue, which will result in higher subscription rates. I look forward to seeing how this develops.

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Make a difference: How your association can have an impact on your community, your world

WSAE 2013 Donation

You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. — Winston Churchill

Last week, I saw a Facebook post by a peer letting everyone know that he and his co-workers had raised over $20,000 in one week for the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee County. His post reminded me again of how thankful I am for the life I lead. Everyone’s healthy and I’ve never had to worry about how I’ll pay the next bill or where the next meal will come from.

I realize that’s not the case for everyone. That’s why I’m proud of our client, the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives (WSAE) – an organization that knows the impact associations can have on the community and the lives of people around us. Through WSAE’s Community Outreach Task Force, we’ve helped build bikes for children that might never have one, collected “wish list” items for a children’s hospital, and supported an organization that provides care packages to overseas troops. In fact, as I was writing this, I received a report that we collected eight boxes and 27 bags of items (see photo) for Support The Troops at our December 2013 meeting. Wow!

WSAE values community outreach so much, that this year they awarded their Visionary Award to a woman whose nominator cited her leadership and involvement in her association’s community service program as the reason she was especially deserving of this award. In 2013, the Wisconsin Dental Association’s Mission of Mercy brought together 1,224 volunteer dental and other professionals to provide 2,072 free patient visits that included 1,450 fillings, 1,846 extractions and 32 root canals. Total services provided represented more than $1.1 million in donated care. Now that was certainly worthy of being recognized!

If you’re inspired to see what your association and its members can do to impact the lives of others, it’s easy. A large budget or staff isn’t necessary. You can start small, for every small act of kindness makes a difference. Here are some ideas to get you on your way:

  • Form a committee to select a worthy organization and ask everyone to bring an item from that org’s “wish list’” to donate at your annual conference.
  • Invite members to share the stories of what their companies do in your newsletter or on your web site. You’ll probably be surprised at how many of your members are already doing something, whether it’s through corporate and individual donations or employee service hours. Give them some applause for their service and let their stories inspire others.
  • Create an award to recognize member organizations that serve. Everyone likes a little friendly competition; and in that competition, everyone’s a winner!
  • Bring your staff together to volunteer as a group. The AMPED staff recently helped manage craft tables at a city-wide holiday party for 350 children from the Boys and Girls Club. It was such fun seeing the kids decorate holiday cookies and get their pictures taken with Santa. We all enjoyed the chance to serve and it helped make the AMPED team even stronger by sharing the experience together.

I always tend to think of volunteer opportunities as my chance to impact someone else’s life. However, what usually happens is that those people I’m serving impact mine much more. Let me know if you do something, I’d love to hear about it!

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A crash course in project management

Last year, we began developing a new certification management system for the CSIA Certification program. When I was asked to assist, my first thought was, “Great! But how do we start?” Getting this project off the ground took a lot of hard work and focus on the part of everyone involved. Looking back I realize that it was also an opportunity for me to take a crash course in project management. These are some of the most important lessons I learned.

Collaboration was vital. From the beginning, it was clear that this was not a one-person assignment. Successful completion of this project called for a great deal of collaboration. We had a core group of staff and industry members who undertook the day-to-day work and it was incredibly helpful to be able to rely on each other for fresh perspectives as we moved through the assignment. At times, the ability to talk an idea out was the best way to solve a question at hand. We also relied heavily on member/industry input. After all, this was their certification program and so their time and expertise was essential.

Establishing deadlines improved our focus. Before jumping in to the main work of the project we took some time to set up a schedule and set deadlines. We started by determining a target project completion date. With our start and end dates in place we could fill in the rest of the schedule, deciding on target deadlines for different parts of the project, all the time moving toward our completion date. Having this schedule in place provided structure to the work and allowed us to plan ahead. Rather than getting overwhelmed by the project as a whole we were able to focus on meeting each deadline as it approached.

Flexibility was essential. For all of our planning we figured out pretty quickly that this project was going to change as we progressed. We absolutely had to be flexible! We adjusted our schedule a number of times and our collaborative approach to the project meant we experimented with several management structures along the way. Even now, after the system roll out has been completed, we are still making changes to documents and procedures as we learn what works and what doesn’t.
Being part of this project has definitely been a great lesson in project management! It was a challenging assignment, but by working collaboratively, setting deadlines and staying flexible we were able to bring the development of the new certification management system to a successful conclusion. As we move the new system into practice I will continue to learn from these important project management lessons.

What about you? Have you been faced with a big project recently? What tools did you find most helpful?

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For finance and accounting personnel, year-end tasks can be daunting — A checklist to keep you on track

Tasks and deadlines related to payroll

  • Review employee information that can affect W2 reporting such as name, address and social security number. Check for eligibility to your company’s retirement plan. Don’t forget about terminated employees. If they worked during the year, they will also receive a W2.
  • Many employers pay year-end bonuses. Make sure you schedule enough time for this task. Remember to remove discretionary deductions from the employee bonus checks such as health insurance, dental, etc.
  • If your company provides more than $50,000 in life insurance to employees, remember to tax the difference on their final check if you are not already doing this each pay period.
  • Many employers will be required to report the cost of their employer sponsored group health plan coverage on the employee 2013 Form W-2. This reporting is informational only, showing the value of the employee's health care benefits, and does not affect the employee's tax liability. Employers who filed 250 or more Form W-2s for the 2012 calendar year will be subject to the reporting requirement on W-2s for 2013.
  • If your company has disability plans and any employee has used these benefits during the year, you may have third-party sick pay to include on W2s. This also affects employer FICA and Medicare.
  • Print and distribute your W2s to employees no later than Jan. 31 of the following year.
  • 941 reports for the fourth quarter are due Jan. 31 of the new year. Remember tax payments are due before that based on your payment schedule.
  • Unemployment taxes are generally paid quarterly and will be due Jan. 31 of the following year.
  • Remember to file your quarterly unemployment report as well as your annual 940 (Federal unemployment). Both reports are due Jan. 31 of the following year.
  • IRS and state copies of W2s are due no later than Feb. 28 of the following year.
  • Verify your 1099 information for reporting. You should have been requesting W9 forms from your vendors throughout the year so you have their EIN on file. If not, take some time to get in touch with them to provide you with this information. 1099s are due to the vendors no later than Jan. 31 of the following year. State and federal copies are due no later than Feb. 28 of the following year.

New Year planning

  • It is recommended that employees review their W4 withholding and make changes if necessary.
  • Many employers provide pay raises at the beginning of the year. Before processing your first pay of the New Year, make sure you have the updated salaries. This could also include changes in discretionary deductions such as health care, dental, etc.
  • You will have received your new state unemployment rates in November-December. Make sure to update in your payroll system before processing the first payroll.
  • Update your sick and vacation pay prior to processing your first payroll.
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Inboxes and emails and tasks…Oh my!!

Working with several different clients means working with several different inboxes. More inboxes means more emails. More emails means more tasks to keep track of! Over time, I’ve learned how to make my inbox work for me and not against me.

My number one rule: I use my inbox as a to-do list and don’t let items pile up. I’ve heard several time management gurus talk about closing your inbox and only checking emails at specific times. I don’t believe in this. Members want answers and they want answers now. This doesn’t mean I constantly have my inbox open reading and responding to emails, it means that I monitor the subject lines as they pop up at the bottom of my screen. If it looks like something that A) I can easily respond to in under two minutes or B) needs immediate attention, I take care of it and then delete it. The remaining emails are on my “to-do” list, whether they are items that I need more time to take care of or those that just didn’t need an immediate response.

Secondly, “Waiting for Response” folders are lifesavers. If I’m sending an email that requires the person to respond as part of an important task, I blind copy myself. When it comes back to me, I drop it into my “Waiting for Response” folder for the appropriate client (to save a step, I could even set up a rule that says, “If I’m blind copied on an email that I send, go to this folder”). This way, I have one folder with everything that I am waiting on people for—much easier than searching through my sent/deleted items or trying to remember it all. It also keeps things out of my inbox/to-do list. When I’ve received a sufficient answer, I delete it from the folder. If something is hanging around in the folder for more than a few days, I know exactly who I need to follow up with.

To ensure that I don’t forget about items in my “Waiting for Response” folders, I change the settings so that it shows how many total messages are in the folder and not just how many are unread.

Lastly, Outlook inboxes have standard columns such as “From,” “Subject,” Received,” and “Categories.” For the items that are left in my actual inbox/to-do list, I add a column for “Notes” to keep track of the status of the task or important things I need to remember. For example, a board member might send me a lengthy email, but there is really only one task I need to complete. I call that task out in my “Notes” column rather than having to re-read the entire email to remember what it was.

These are just some of the tips I use to keep my inbox squeaky clean and manageable. What tricks do you use?

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