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Berendzen
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Blair
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Boogert
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Ferguson-Rohrer
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Climbing
on board
Voters
chose two newcomers, one incumbent
and one previous board member
for seats on the ACES Executive Committee
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Two familiar
faces and two new ones have been elected to two-year terms on
the ACES Executive Committee.
Eight candidates ran for four seats on the board. Balloting
ended March 13, and the results were announced Thursday, April
20, during the opening general session of the ACES national conference
in Cleveland.
Incumbent Sue Blair, retired copy chief of TIME magazine, was
re-elected. Anne Ferguson-Rohrer, a former ACES secretary and
vice president/membership who served on the board from 1999 to
2003, 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-Whig
in Quincy, Ill., and John Boogert, news editor of the Rocky Mountain
News in Denver.
The other 11 seats will be up for election in 2007, and several
of those terms will be for three years to help better balance
the number of terms that expire each year.
Members of the Executive Committee shape the policy of the society
and take on responsibility for projects and routine tasks.
Anyone interested in running for the committee can contact ACES
Secretary Jeff Pierron at jpierron@ee.net for more information.
Profiles of the 2006 election winners
(Note: Some candidates were nominated by themselves, some by
other ACES members. Responses are presented in the third person
except for some segments in quotation marks, which are the words
of the candidate.)
Gerri Berendzen
CURRENT JOB: Copy desk chief at Quincy (Ill.) Herald-Whig,
a 25,000-circulation daily newspaper. Supervises universal editing/design
desk of eight people. Responsible for staff development.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: As an ACES member since 2002,
Gerri has attended national conferences in Chicago, Houston and
Hollywood. She was on a small-newspapers panel in Chicago and
a co-presenter of a small-newspapers session in Hollywood. She serves on
the steering committee for ACES Midwest and has written for the newsletter
and Web site.
QUALIFICATIONS: As an editor for a small newspaper in
a rural area, Gerri represents a segment of the copy editing
population not now represented on the ACES board. She has been
dedicated to promoting the position of the small- to midsize-paper copy
editor in ACES.
VISION FOR ACES: Gerri wants to make ACES a better value
for editors who have to pay their own way. Training opportunities
have increased with regional chapters, but there’s still more
to be done. Efforts that reach out to copy editors in underserved regions
and those at small to midsize newspapers will help the organization grow.
So will addressing copy editing concerns beyond the traditional
rim and slot, such as Web editing and non-newspaper editing.
Susan Blair
CURRENT JOB: Sue retired as copy chief of TIME in 2001 and
has nearly finished revising the TIME style manual. She edits
and publishes a family-association newsletter.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: Sue was one of the first non-newspaper
editors to join ACES. She has worked to broaden the issues addressed
by the organization to include the concerns of editors working
in all media and has recruited members from magazines. She has
attended every ACES conference, participated in various panels and contributed
to the newsletter.
QUALIFICATIONS: Thirty years on the TIME copy desk made
Sue keenly aware of the concerns of both copy editors and desk
managers. Having a non-newspaper representative on the executive
committee indicates to potential members that ACES is inclusive and
wants to improve the lives and livelihoods of those working in all media.
VISION FOR ACES: In the current economic climate, copy
editors face threats to their job security and the quality of
their work. She believes that through the national conference,
regional conferences and the newsletter, ACES is the best resource to
help them improve their skills and develop the ability to be leaders and
their own best advocates at their publications. Significant membership
growth is vital to providing the stable financial base ACES needs
to 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 presentation
team. Oversees newsroom operations at night.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: John enthusiastically attended
the 2004 Houston conference. At the 2005 Hollywood conference,
he co-presented the “Recipes for Success” session, assisted with
the 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 newspaper
experience — from large to small — and endless energy. He’s spent
virtually all his career as a copy editor or supervisor of copy
editors. Nothing is impossible in John’s eyes, and he’s not bashful
when it comes to spreading the gospel of ACES.
VISION FOR ACES: John will champion the role of copy
editors in the evolving world of newspapers. The industry is
changing, and our talents are vital to its survival. Our jobs
must evolve with the industry, and ACES is the perfect vehicle. We can, and
must, keep our seat at the table. We must escalate chapter building; boost
and retain membership; raise our flag higher in colleges and
high schools; expand diversity efforts; and fine-tune and expand
training.
Anne Ferguson-Rohrer
CURRENT JOB: Copy desk chief, Metro, The Washington Post.
Supervises largest copy desk in newsroom (26 full-timers, 6 to
8 part-timers); acts as one of two unofficial deputies to AME
for copy desks; mentors two copy editors.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ACES: Anne was a dynamic board member
during her previous tenure (1999-2003). Her energy, ability to
generate new ideas and organization skills were critical in shaping
ACES during its formative years, when she served as secretary. She
has 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, going
back to the first conference. She knows the organization from
the ground up, yet will bring a fresh eye to projects. Her dedication
to the organization has inspired others to join ACES and, in
turn, run for the board. Anne has a tremendous ability to provide direction
and turn those around her into leaders; she thrives behind the
scenes.
VISION FOR ACES: “Two crucial areas to ACES’s growth
and success are the continued establishment of regional chapters
and 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 arrangements
with other groups — and intangible — strengthening professional
networking, fostering a mentoring network); and cultivating strategies
to raise copy editors’ status in the media universe, to push supervisors on
a local level to regularly and publicly reward copy editors and to encourage
further diversity within ACES and on copy desks everywhere.” |
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2006-2007
ACES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
(Terms of those elected this
year 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
BOARD
MEMBERS
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 Angeles
Times
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, Boogert
and Ferguson-Rohrer, whose terms expire in 2008.
Click here
for contact information for the current committee.
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