APME is heading to Music City Sept. 19-21. Will we see you there?

Our "Compose, Create and Connect ... in Nashville" conference agenda is packed with sessions that will send you back recharged. It all starts with a panel of Pulitzer Prize winners and a performance of Freedom Sings, and it will end with a day-long focus on social media -- what you need to know.


There will be useful takeaways from every session at the beautiful John Seigenthaler Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University. The entire agenda to date is posted on our web site along with the information you need to register.


http://www.apme.com/?page=2012Conference


And APME Nashville 2012 will be affordable. Registration is only $250 for APME members, and our rooms at the host Embassy Suites on Music Row are $139 as the conference rate.


Among our conference activities: The annual auction at the Frist Art Museum, and a country music night at Margaritaville in downtown Nashville.


Plan to attend and spend some extra time in Nashville, visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.


July is the perfect time to register and reserve your room. And anyone who pays the registration in July will receive an APME 2012 conference T-shirt, for pickup at the desk when you arrive in Nashville.


A great conference awaits. Join us in Music City.

Virgin Islands Daily News: "Our money, their failures”

From AP's weekly report on Watchdog Journalism
From The Virgin Islands Daily News reported that Gov. John deJongh Jr. is trying to push through a vast and vastly expensive sports tourism development that Government House claims will cost V.I. taxpayers $30 million but in fact would amount to $59 million over 30 years.
A six-week investigation by Daily News reporter Joy Blackburn into the people and the money connected to the project found that some of the off-island contractors the government wants to partner with have:
• Amassed a history of financial troubles, foreclosures and failures that cast doubt on their ability to provide funds for the project.
• Earned the distrust of stateside governments.
• Never started or worked on a project like the St. Croix project.
• Misrepresented credentials and connections.
http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/sports-complex-laid-to-rest-1.1334906

Watchdog Reporting: Columbus Dispatch: Columbus school district’s attendance data ‘not logical’

From AP's weekly report on Watchdog Journalism

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reports that while Columbus fifth-graders come to school nearly every day, roughly half of them can’t pass their math, reading and science exams. Linden-McKinley STEM Academy has had near-perfect attendance for the past three school years. But only 54 percent of Linden-McKinley students graduate, and fewer than 2 in 5 can pass the state science exam on the first try. If showing up is half the battle in helping students succeed, why aren’t more Columbus schools winning? It’s a question raised in the wake of allegations that Columbus schools retroactively alter students’ attendance data, which could affect their standing on the state-issued school report cards. Student attendance rates are among the benchmarks used to determine school and district quality.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/06/17/expert-columbus-school-districts-attendance-data-not-logical.html

Submit for 'Great Ideas' book by JULY 31!

    Your media organization has until July 31 to submit its work for APME’s 2012 “Great Ideas” book.

    What's a great idea? It can be a new concept for print or online, or a major improvement to something we do every day. This is a chance for your media organization to show off your work in the U.S. and Canada and help fellow managers by providing ideas that might work in their markets. APME is again focusing on watchdog stories -- big and small -- because of the difference they can make in the community, but other ideas will be accepted as well.

     It’s easy to submit and takes only a few minutes for you to do it.

    Our "Great Ideas website at http://www.apme.com/?page=GreatIdeasform allows you to submit entries and upload images that accompanies the “Great Idea.”

    If you have questions, contact David Arkin, GateHouse Media vice president of content & audience, at darkin@gatehousemedia.com.

    Work already submitted to the monthly "Great Ideas" and "Innovator" awards will be considered for the book.

 

Affordable Nashville

When it comes to affordability, our APME Nashville 2012 conference is shaping up to be a winner.

 

We hope you can join us Sept. 19-21. Here are the details:

 

http://www.apme.com/?page=2012Conference

 

Affordable, you ask? The registration is $250 for APME members, and hotel rooms at the Embassy Suites Vanderbilt are $139 per night. Add in that Nashville is within driving distance for many and you have affordability.

 

Hope you can join us and make a weekend out of it. There's the Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Honky Tonk Row and a Tennessee Titans game on Sunday afternoon if you can stay.

 

We'll see you there.

 

n  Bob Heisse