| | 
Berendzen | 
Blair | 
Boogert | 
Ferguson-Rohrer | | Climbingon board Voterschose two newcomers, one incumbent
and one previous board member
for seats on the ACES Executive Committee | Two familiarfaces and two new ones have been elected to two-year terms onthe ACES Executive Committee.
Eight candidates ran for four seats on the board. Ballotingended March 13, and the results were announced Thursday, April20, during the opening general session of the ACES national conferencein Cleveland.
Incumbent Sue Blair, retired copy chief of TIME magazine, wasre-elected. Anne Ferguson-Rohrer, a former ACES secretary andvice president/membership who served on the board from 1999 to2003, will rejoin the Executive Committee. She is Metro copy chief at The Washington Post.
The newcomers are Gerri Berendzen, copy desk chief at the Herald-Whigin Quincy, Ill., and John Boogert, news editor of the Rocky MountainNews in Denver.
The other 11 seats will be up for election in 2007, and severalof those terms will be for three years to help better balancethe number of terms that expire each year.
Members of the Executive Committee shape the policy of the societyand take on responsibility for projects and routine tasks.
Anyone interested in running for the committee can contact ACESSecretary Jeff Pierron at jpierron@ee.net for more information.
Profiles of the 2006 election winners
(Note: Some candidates were nominated by themselves, some byother ACES members. Responses are presented in the third personexcept for some segments in quotation marks, which are the wordsof the candidate.)
Gerri Berendzen
CURRENT JOB: Copy desk chief at Quincy (Ill.) Herald-Whig,a 25,000-circulation daily newspaper. Supervises universal editing/designdesk of eight people. Responsible for staff development.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: As an ACES member since 2002,Gerri has attended national conferences in Chicago, Houston andHollywood. She was on a small-newspapers panel in Chicago anda co-presenter of a small-newspapers session in Hollywood. She serves onthe steering committee for ACES Midwest and has written for the newsletterand Web site.
QUALIFICATIONS: As an editor for a small newspaper ina rural area, Gerri represents a segment of the copy editingpopulation not now represented on the ACES board. She has beendedicated to promoting the position of the small- to midsize-paper copyeditor in ACES.
VISION FOR ACES: Gerri wants to make ACES a better valuefor editors who have to pay their own way. Training opportunitieshave increased with regional chapters, but there’s still moreto be done. Efforts that reach out to copy editors in underserved regionsand those at small to midsize newspapers will help the organization grow. So will addressing copy editing concerns beyond the traditionalrim and slot, such as Web editing and non-newspaper editing.
Susan Blair
CURRENT JOB: Sue retired as copy chief of TIME in 2001 andhas nearly finished revising the TIME style manual. She editsand publishes a family-association newsletter.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: Sue was one of the first non-newspapereditors to join ACES. She has worked to broaden the issues addressedby the organization to include the concerns of editors workingin all media and has recruited members from magazines. She hasattended every ACES conference, participated in various panels and contributed to the newsletter.
QUALIFICATIONS: Thirty years on the TIME copy desk madeSue keenly aware of the concerns of both copy editors and deskmanagers. Having a non-newspaper representative on the executivecommittee indicates to potential members that ACES is inclusive andwants to improve the lives and livelihoods of those working in all media.
VISION FOR ACES: In the current economic climate, copyeditors face threats to their job security and the quality oftheir work. She believes that through the national conference,regional conferences and the newsletter, ACES is the best resource tohelp them improve their skills and develop the ability to be leaders andtheir own best advocates at their publications. Significant membershipgrowth is vital to providing the stable financial base ACES needsto continue to provide such programs.
John Boogert
CURRENT JOB: News editor, Rocky Mountain News in Denver.Supervises about 40 full- and part-time copy editors on presentationteam. Oversees newsroom operations at night.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: John enthusiastically attendedthe 2004 Houston conference. At the 2005 Hollywood conference,he co-presented the “Recipes for Success” session, assisted withthe silent auction, performed clerical duties and worked in merchandise sales.He also has been active in the proposal and early planning for the 2008 Denver conference.
QUALIFICATIONS: John has 27 years of daily newspaperexperience — from large to small — and endless energy. He’s spentvirtually all his career as a copy editor or supervisor of copyeditors. Nothing is impossible in John’s eyes, and he’s not bashfulwhen it comes to spreading the gospel of ACES.
VISION FOR ACES: John will champion the role of copyeditors in the evolving world of newspapers. The industry ischanging, and our talents are vital to its survival. Our jobsmust evolve with the industry, and ACES is the perfect vehicle. We can, andmust, keep our seat at the table. We must escalate chapter building; boostand retain membership; raise our flag higher in colleges andhigh schools; expand diversity efforts; and fine-tune and expandtraining.
Anne Ferguson-Rohrer
CURRENT JOB: Copy desk chief, Metro, The Washington Post.Supervises largest copy desk in newsroom (26 full-timers, 6 to8 part-timers); acts as one of two unofficial deputies to AMEfor copy desks; mentors two copy editors.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: Anne was a dynamic board memberduring her previous tenure (1999-2003). Her energy, ability togenerate new ideas and organization skills were critical in shapingACES during its formative years, when she served as secretary. Shehas co-presented workshops at two ACES conferences and has assisted in running the conference on-site in each of the seven years she has attended.
QUALIFICATIONS: Anne has a long history with ACES, goingback to the first conference. She knows the organization fromthe ground up, yet will bring a fresh eye to projects. Her dedicationto the organization has inspired others to join ACES and, inturn, run for the board. Anne has a tremendous ability to provide direction and turn those around her into leaders; she thrives behind thescenes.
VISION FOR ACES: “Two crucial areas to ACES’s growthand success are the continued establishment of regional chaptersand intensified expansion of its fundraising operations. Specific,related goals include creating yet more training opportunities, particularly for colleagues at smaller publications; more benefits for members(tangible — building on existing contests and discount arrangementswith other groups — and intangible — strengthening professionalnetworking, fostering a mentoring network); and cultivating strategiesto raise copy editors’ status in the media universe, to push supervisors ona local level to regularly and publicly reward copy editors and to encouragefurther diversity within ACES and on copy desks everywhere.” | | | 2006-2007
ACES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (Terms of those elected thisyear begin May 22, 2006.)
OFFICERS
President
Chris Wienandt, Dallas Morning News
Vice President/Membership
Zoe Cabaniss Friloux, Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
Vice President/Conferences
Deirdre Goebel Edgar, Portland Oregonian
Secretary
Jeff Pierron, The Columbus Dispatch
Treasurer
Neil Holdway, Daily Herald, suburban Chicago
BOARDMEMBERS
Gerri Berendzen, Quincy (Ill.)Herald-Whig Sue Blair, TIME magazine(retired)
John Boogert, Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
William G. Connolly, The New York Times (retired)
Paula Devlin, New Orleans Times-Picayune
Anne Ferguson-Rohrer, The Washington Post Melissa McCoy, Los AngelesTimes
Teresa Schmedding, Daily Herald, suburban Chicago
David Sullivan, Philadelphia Inquirer Scott Toole, Easton (Pa.)Express-Times
All terms expire in 2007 except for Berendzen, Blair, Boogertand Ferguson-Rohrer, whose terms expire in 2008.
Click herefor contact information for the current committee. | |
