Thank you to those who attended, and sent staff members to attend, our 2012 Super Conference at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. The meeting was well received, and our presenters provided information that was helpful to the growth of our business. I hope you enjoy the thorough coverage of our conference provided in this newsletter.

2012 Sales Managers’ Conference

Our next meeting, to be held June 10-12, 2012, at the Inn on the Lake in Canandaigua, is for publishers and sales managers, and will focus on the sales management side of our business. We will keep the attendees busy for two morning educational sessions and entertained for the remainder of the time. We will repeat a big hit from our publishers meeting in the fall of 2010 when we attended cooking lessons at the New York Wine & Culinary Center. During this meeting, we will spend two and a half hours learning proper cooking techniques, culminating in a dinner where we will enjoy the fruits of our labor. There is abundant information about the meeting in this newsletter. Please join us for a learning experience in which you will find great value at a location you will never forget.

2012 Publishers’ Conference

In September 2012, we will invite our publishers to join us at the beautiful village of Lake Placid for our annual Publishers’ Conference. Early plans include a Friday night buffet on a private island in the middle of Lake Placid overlooking the shore with the High Peaks in the background. This is a gorgeous facility that you owe yourself to experience. During the coming months, we will be surveying our membership to determine the content of the educational seminars as we cater a program around your needs and interests. More on this meeting will be forthcoming.

During the September Publishers’ Conference, we will have our bi-annual change of leadership, as well as our full membership annual meeting. Vacancies on the board of directors will be voted on, and a new slate of officers will be approved for the next two years. If you have an interest in any of our leadership positions, please express this to any of our board members, or give me a call at the association office.

A New Partnership

Education is a two-way street, and FCPNY has forged a partnership with the New York State Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection to provide information that will safeguard consumers. We are asking our publishers to provide space in your publications on an “as-available” basis to promote this consumer information provided by the Division of Consumer Protection. During the first week of each month, news columns will be distributed by the FCPNY office. We ask that you please find space for these articles sometime during the following four weeks in an issue that has the space required for the article. These articles contain information that will safeguard our readers from fraud, save them money or simply make them wiser in the marketplace. This program is good for our readers, but it also serves an important purpose for FCPNY members. Many of the issues that arise in the state Legislature that impact free community papers are passed through the Division of Consumer Protection before they end up in the House or Senate for deliberation. Our partnership with the Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection provides important support for the role the Division is responsible for, and provides an open line of communication for issues related to consumers, commerce and free community publications.

Let us know!

There is a great deal of activity in your FCPNY association office. Please let us know if you are interested in sitting on an existing committee or if you have a need for which we can provide assistance. We are here to serve the membership, and your opinions and input are essential to us. I hope the emerging spring weather brings with it a renewed sense of confidence in your base of customers… and a healthy increase in your advertising revenues.