9

AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION

ABA JOURNAL

Informational Report to the House of Delegates

The Journal has had a number of successful accomplishments over past several months, enhancing its position as the top member benefit received by every member and providing even more value – to members and to the association.

Budget: Favorable Performance

The Journal finished the 2004-05 Fiscal Year with a favorable variance of $34,463 compared to budget. It is difficult and challenging work to project a budget when the amount companies are willing to spend on advertising is subject to fluctuation – and then stay within that budget (or do better than budget). It is particularly challenging when we recognize that we are producing one of the most important benefits our members will receive.

One of the truly bright spots is revenue generated from eReport, the Journal’s weekly electronic publication. We finished the year bringing in $273,520 in display advertising, over $100,000 more than we expected.

Production: Big Changes Handled Successfully

This summer the Journal underwent one of the biggest changes any publication can go through: We switched printers.

Despite the risk of a thousand things that could have gone wrong, the transition to Quebecor World went without a single incident. The change required new processes and shipping pages to a new state where a state-of-the-art plant handles the printing and mailing of the ABA Journal. The end result is more flexibility for advertisers and cost savings that we can re-invest to make the magazine a more robust member benefit.

Editorial: Innovation and Awards

News is no longer delivered simply by print publications such as magazines and newspapers. Younger Americans are more likely to turn to online publications for their information. The ABA Journal is already part of this trend with our weekly e-mail publication, the eReport. Our goal is to deliver helpful and interesting online content to our members to enhance the value we provide and to strengthen the relationship between the association and its members. One of the ways we are doing this is through “integrated media.” Integrated media (or “convergence” as it is sometimes called) allows us to present information using all our platforms – the monthly magazine, the weekly eReport and the web site.

The ABA Journal successfully delivered two integrated media projects during the last few months. The first was our “Court in Transition” package covering Sandra Day O’Connor’s announced retirement, William Rehnquist’s death, and the changes that followed. We had stories in several issues of the eReport, a collection of stories in the September and November issues of the magazine, and updates and an archive of stories on www.abajournal.com.

We also published an integrated media project on “Judicial Independence.” In one platform—the magazine—we published three features on:

·  The court cases that are making people mad.

·  A roundtable discussion of judicial independence issues with noted experts.

·  The struggle for judicial independence in Serbia.

On the second platform—the Web site—we published a “Web extra” featuring part of the roundtable discussion that was cut from the magazine article.

In the third platform—the eReport—we published:

·  Two “reporter’s notebook” stories on our reporter’s experiences in Serbia.

·  A report on an ABA Journal survey gauging the public’s attitude toward judicial independence.

As we take on more and more integrated media projects, we hope to engage more of our members and generate more advertising revenue.

The magazine has also won a number of awards – over 20 – during the past several months. A complete list of the recent awards is attached to the end of this report, but they include national awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors, a first place award from Trade Association and Business Publications International and Magnum Opus Awards from Publications Management.

New Success: Annual Meeting Daily Report

At the last Annual Meeting, the ABA Journal produced the first-ever electronic version of the Annual Meeting Daily Report. This allowed us to deliver valuable news and information about the Annual Meeting without the expense of paper, printing or distribution. In addition, because it was delivered by e-mail, the Annual Meeting Daily Report was available for the first time to any member of the ABA. This kind of sharing of information may be particularly useful for the upcoming meeting in Hawaii.

The Future: Opportunities to Leverage the Brand

The ABA Journal is perhaps one of the strongest brands within the ABA, with the Journal being one of the top five reasons members renew, and with members spending over 2 hours and 40 minutes with ABA Journal publications each month. With that kind of affinity for the ABA Journal, there are opportunities to leverage the brand in order to give even more value to members. The Journal staff and Board of Editors continue to explore ideas to make sure we are working to strengthen the relationship between our members and the association.

Recent Awards for the ABA Journal

American Society of Business Publication Editors

National Awards

• Stephen Barr Award, for best writing by an individual among all editorial categories, John Gibeaut, for his February 2004 feature,“The Good Fight Gets Harder,” and his March 2004 feature, “Opening Sentences.”

• First place gold award, Jason Krause, for his January 2004 feature, “The Education of Larry Lessig,” and John Gibeaut, for his February 2004 feature, “The Good Fight Gets Harder,” and his March 2004 feature, “Opening Sentences,” in the category of government coverage.

• Second place silver award, Reginald Davis and the Journal eReport staff, for the ABA Journal eReport, in the category of E-Newsletter.

• Second place silver award, James McElhaney, for “Litigation,” in the category of regular column, contributed.

• Second place silver award, Bob Fernandez and the design staff for the March 2004 cover, “Casting for Clients,” in the category of front-cover photo.

Regional Awards

• First place gold award, Richard Brust and the ABA Journal staff, for “National Pulse,” in the category of news section.

• Second place silver award, Jason Krause, for his January 2004 feature, “The Education of Larry Lessig,” in the category of individual profile.

• First place gold award, Jill Schachner Chanen, for her July 2004 feature, “The Changing Face of Gay Legal Issues,” in the category of news analysis.

• First place gold award, Mark Hansen, for his September 2004 feature, "Bullet Proof," in the category of feature article.

• Second place silver award, Bob Fernandez and the design staff for the July 2004 opening spread in “Where’s the Brief?” in the category of opening spread.

Trade Association and Business Publications International

• First place gold award, James McElhaney, for “Litigation,” in the category of regular column.

Apex Awards, sponsored by Writing that Works

• Apex Grand Award, Mark Hansen, for his feature “DNA Dragnet,” in the category of writing, nonprofit.

• Apex Award, Reginald Davis and the eReport staff, in the category of newsletters, e-mail.

• Apex Award, Danial Kim and the ABA Journal staff, in the category of magazines and journals, printed four colors.

• Apex Award, Margaret Graham Tebo, for her March 2004 feature “Children Without a Country,” in the category of feature writing.

• Apex Award, Richard Brust, Wendell LaGrand, Molly McDonough and Margaret Graham Tebo, for the April 2004 feature series “Brown at 50,” in the category of feature series, writing.

• Apex Award, Steven Keeva, for his column “Keeva on Life and Practice,” in the category of columns and editorials.

• Apex Award, James Podgers, in the category of best rewrites.

• Apex Award, Robert Fernandez and the design staff, for the March 2004 editions, in the category of design and layout.

• Apex Award, Robert Fernandez and the design staff, for the June 2004 editions, in the category of design and layout.

Magnum Opus Awards, sponsored by Publications Management

• Silver award to Mark Hansen, for his feature “DNA Dragnet,” in the category of feature article.

• Silver award to Richard Brust, Wendell LaGrand, Molly McDonough and Margaret Graham Tebo, for the April 2004 feature series “Brown at 50,” in the category of series of articles.

• Silver award to Robert Fernandez and the design staff, for “MD With a Mission,” in the category of feature design.

• Honorable mention to James Podgers, for “Who is the Client,” for best rewrite.

Lisagor Awards, sponsored by the Chicago Headline Club

We won no awards, but we had a finalist in one category.

• Jason Krause, for his May 2004 feature, “Towering Titans,” in the category of news column or essay.

February 2006

3