Bosley tells why ASNE cancelled convention

Here's the word from BJ alum Scott Bosley via Joe Strupp at E&P:

The decision to cancel the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention, slated for next month in Chicago, will cost the editors' association at least several thousand dollars in deposit fees, according to Executive Director Scott Bosley.

He also said it is the first time the convention has been canceled since 1945 when the final year of World War II sparked a shutdown. The conventions have been held annually otherwise since 1923.

Bosley says the cancellation is not a sign that the journalism organization is in any fiscal trouble. "We are fairly steady financially," Bosley told E&P. "We are not flush, we have suffered along with the industry. We are always working to redefine what we can do for editors."

He said the convention, which would have been held at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago April 26-29, was simply not going to generate the kind of attendance it needed to be worthwhile.

"It really was based on the decision that a good number of top editors just could not come, and partly because they did not want to leave their newsrooms at this time," Bosley said. "We had a convention that we felt was really good and it was ready, but if enough people did not come, it would not have been worth it."

Bosley said President Barack Obama had been invited, but had not yet committed; the same with Gen. David Petraeus. Among those who had confirmed was broadcaster and syndicated columnist Garrison Keillor.

Bosley said, due to the ongoing financial problems in the industry, the convention was slated to have more workshop-type events and fewer general sessions. The focus was to be on four tracks: online, leadership, reinventing print, and small newspapers.

"It was an unusually busy schedule," he said. "It is not an easy thing for us to do, to cancel. It will cost us. You have guarantees at the hotels and things we have to negotiate our way through and we do not know if we will suffer a large penalty or not."

Bosley had no estimates on the amount of money ASNE will lose, but said it is at least "several thousand dollars." He also said the conventions usually provide a small source of revenue, but did not have specific amounts from past conventions.

Despite the lack of a convention, ASNE members will still vote on a board of directors and the organization will change presidents in April, with current president Charlotte Hall of The Orlando Sentinel stepping down, replaced by Martin Kaiser of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The organization also will vote on a name change from American Society of Newspaper Editors to American Society of News Editors: "That will broaden the potential base for membership."