Speakers We have a great line-up of speakers so plan now on attending the 2012 conference in NEW ORLENS! We offer valuable seminars, open forums, a vendor showcase, Awards banquet, design contests, luxurious settings, and plenty of entertainment. Typical seminar topics include: sales, motivation, classified ad program development, ad layout & design, and how to generate new revenue. KEVIN SLIMP Kevin Slimp is remembered by most people for his work leading up to the development of the PDF Remote Printing Method in the early and mid 1990s. In 1997, Kevin accepted the position of director of the Institute of Newspaper Technology, a continuing education program for newspaper publishers, designers and technical gurus located on campus at the University of Tennessee. Since 1994, Kevin has spoken at hundreds of newspaper conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada. In addition to his work in North America, Kevin has been asked to direct a program in Eastern Europe this summer in commemoration of the rise of free press twenty years ago. In 2006, Kevin founded BrainCast, an online training program for newspaper staffs. His syndicated column is carried by more than 60 industry publications in the U.S., Canada, Asia and Australia. He serves as Adjunct Professor in the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee. In addition to his work in the U.S. and Canada, Kevin has been invited to keynote a celebration commemorating the 20th anniversary of the free press in Eastern Europe in November. His Web site, kevinslimp.com, receives more than 40,000 unique visitors each month. DR JOEY FAUCETTE Dr. Joey Faucette For over 25 years now, professional speaker, coach, and author, Dr. Joey Faucette has stimulated and coached individuals and organizations to listen to life and make a positive life, not just a living, in this negative world by redefining their reality and making their dreams come true. The author of four books, Dr. Joey is completing his fifth book, to be published by Entrepreneur Media and available in time for our meeting, Work Positive: How to Work Positive in a Negative World. His website, www.ListentoLife.org, features daily, positive stories which are read and heard by people in over 50 countries. His Positive Marketing Resources such as his syndicated radio show, newspaper column, and on-hold phone messaging are used by business owners and executives across the country. He coaches owners, executives, and their teams and speaks to Associations annually. His workshops and seminars are in demand nationally. Dr. Joey first began writing for newspapers as a high school student in his local hometown paper. His credits include over 400 articles in papers and magazines internationally, including op-ed pieces for large circulation papers like The Charlotte Observer. While at our conference, you can sign up to carry Dr. Joey s syndicated column at no charge. Dr. Joey is married to his college sweetheart with whom he has two daughters, one of whom is an assistant editor with the American Cancer Society in Atlanta and the other is a college student studying to become a physical therapist. He and his wife live on a horse farm in southern Virginia with their five yellow Labs. Dr. Joey will lead us in discovering how we can Work Positive: How to Work Positive in a Negative World. MIKE BLINDER Mike Blinder started fresh out of college as a disc jockey growing as an industry respected Program Director for various radio stations across the US. At this time Mike made quite a name for himself in front of the microphone being seen regularly on Public Television, as well as a host for a syndicated weekly radio interview program. Mike later went behind the cameras and microphones to enter the advertising sales side of the business, rising rapidly to senior manager positions at TV and radio stations across the US. It was in the early 90s that he began to work for media companies managing online sales initiatives. It was his great success in creating multimedia sales strategies that created a demand for Mike s services to consult others world wide on their offerings. Newspaper groups, radio and TV stations, even SAP software and CitiBank, have hired Mike in the past to assist them in planning effective sales strategies of their multimedia offerings. Today over 350 media companies world-wide are clients of Mike s company: The Blinder Group, a Florida-based firm that assists in maximizing sales for their clients, through effective sales training/revenue generation programs. Gannett, Media General, CanWest, Quebecor, Canda s Globe and Mail, The New York Times Company, New Deli s Hindu Times, United Kingdom s Northcliffe Newspapers and even Bogota s El Tiempo are just a few of the companies that avail themselves of Mike and his team of Street Fighting multimedia specialists, who are experts at training traditional sales people on how to embrace new concepts in selling media. One of Mike s mottos is train in the car as well as the classroom, which means that Mike s company has made tens of thousands of sales calls on small, medium and large advertisers in a 4-legged sales call setting with traditional ad reps, closing tens of millions of dollars of new business for client media companies all over the world! Mike s new book: Survival Selling, Even in the Toughest Times has achieved wide acclaim as a must read guide to what it takes to win in sales during challenging economic conditions. In the book, Mike Blinder reviews the fundamentals of sales and shows how essential a B2B (back-to-basics) approach is to B2B (business-to-business) sales, even in a down economy! Mike currently resides in Tampa Bay, Florida, with his wife Robin, 5-year-old daughter Haven, and family cat, Autumn. He is an avid boater, living on the gulf so he can enjoy his passion year-round. BILL BOWMAN Bill Bowman became a newspaper publisher in 1996 without any previous experience in the newspaper industry. He left a successful, nine-year career with Pitney Bowes Corp. to start his community s first weekly newspaper, Up & Coming Weekly. He credits his success with having enough sense to hire intelligent, enthusiastic and hard-working people. Two years after starting Up & Coming Weekly, Bowman created a unique and effective literacy and education program for young children his community. Today, Kidsville News! and his free children s newspaper program is enjoying its ninth year. During the past 18 months he has shared this concept with 62 other publishers nationwide, making it one of the fastest growing and largest literacy programs in the county with a circulation of 715,000. He currently serves as director on several local, state and national boards. Bill was the 2005 board chairman of Cumberland County United Way and is currently serving on the boards of the North Carolina Press Association, Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association (SAPA) and the United Way. He is a past board member of the Independent Free Papers of America (IFPA), the incoming president of SAPA, and serving his second year as a member of The Leadership Institute. Bowman and his wife, Merrilyn, have a grown son, Grady. A lifelong singer, dancer and actor, Grady s big break came when at the age of nine, he landed a role in the now classic Tom Hanks film, Forrest Gump. Grady headed for the bright lights of Broadway in March appearing in Broadway s newest musical, The Pirate Queen. A charter member of AFCP s Black Sheep, Bowman enjoys riding his pearl white Harley Davidson motorcycle across country. The longer the trip, the better. He is also a nationally-ranked billiards player. JIM BUSCH Jim Busch attended the University of Pittsburgh earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. After graduation in 1974, He worked at a number of sales and management positions in several industries. In 1983 Jim began his advertising career as a sales representative with Donnelley Directory, the yellow pages division of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. During his 12 year tenure with Donnelley he earned six promotions and worked in a number of sales, sales management and training positions winning numerous local, regional and national sales awards. At Donnelley he was exposed to a wide range of corporate training programs and was selected to be part of the marketing team that developed and executed the first proprietary directory project in company history. In 1995 Jim joined the Pennysaver as the telephone sales manager. In addition to managing the telephone operation, he has served as a District Sales Manager on several occasions and as the Gateway Newspaper Telephone Sales Manager. In 2001 Jim was promoted to Director of Research and Training, a position he believes to be vital to the success of the Pennysaver corporate mission and personally gratifying. Jim s greatest strengths are his creative problem solving skills and the ability to motivate others by building their skill set and confidence. His dedication to life long learning serves him well in his current position and he has made it his personal goal to create a learning culture at the Pennysaver. Jim lives in White Oak, Pennsylvania with my wife Glenda. Jim & Glenda are the parents of two grown children and have one very spoiled grandson