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NAA/AAM Circulation Subcommittee's Guide to U.S. Newspaper Digital Editions
- Introduction
- AAM Rules
- Qualification and Reporting
- For the Audit
- Case Studies
- Digital Do's & Don'ts
- Industry Q&A
- Resources and Contacts
- Conclusion
Making the Digital Transition Smoother—And Making it Count
Jeff Hartley, Editor, NAA/AAM Circulation Subcommittee Guide to Digital Editions
In the past few years, the newspaper industry has been transitioning and finding new ways to reach its audience. And consequently, AAM rules have been changing just as quickly. With a broad set of rule changes that went into effect in October 2010 and a few more changes for digital editions set to take effect in October 2011, the NAA/AAM Circulation Subcommittee decided to create a series of all-encompassing guides to explain the rules for newspapers, by newspaper colleagues.
Welcome to part one of the series, which will explain what you need to know about digital editions before the new rules take effect on Oct. 1, 2011.
Digital is a topic that's dear to me as circulation director at The Augusta Chronicle and as the vice president of circulation for Morris Publishing Group. I started as a circulation director and have spent my career trying to figure out how to count everything of value—to our readers, advertisers and the future of our company.
And digital, without a doubt, is something of value.
Morris is aggressive in the digital space. From iPad editions to metered subscription systems, we have our hands in a lot of things and continually focus on new products to get our arms around.
I think that's the story at a lot of newspapers, so my goal for this guide is to clarify the things you need to know about preparing your digital editions now and the things you'll need to be aware of moving forward. And we'll also get into some of the details along the way, like how to properly charge for and count your products.
The first section of this guide addresses qualifications and reporting of your digital programs for AAM. We present AAM rule interpretations, break down each reporting category with examples, and detail the records needed to qualify the types of digital circulation.
Then, we move to the real-world examples of newspapers that are tackling the digital transition. Many of the newspapers we talked with—both metro and community—actually have similar programs that use incremental pricing and work with a vendor to gather the data needed for AAM purposes. But each paper has a unique story, and perhaps sharing their ideas will help spark a chain of creativity at your newspaper.
The last section includes quick resources for you to refer to anytime—a list of do's and don'ts, a Q&A with NAA Audience Development Director John Murray, and a list of links and contacts if you need one-to-one advice.
On behalf of the NAA/AAM Circulation Subcommittee Communications team, I thank you for reading this guide and hope you find it helpful. If you have questions about anything included in this guide or just want to talk to another newspaper about making the digital transition, please contact any of the sources listed here.
Jeff Hartley is VP of circulation for Morris Publishing Group and circulation director at The Augusta Chronicle. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffreylhartley.
AAM Rules
Let's kick off this digital edition guide by reviewing one of the biggest influencers of the digital edition programs you are designing: AAM rules. When developing your digital programs, there are three AAM rules you should know and reference:
- C 2.4 Separate Editions
- C 1.1 Paid Circulation Defined
- C 5.10 Subscriptions Involving Digital Editions
Instead of republishing each rule in its entirety, we've provided links to them. This is not an all-inclusive list of AAM rules that may impact the qualification of your digital editions program, but these are some of the key rules we think you should keep handy.
Let's review each of these rules and what they mean for you.
C 2.4 Separate Editions
(View this rule in its entirety)
This is the AAM rule that governs the separate editions of your newspaper, including branded editions and digital editions.
For digital editions, the rule explains that digital circulation is reported separately from print circulation throughout AAM reports. It also clearly states that public access websites do not qualify as either digital paid or verified circulation.
Tip: AAM's Publisher Relations managers offer free, confidential reviews of your digital edition. They are also available to answer any questions you may have about AAM rules and guidelines.
This rule also notes the differences between a replica and nonreplica digital edition. A replica must be consistent in content with the print edition, although it may include updated news reporting. Typically, a replica edition is an exact copy of the print newspaper with all editorial and ROP advertising, although the rule allows some leeway in this area. The most common example of a replica digital edition is a digital reproduction of the print edition. In the March 2011 Newspaper Snapshot report, 450 newspapers reported a replica digital edition, far more than nonreplica editions.
Tip: More examples of digital replica and nonreplica editions are presented in the Qualification and Reporting section.
Nonreplica editions must be consistent in character and editorially homogenous with the print edition, but do not need to include the same advertising or any advertising at all. Some good examples of AAM-approved nonreplica digital editions are the Wall Street Journal's paid access website and any e-reader editions of newspapers without advertising. For comparison, only 57 newspapers reported digital nonreplica circulation in the March 2011 Newspaper Snapshot report.
C 1.1 Paid Circulation Defined
(View this rule in its entirety)
The paid circulation rule is one of the most important in AAM's rulebook. In the post-October 2010 U.S. newspaper-reporting world, it defines what circulation will qualify as paid, leaving any other copies for the verified or nonpaid circulation categories.
Here are some of the key highlights of Rule C 1.1 Paid Circulation Defined:
- Subscriptions and single copies must be purchased by the individual recipient.
- All subscriptions and single copies must be purchased for at least one cent.
- The price paid by the reader must be net of all consideration. This means that the consumer must pay at least one cent more than the value of any goods or services packaged with your newspaper.
C 5.10 Subscriptions Involving Digital Editions
(View this rule in its entirety)
Rule C 5.10 Subscriptions Involving Digital Editions is the new AAM rule that governs all digital editions. This rule has undergone several revisions in the last couple of years and its most recent form will become effective on Oct. 1, 2011.
This rule is hefty and covers a lot of AAM territory, so let's break it down and make it more manageable.
Incremental Pricing vs. Flat Pricing
The most important section of the rule involves pricing and it is very detailed. The main focus is whether or not newspapers charge an incremental amount for each additional digital platform in a package.
Tip: Most newspapers are launching incrementally priced programs. You can read some of their real-world experiences in our case study section.
If you choose to use incremental pricing in your digital offer, here's what you need to know:
- In an offer that includes both print and digital platforms, the print product is always the primary platform. If the offer only includes digital products, you get to choose which one is the primary platform.
- The qualifying price for any secondary digital products in the offer is at least five percent of the print product or primary digital product.
- You must present the consumer with the option of purchasing a print-only subscription or a single digital product subscription for less than the bundled price.
If you choose to build a digital program that is only available for a flat rate, here is what you need to know:
Tip: Want to know what kind of information you'll need to have available for your next audit? Review our For the Audit section.
- The subscriber must register and activate the account with a user name and password.
- If the offer does not include a print newspaper, you may select the digital product that will qualify as your primary platform.
- You may also select which of the digital products must meet the first (monthly), second (weekly) and third (daily) qualification requirements. Your selections may differ by subscriber and also from month-to-month.
- The subscriber must access the "first" digital product at least once every 30 days; the "second" digital product at least once every week and the "third" (and any subsequent) digital products daily.
- It is your responsibility to design and maintain a recordkeeping system that can support these requirements and make the information available for the audit.
Digital Editions and Verified Circulation
There are four types of digital circulation that may be counted as verified:
Tip: Rule C 3.3 Other Verified Distribution has more information on qualifying your digital verified copies. You can also read the Qualification and Reporting section of this guide.
- Educational Copies – Digital copies used by teachers in a classroom setting or copies accessed by college students.
- Employee Copies – Digital copies used by employees of the newspaper.
- Retail/Business – Limited to library copies. Digital access to other public places, such as hospitals, hotels, restaurants or doctors' offices do not qualify.
- Subscriptions - Digital copies delivered to targeted consumers. The recipient must register and activate the account for any circulation to qualify as verified and access at least once every 30 days.
Other Key Items
There are a few other items in Rule C 5.10 Subscriptions Involving Digital Editions that are worth mentioning:
- Your digital offer should have a definitive term. If it does not have a definitive term, the circulation will only qualify as paid for 30 days. Beyond 30 days, you will need to meet the requirements for verified circulation, including register, activate and access.
- If your program does not feature incremental pricing, you cannot offer other goods or services to encourage subscribers to access your digital edition.
In our next section, "AAM Qualification and Reporting," we'll dive deeper into each type of digital circulation reporting category, where it appears on the statement and qualifications for each category. We'll also provide a few examples of acceptable offers.
Qualification and Reporting
From websites to e-readers and smartphones, newspapers have a variety of platforms to choose from when deciding how to make their digital editions available to readers. There are also many ways to market print and digital packages to consumers and have them count for AAM purposes.
In this section, we'll go deeper into some of those options. We're going to break down each type of digital edition category, explain the necessary qualifications and present some examples of acceptable offers.
Definition of a Digital Edition
To include a digital edition as circulation on AAM reports, it must:
- Have its access restricted (a public-access website does not qualify)
- Be consistent in character with the print edition
- Be compliant with Rule C 2.4 Separate Editions, which explains some of the necessary conditions to include separate editions in the newspaper's total average circulation
Types of Digital Editions
There are two types of digital editions reported for AAM—replica and nonreplica. Replica and nonreplica editions can be viewed on a range of devices, from desktop computers to mobile devices.
Digital Replica Editions
A digital replica edition is basically a digital reproduction of the print edition. Replicas have the same editorial, advertising and layout as the print edition, although FSI advertising may be excluded. Replica digital editions may include updated news content and additional advertising.
- A PDF of the morning newspaper viewed on a PC
- A tablet app that lets you flip through a digital reproduction of the newspaper
Digital Nonreplica Editions
A digital nonreplica edition has similar character as the print edition, but advertising and the layout may differ.
- A smartphone app that includes shortened versions of the stories in the print newspaper
- A version of the newspaper with no advertising available for an e-reader
Where Digital Editions Are Reported
Digital editions are broken out by replica and nonreplica on Newspaper Snapshot, publisher's statements and audit reports.
Publisher's statements and audit reports now show the types of platforms used to access nonreplica editions—restricted-access websites, e-readers (with and without advertising) and tablets, and mobile/smartphones.
Digital editions are also included on the first page of publisher's statements and audit reports in the executive summary and described in the publishing plans box.
How to Qualify Paid Digital Circulation Subscription Packages
Tip: Selling a mobile app with a one-time fee (say $1) for indefinite access is a digital subscription offer without a definitive term. This type of digital circulation qualifies as paid for 30 days. After 30 days, you'll have to confirm that the consumer downloaded the app and accessed it at least once every six months to qualify as verified circulation.
Stand-alone digital subscriptions or single copies may qualify as paid circulation if they're sold for at least one cent per year, net of considerations. There are many options when you're choosing how to package and price print and digital editions.
When print and digital editions are sold together there needs to be some records indicating that the consumer wanted all components of the package. There are two options for creating and counting your digital subscription packages—incremental pricing or flat-rate pricing with usage tracking.
Incremental Pricing
Incremental pricing means that each subscription in the offer is available and priced separately. If print is included in the offer, the digital components must be priced at five percent or more of the print-only option. If the package is all digital, you can choose which platform will serve as the primary.
One Print Edition, One Digital Edition
If one print and one digital subscription are sold together, the print edition must be available separately, and all options have to be presented in the same way. The price to purchase the print and digital subscription must be at least five percent more than the singular print edition.
- Acceptable Incremental Pricing Example
- Yes! I want Friday-Sunday home delivery and 7-day online access for $25 a month.
- Yes! I want Friday-Sunday home delivery only for $23 a month.
Unacceptable Incremental Pricing Example
- Yes! I want Friday-Sunday home delivery and 7-day online access for $25 a month.*
*Print-only is available for $24 a month.
The example on the top is acceptable because each offer is presented equally and the print/digital package is priced at more than five percent of the print option. The example on the bottom is not acceptable because the print-only offer is presented with less prominence than the print and digital package. Also, if the print edition is $24, the total package needs to be at least $25.20 (five percent of $24, added to $24).
Print Edition and Multiple Digital Editions
Selling a print edition with multiple digital subscriptions has similar qualifications to selling one print and one digital subscription. Each component of the package must be available separately, but to purchase the entire package, the price must reflect at least a five percent incremental cost.
- Acceptable Incremental Pricing Example
Choose an option to receive Anytown News for one year:
- $130: All-Access package. 7-day home delivery, 24/7 access to Anytown News online and access to mobile app
- $100: 7-day home delivery only
- $25: 24/7 access to Anytown News online
- $15: 24/7 access to Anytown News mobile app
Tip: Don't imply that any part of the subscription package is free.
This is an acceptable offer because:
- A print-only option is presented.
- No parts of the package are described as free.
- Each digital subscription is presented separately and is at least five percent of the print-only option.
- The package price reflects at least five percent of the incremental price.
- All options are equally prominent.
Multiple Digital Editions (No Print)
Tip: Only current single issues are eligible to count as paid circulation. More information is available in Rule C 5.12 Single Issue Sales of Back Copies.
When multiple digital subscriptions are grouped as a package, each subscription must be priced separately. The price to purchase the package of digital subscriptions must reflect that.
- Acceptable Incremental Pricing Example
Choose an option to receive Anytown News for one year:
- $124: All-Access Digital Package - 24/7 access to our website, mobile app and tablet edition
- $89: 24/7 access to Anytown News online
- $25: 24/7 access to Anytown News mobile app
- $20: 24/7 access to Anytown News tablet edition
Access Confirmation (Flat Pricing)
If you choose to offer print and digital subscriptions as a single-price package, AAM will audit the usage of these platforms.
- Flat Pricing Example
- $100: All-Access package - 7-day home delivery, 24/7 access to Anytown News online and access to mobile app for one year
Tip: If you cannot properly track and record access and usage, you may want to stick with an incremental-pricing model.
Print Edition and One Digital Edition
If there is one print and one digital edition offered in the package, the consumer must first register and activate an account or download an app. The consumer then has to access the digital edition at least once every 30 days for it to count as paid circulation.
Print Edition and Multiple Digital Editions
If there is more than one digital edition included in the package, the consumer still must first register and activate any accounts or download apps. Then, the first digital edition must be accessed at least once every 30 days. The second digital edition must be accessed at least once per week, and the third and any subsequent digital editions must be accessed at least daily.
Tip: Want to learn more about what is needed for your audit? Look to the For the Audit.
It's up to you to decide which subscription is considered "first," "second," and so on. This may change by subscriber or by month, but you will have to be prepared to show appropriate records for the audit.
How to Qualify Verified Digital Circulation
Verified circulation was implemented in October 2010 as a new circulation category that includes nonpaid newspapers or newspapers paid for by someone other than the recipient. Some digital circulation may qualify as verified. Below is a brief overview of how the different categories of verified circulation may qualify as digital circulation. For more information, please view Rules C 3.3 Other Verified Distribution and C 5.10 Subscriptions Involving Digital Editions.
To qualify verified digital subscriptions, consumers have to register and activate their accounts or download an app. They must access the digital edition at least once every 30 days.
Educational Copies
Tip: The St. Paul Pioneer Press focuses on NIE digital editions to reach its younger readers. See how the Pioneer Press and newspapers across the country are doing digital in the Case Study section.
Verified educational copies are digital editions used as part of the classroom. Rules C 3.2 Educational Copies and C 5.10 Subscriptions Involving Digital Editions further explain verified educational copies.
Digital circulation qualifies as educational copies if:
- A teacher or administrator requests access.
- Copies are used in a classroom setting.
- Affidavits are obtained at least annually attesting to the information about the school and how the copies were used in the classroom.
University Copies
Digital editions accessed by registered college students may qualify as verified university copies.
To qualify as a verified university copy:
- The digital edition must be made available for registered college students.
- The student must register and activate or download the digital edition. Only those copies actually accessed will qualify for AAM reporting.
- Each student must have a unique identifier, such as a student ID, to show the number of students who accessed the digital edition each day.
Retail/Business Copies
Copies requested by libraries for recurring distribution may qualify as verified retail/business circulation. The number of licenses should reflect the number of computers available for public use. Digital access to public places other than libraries (such as hospitals, hotels, restaurants, doctors' offices, etc.) do not qualify.
Employee Copies
Verified employee or independent contractor copies are editions given to newspaper employees or independent contractors as a benefit.
To qualify these copies, the digital editions must be easily accessible and records must be maintained to confirm active status of employment, retirement, contractor or correspondent.
Read on to the next section of our guide to learn about the documentation you need to maintain for your AAM audit. We've included lists for each type of digital program that will be useful for you at audit time.
For the Audit
As a general rule, you need to maintain the same type of records for digital circulation as you do print circulation. The AAM auditor will look to verify three main areas: subscriber order, payment and account history. For certain circulation programs, you may need additional information. Let's take a look at those now.
Paid Digital Editions
As we have learned in the two previous sections, a stand-alone order for a digital single-copy or subscription is the most straightforward of all the digital programs and its recordkeeping needs mirror its simplicity.
For the audit, please make available the following:
- A copy of the subscriber order
- Confirmation of payment
Paid Digital Editions with Incremental Pricing
Tip: Before you begin a digital program with an outside vendor such as Amazon, Apple or Barnes & Noble, check to see what types of records they can provide you to meet the requirements for audit.
From what we have seen so far, this looks to be the most popular program for newspapers to execute their digital edition strategies. One reason for its popularity is the ease of recordkeeping.
For the audit, please make available the following:
- A copy of the subscriber order
- Confirmation of payment
Paid Digital Editions with Flat-Rate Pricing
If your digital edition program does not include collecting at least five percent more for each digital platform, you will need to maintain additional records for the AAM audit. These records need to verify that the subscriber registered, activated and accessed any digital editions in the package.
For the audit, please make available the following:
Tip: For bundled packages with multiple digital platforms, you must designate which platform is first (accessed monthly), second (accessed weekly) and third or more (accessed daily). Your selections may differ by subscriber, promotional offer or time period.
- A copy of the subscriber order
- Confirmation of payment
- Access to account history showing when the subscriber registered a user name and password or downloaded an app.
- Access to account history showing how frequently the subscriber accessed the digital edition.
- A document detailing which platform is first, second, third, etc. for each subscriber.
Verified Digital Editions
AAM auditors do not look for payment information for any verified circulation. Even if you do have sponsors for NIE programs or other programs, there is no need to maintain payment documentation. However, other audit documentation is required.
For verified subscriptions, please make available the following:
- Access to account history showing when the subscriber registered a user name and password.
- Access to account history showing how frequently the subscriber accessed the digital edition.
For verified educational copies, please make available the following for all of your classrooms:
- An annual affidavit confirming:
- Name and address of school
- Statement confirming the newspapers were ordered, received and used in the classroom as part of the curriculum
- The quantity of licenses
- Number of students in the classroom
- Dates or date ranges copies were accessed
- Names of teachers who received the distribution
- Printed name, title and phone number of the person signing the affidavit
- Signature and date
For verified university copies, please make available the following:
- Records displaying each unique student ID
- Records showing how many unique students accessed the digital edition each day.
For verified employee copies, please make available the following:
- Records confirming the individual's current status, i.e., current employee, retired employee, contractor or correspondent.
The next section of this guide features stories from AAM members who are already executing their digital edition strategies. Some of the participants shared information about their recordkeeping systems that may be helpful to you in developing your own.
Case Studies
Honolulu Star-Advertiser Builds Successful Payway Strategy
In August, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser erected a paywall and began charging readers for access to its web content and e-edition. Publisher Dennis Francis explains how the paper's commitment to local journalism played an important role in their decision.
How the Star-Advertiser Decided on a Pay Strategy
Francis is quick to point out the cost of operating a newsroom and creating content, whether for print or online readers.
"We invest heavily in generating around-the-clock, in-depth coverage of local events, politics, and sports," he explained. "We employ the largest newsroom in Hawaii with 116 seasoned professional journalists and newsroom staff. Charging to view this content not only in print, but also online simply enables us to provide our readers with the news and information they rely on whenever they want it, in whatever format is most convenient for them."
Understanding the dynamics of the market and convincing key stakeholders that charging was the right strategy was not an easy task.
"Our approach was one of researching the best and the worst of dozens of newspaper sites across the country," said Francis. "Then we developed our site. And while it is far from perfect, it incorporates what we learned. I believe we will have one of the better sites, for our market size, in the country."
How the Star-Advertiser is Tracking Digital
View a copy of the Star-Advertiser's internal tracking report.
Hawaii's unique geographic layout with several island communities and its tourist pull led to an uncommon pricing strategy.
"Our pricing model was developed to take advantage of Hawaii's geographic location," said Francis. "The farther removed from Oahu, the relevancy to the buyer diminishes. We also receive a large amount of unique visits from around the world from tourists that will be coming to Hawaii and former tourists that like to stay in touch."
The Star-Advertiser offers readers five options:
- All access subscription – Seven-day home delivery with all digital access, including the e-edition, for $19.95 per month. Current print subscribers receive free access to digital news.
- Digital only (Oahu residents) – Seven-day digital access, including the e-edition, for $9.95 per month or $50 per year.
- Digital only (Other Hawaii residents) – Seven-day digital access, including the e-edition, for $4.95 per month or $25 per year.
- Digital only (Anyone outside Hawaii) – Seven-day digital access, including the e-edition, for $1.95 per month or $10 per year.
- Single-day pass – Digital access, including the e-edition, for $.99.
For their tracking system, the Star-Advertiser chose to use internal resources instead of an outside vendor, which is a departure from the other newspapers featured in this guide.
"Our system was designed and built in-house," explained Francis. "We have a few third-party vendors, which are seamless to our subscribers. We built the system because we wanted to integrate the user interface directly with our circulation system. This makes it very easy for subscribers to create their accounts in real time, grants them instant access and requires no back-end follow-up on our part."
Building an entire system from scratch isn't always easy.
"Getting the system set up was a complete newspaper team effort," continued Francis. "The Web team, circulation, news, technology, accounting, marketing and advertising departments were all involved. There was a lot of time invested over the past six months to make sure we were very thorough in our approach."
Advice for Other Newspapers
Francis has encouraging parting words for newspapers contemplating a paywall.
"Newspapers have tremendous value, and in any community everyone knows the name of the newspapers," he said. "It is a powerful brand. As you can see, we put a lot of focus and effort on our journalists. That is what separates us from everyone else. We had no hesitation in charging people to read us, in any format. And they are paying."
Contact Information
Dennis Francis, President/Publisher
The Telegraph Uses Incremental Pricing, Tracks Usage To Drive Digital Readership
The Telegraph in Macon, Ga. distributes e-editions to schools in the NIE program, print subscribers who opt in, and readers who want the e-edition as a sole product. Phil Schroder, audience development manager, explains how the newspaper is counting its digital subscribers.
How The Telegraph is Distributing Digital Editions
View copies of The Telegraph's subscription offers.
The Telegraph offers an incrementally priced seven-day e-edition in addition to the print subscription.
"We're working on starting to track usage, but we felt that it was a better option to go with incremental pricing at the time," Schroder said.
The Telegraph's e-edition, the e-Telegraph, is a replica of the print edition produced with a digital solution from Olive Software. Approximately 6,000 customers now subscribe to the e-edition, and subscribers also receive an additional benefit of access to an archive going back at least three years. The Telegraph also partnered with USA Today on a print subscription offer. With this offer, both newspapers offered customers complimentary copies of the e-Telegraph and USA Today's digital edition, which are not counted on AAM reports.
How The Telegraph is Tracking Digital Editions
Digital subscribers are entered into the circulation system, which allows The Telegraph to track finances. The Telegraph also works with River City, a Kansas City-based Web design company that many McClatchy newspapers use to track e-edition usage.
"I saw other newspapers doing solutions in-house, but River City just had a very robust solution for the right price for us at the time," Schroder said. "Our philosophy is that if a company specializes in something, let them do it. We specialize in putting a newspaper out each day and marketing it the best we can—not doing detailed Web and database design."
River City keeps up with AAM rules and works with many McClatchy newspapers on what they needed to implement to track digital subscribers.
"They have a report that we can use to view total volume for the week or for the month, unique log-ins, and what each user is doing," Schroder said. "Even though right now we don't have to have that for incremental pricing, we might need it in the future. Plus it's a good idea to view that data so we can figure out how to better drive readership to the e-edition."
Advice for Other Newspapers
Schroder suggested researching the different vendors that provide e-edition services.
"The biggest advice would be to research ahead of time how you're going to handle keeping track of those customers, whether its going to be in a separate database or within your existing customer database," he said. "Work closely with your IT and finance departments to decide how you're going to handle that. We did not do this at first, and we had to go back and do a workaround, so that cost us some extra time."
Contact Information
Phil Schroder, Audience Development Manager
The Seattle Times Uses Bundled Strategy to Add Digital Subscribers
For The Seattle Times, digital editions are a retention and acquisition strategy as for print newspaper subscribers. The strategy is designed primarily to create greater value to a print subscription. Read on to learn more about how it is approaching digital with print and digital bundled subscription packages from Curtis Huber, director/circulation sales and marketing.
How The Seattle Times is Distributing Digital Editions
View a Seattle Times subscription offer.
When The Seattle Times was solely a print edition, the role of each department—newsroom, advertising department, circulation—was clearly defined. But the digital world has changed how the departments interact and function. And as a result, they are carefully evaluating their organizational structure and processes.
When it comes to digital offerings for its print subscribers, the Times is looking toward a bundled strategy as opposed to incremental pricing. Registered subscribers—whether they receive the print edition daily or one day per week—receive access to the e-replica.
"Internally, we talk about the value of print subscribers and we see a bundling strategy as a powerful tool for retaining those subscribers. The Seattle Times' mission has and will always be to serve its communities through quality journalism. And we view the opportunities with digital products as a means to that end," Huber said.
The Times currently distributes an e-replica edition. This edition digitally replicates the look and feel of the daily newspaper, and subscribers can be notified when the e-replica is available each day.
The e-replica is easy to add to a print subscriber's package. The Times has gone from 6,000 registered subscribers to more than 35,000 over the past eight months, the majority of which are seven-day print subscribers. Although e-editions aren't contributing much to the Times' total circulation number, they do show promise. Times staff are working on a suite of nonreplica digital products optimized for mobile devices, e-readers and tablets.
How The Seattle Times is Tracking Digital Editions
While bundled may be the Times' best approach to retaining subscribers, Huber said getting over the hurdle of authenticating and tracking subscriber access has been a challenge.
"We understand we need a way to track usage," Huber said. "When the audit comes, we'll need to show the usage records for a particular day. We know there is a lot of data we need to collect and hold for the audit."
To overcome this hurdle, they sought help and expertise from two of their vendors—one that provides their e-replica, the other that provides their subscriber self-service solution. Together they have developed the necessary authentication and tracking of subscriber activity, which Times staff can retrieve and submit to AAM for audit purposes.
Huber also said they have been working closely with AAM and their Publisher Relations manager to learn more about what is needed for qualification, tracking and documentation.
"We're not looking to double count subscribers. If you get a print Sunday edition and you are meeting the usage requirements to count your electronic edition Monday through Saturday, we want to capture that. If you get seven-day service in both print and electronic, we still only count you once."
Advice for Other Newspapers
Although it's been a challenge learning how to authenticate subscriptions and strategically manage the amount of information needed, Huber has advice for other newspapers as they develop their digital programs.
"You have to know what it is you're looking for, be clear about the problem you are trying to solve, and then consider a vendor option. It's their area of expertise," Huber said. "It's their business, and they know how to do it. It made sense to use somebody who understands best practices. You might have to adapt and change your products to support it. Another benefit is that the vendor stays in touch with what is happening in the industry and updates their service accordingly. Flexibility is key."
Contact Information
Curtis Huber, Director/Circulation Sales and Marketing
St. Paul Pioneer Press Creates Unique Identity for Digital Programs
The St. Paul Pioneer Press started its e-edition program as a way to distribute to areas that didn't receive home delivery. Seven years later, the popularity of the Pioneer Press e-edition program has spread throughout the St. Paul area.
How the St. Paul Pioneer Press is Distributing Digital Editions
View the Pioneer Press e-edition home page and subscription offers.
A main focus of their digital strategy is creating a unique identity for digital editions.
"In order to present a solid value proposition, we established a clear differentiation between the electronic edition and our open website," said Adel Ibrahim, sales director. "Our first step was to establish a unique URL in order to market the products separately. We then began to add a series of unique bells and whistles only available to paying subscribers."
One add-on only available to subscribers is access to archived newspapers. By partnering with the Minnesota Historical Society, the Pioneer Press is scanning full copies of archived newspapers, such as copies from Abraham Lincoln's election or John Dillinger's trial in St. Paul. The digital historic newspapers are viewed just as a current edition. These can also be tied in with advertising. When the science museum had a Titanic exhibit, the Pioneer Press posted the issue from the day it sank.
Partnering with area schools is also a key aspect of the Pioneer Press' digital approach.
"Schools are the main thing we're doing the program for," said Andrew Mok, vice president of circulation and technology. "It was really expensive to deliver print copies to each of the schools, so we developed a really good digital program with the schools."
The newspaper has a curriculum writer who creates and sends content for the teachers to use on classroom projectors. One school bought iPads for its students and asked to add the Pioneer Press' app to every device.
"We're targeting a lot of the new technology kids use," Mok said. "We're trying to get them used to reading the newspaper and understanding how to navigate a newspaper through a new device. We're really getting involved with them now so they become our core readers 20 years from now."
How the St. Paul Pioneer Press is Tracking Digital Editions
The Pioneer Press makes its digital editions available for purchase separately from its print subscriptions. They chose this incremental pricing structure because it is easier to track than bundled subscriptions, Mok said.
They are also working with Tecnavia to distribute digital editions. Tecnavia supports many different platforms—iPad, iPhone, Nook, Kindle—so users can download the digital edition on their preferred device.
Tecnavia keeps track of site access, page views, unique visitors and other usage statistics through Google Analytics. Tecnavia is also working with AAM to determine how to best store and provide access to records and information needed for the audit.
Advice for Other Newspapers
While platforms may change, the Pioneer Press' digital strategy remains the same—increase readership and provide customers with the service they want.
"Don't use digital editions to shape volumes," Mok said. "You need to develop your digital strategy. Start off working with the schools. Make sure it's a valuable product. Make sure that the customers use it and enjoy it. If you just throw something out there, it's going to fail miserably."
"I've seen identity crises between electronic editions and regular websites where people can't tell the difference," Ibrahim added. "If you're just starting out, spend the time needed to educate readers on what your electronic edition is, and of course, the benefits that come with it. Readers will be quick to write it off if they can't find the value."
Contact Information
Andrew Mok, VP, Circulation and Technology
Adel Ibrahim, Sales Director
Traverse City Record-Eagle Finds Success Charging for E-Edition
The Record-Eagle in Traverse City, Mich. launched its digital program about a year ago. Rich Roxbury, circulation director, shares their digital story.
How the Record-Eagle Decided on Digital
View Traverse City Record-Eagle subscription offers.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle began its digital program with the intention to target younger nonsubscribers and current subscribers who want to access the e-edition from work, out-of-town or on a mobile device.
"We're a very seasonal area, so we have a lot of snowbirds who are going to start leaving for the winter in a few weeks, " Roxbury said. "With the e-edition, they can continue getting the paper while they're gone."
At first, the e-edition—a replica of the print newspaper—was free. But in the fall, they started charging readers to access the e-edition.
"That's when we really started counting our numbers to see where it was going to go," Roxbury said. "We got a few subscribers right off the bat, but it was slow. In early 2011 we began to tailor the content of our free site. That's when our paid numbers took off."
The Record-Eagle also marketed the e-edition with offers for new digital-only subscribers and for current print subscribers in all sales materials. Ads in the newspaper and special publications also promoted the digital offers.
How the Record-Eagle is Tracking Digital Editions
The Record-Eagle went with an incremental pricing strategy. Print subscribers can add the e-edition for an additional 50 cents per month via a separate transaction through a third-party vendor. If customers want only the e-edition, they can purchase it for $9.95 per month.
The Record-Eagle works with NewspaperDirect to distribute the e-edition and manage digital subscribers. Subscribers log into NewspaperDirect through a link on the Record-Eagle's site and through daily emails. This company also manages payment and gives the Record-Eagle its cut of the revenue.
"If I were to do it again, I would love to have it more tied into our circulation database. The revenue part obviously would be much easier to track, and it would be easier to track who's a subscriber and who's not. I can do that now, but because it's not part of my system, it's a little more difficult," Roxbury said.
NewspaperDirect does provide them with reports that they can analyze.
"It gives me averages, who the subscribers are, where they're at—all the information I need for a publisher's statement," he said. "It would help a lot if that information was part of my system. And I think down the road it will be."
Advice for Other Newspapers
For Roxbury, the most difficult part of this transition was making the switch to charging for digital content.
"Many people think we're a public service," Roxbury said. "When we started charging for the e-edition, I got a lot of phone calls and emails and got called a few names. But I explained that people here need to get paid. Most people wrote me back and said they would subscribe. It was a challenging couple of months when we did that, but it was the right thing to do."
Contact Information
Rich Roxbury, Circulation Director
Digital Do's & Don'ts
Tips for Developing Your Digital Program
We've consolidated the most useful information from the four previous sections into a short and sweet dos and don'ts list.
- Keep in contact with your Publisher Relations manager to review your digital programs. Remember that reviews are free and confidential.
- Research your options if you're considering an outside vendor to help track digital subscriptions and usage.
- Be creative and take advantage of new technologies when developing your digital program.
- Include additional content—hyperlinks, video, audio and updated news stories—in your replica or nonreplica digital editions.
- Keep appropriate documentation to verify that the subscriber paid an incremental price or registered, activated and accessed the digital edition.
- Consider a Consolidated Media Report to report any digital usage, mobile metrics or social media stats that don't qualify for publisher's statements or audit reports.
- Imply that any part of your digital package is free with phrases such as "no additional cost" or "no extra charge."
- Serve back copies with the intention to count them as paid or verified circulation. Only current single issues are eligible to count as paid circulation.
- Charge a one-time fee for an app and expect it to qualify as paid circulation. After 30 days, the app may count as verified as long as it meets the qualifications and the consumer accesses it once every six months.
- Offer other goods or services to encourage subscribers to access your digital edition that's part of a flat-price bundled subscription.
- Try to count a free public-access website as a digital edition. A digital edition's access has to be restricted to qualify on AAM reports.
- Limit your newspaper. The rules for digital editions allow some flexibility when creating an innovative new product.
The next section of our guide features an interview with John Murray to give you more ideas for developing a successful digital strategy.
Industry Q&A
NAA's John Murray
As NAA's vice president of audience development and the staff liaison to the NAA/AAM Liaison Committee, John Murray has been immersed in newspapers' transition to digital. Murray shared his thoughts on how newspapers are marketing their digital products and what to consider when choosing a digital strategy.
Jeff Hartley: How are newspapers packaging their print and digital products?
John Murray: As newspapers add platforms, many are either changing their limited access strategies or rethinking how their strategies apply to an app. It's the topic of the day, especially coupled with revenue demands as newspapers acknowledge the fact that the business model is changing. We're going to remain more dependent on reader-based revenue and less dependent on advertiser-based revenue.
JH: What does it mean for a newspaper to have a bundled strategy?
JM: Having a bundled strategy is an acknowledgement that various platforms are not competitors. They're complementary. Bundled strategies are an opportunity to match up your readers' demands with your business plan. Many newspapers are starting with a very simple concept and the appeal is in the simplicity. For say, a flat $15 a month, you can choose from a menu of products and frequencies that make sense for you. If the consumer only wants the app and Sunday print edition, they pay the flat rate. The downside is that you still want to have different entry price points for different market segments and you may be leaving money on the table. So that generally leads you to assembling different bundles for different price points to move consumers toward your most critical products. But your pricing can then dictate which platforms a consumer selects. And you might have intended or unintended consequences.
JH: The alternative is incremental pricing. Why are newspapers taking that approach?
JM: Incremental pricing allows a newspaper to grow its revenue base by upgrading consumers to other products. The most popular one right now is adding a digital replica subscription to a limited-frequency print subscription. A newspaper can see immediate gains through that small incremental price difference. The same is true of adding an app at an incremental price. But the way you structure the pricing might not be what the consumer is looking for. Many newspapers are trying to start with one price that gets you everything they have to offer regardless of platform, and then breaking that down.
JH: What are the pros and cons to these strategies in terms of AAM reporting?
JM: As digital qualification and reporting rules become effective, a newspaper does face a crossroad. If it chooses bundling as the best marketing solution, it accepts the burden of having to do more complex analysis and recording for audit purposes to include those digital products as paid. That burden may be worth it if the newspaper is committed to the strategy of bundled for one price. Incremental pricing has additional revenue opportunities, AAM reporting is simpler, and the complex data management required for qualifying copies under the bundled scenario is not necessary. Incremental pricing has these advantages and qualifying digital copies as paid circulation is an important consideration, but it should not be the overriding factor.
JH: Do you have a sense of which way newspapers are leaning?
JM: The vast majority of newspapers will be reporting digital replica copies using incremental pricing. Many have already established that as their pricing strategy for revenue purposes and the ease of qualification. It's very likely, though, as e-readers and tablets become a bigger part of the consumer experience, newspapers will focus on qualifying that platform so that it can be reported as circulation. For now, they are generally are easily accounted for. In most cases, payment goes to a third party such as iTunes, and there's no question there that it is paid circulation.
JH: How do you think AAM's new digital edition rules will affect the industry?
JM: Newspapers can report all of their platforms and standardized metrics on a single publisher's statement. In many cases, it's a paid metric. A newspaper representative can sit down with an advertiser and say, "here is the number of paid iPad subscribers." That can be very insightful in a world where so many other media sources are speaking in terms of how many millions of app downloads they've had. Our research has shown how few applications consumers use regularly. With third-party verification from AAM, the newspaper industry has an opportunity to differentiate itself by documenting how many consumers are actually paying for these apps.
JH: How should the industry market digital products?
JM: Digital is really a two-front strategy. Your first strategy is to be there with your traditional readers to provide everything they had in the past and more with platforms beyond print. Longtime print readers tell us that while they didn't find the newspaper appealing on a monitor, they do find flipping through the iPad's "pages" very reminiscent of their print experience. It's not a tough transition. Your second strategy is to repurpose content in new ways that are effective in attracting new audiences. For this segment, there has to be an element of surprise in that it's not just your traditional newspaper.
JH: What advice do you have for newspapers as they define their digital approach?
JM: Creating the correct set of offerings for the reader is first and foremost. Newspapers are struggling to look at it through consumers' eyes. These are the same consumers that pay a considerable amount each month to mobile, Internet and cable providers. Many of these consumers were not raised with the old-fashioned "X number of dollars for X number of weeks" pricing strategies that these newspapers have. Bundled strategies are an opportunity for newspapers to make a shift in how they price and bill the products. A shift that is more in tune, perhaps, to how consumers are accustomed to paying for other sources of media.
There is opportunity for more revenue in the process. Some readers expect free access to the newspaper website because they use it for search, reference, archives and photos. They see it as a complement to their newspaper. But readers can be differentiated from subscribers. When you talk about apps or digital replica editions, there's not that automatic expectation of it being included in the price, and there's another opportunity for incremental revenue from all of our readers.
John Murray can be reached via e-mail.
Resources and Contacts
The following is a list of links and contact information to find out more about the digital programs and tips included in this guide.
AAM Resources
AAM Digital Editions Guide
AAM Bylaws & Rules
Newspaper Support Center
Publisher Relations Manager Contacts
NAA Resources
Topics & Tools – Digital Media
Topics & Tools – Audience & Circulation
NAA Business Development Contacts
Sources of Examples Used in This Guide
Dennis Francis, President/Publisher, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Curtis Huber, Circulation Manager, Seattle Times
Adel Ibrahim, Sales Director, St. Paul Pioneer Press
Andrew Mok, VP, Circulation and Technology, St. Paul Pioneer Press
John Murray, Vice President of Audience Development, NAA
Rich Roxbury Circulation Director, Traverse City Record-Eagle
Phil Schroder, Audience Development Director, The Macon Telegraph
NAA/AAM Circulation Subcommittee Member Roster
Dan Schaub, SVP/Audience Development & Membership Services, The Sacramento Bee
Committee Chairman
Aaron Armand, Circulation Systems Manager, The Advocate, Capital City Press
James Boyd, Jr., Circulation Director, The Knoxville News Sentinel
Al Cupo, Vice President, Operations, SNA
Jeffrey DeLoach, Publisher, San Angelo Standard Times
James Galetano, Vice President/Circulation, Daily Herald
Antony George, Senior Manager, Circulation, Chicago Tribune
Sharon Gibson, Senior Director/Sales & Retention, Detroit Media Partnership
* Jeffrey Hartley, VP of Circulation Morris Publishing Group/Director of Circulation. The Augusta Chronicle
Steve Hesse, SVP/Circulation, MediaNews
Martha J. Hines, Circulation Director, The Grand Rapids Press
Helen S. Hoffman, Director/Circulation Sales, Gannett Newspaper Division
* James Lamm, Vice President/Circulation, The Charlotte Observer
Hugh McGarry, SVP, Sales & Marketing, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Courtney Price VP, Audience Development, Sun-Times News Group
* Linnie Pride, SVP, Circulation, Community Newspaper Holdings
Mark Quan, Circulation Director, The Virginian-Pilot
Valecia Quinn, Single Copy Director, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Joseph F. Salomone, Deputy Director ABC Compliance, Wall Street Journal
* Steve Wagenlander, Circulation Director, The Post and Courier
* Member of NAA/AAM Circulation Subcommittee Communications Team
Digital Measurement Matters Today, Tomorrow
Jeff Hartley, Editor, NAA/AAM Circulation Subcommittee Guide to Digital Editions
Having a compliant, successful digital edition program is crucial for today's newspaper.
Over the past few years, there has been a great deal of discussion and compromise between publishers and buyers to decide how to account for digital newspaper media. The results of those discussions are realized in this guide. The changes will undoubtedly continue in the coming years, and NAA and AAM will work to provide the information you need to create successful digital programs.
Our customers are constantly adapting to emerging products, and advertisers want to be in those products. It's inevitable that someone will ask you for proof of your digital circulation. Supplying transparent, audited information will strengthen your relationship with buyers and in turn, help build a smarter, better media company.
Where we are now is not where we'll be in five years. But it's a start. Whether paid, free, delivered seven days or one day a week, I believe newspapers will continue to exist in many different forms used throughout the day. You'll read the paper at home with breakfast, skim the headlines on your smartphone while waiting at a traffic stop, pull out your iPad while you're waiting to meet someone at a coffee shop. There's a strong market for those products.
So continue developing your digital side. Take advantage of the information provided in this guide, work with your AAM Publisher Relations manager, be innovative, talk with other newspapers. In the end, no matter which platform a reader is using, measurement will matter.
Contact Jeff via e-mail.
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Managing expectations may not be the first thing that you think of when planning your social media campaign. Believe it or not though, there is a dark side to social media. Marketing directors and social media managers who turn a blind eye to this unpleasant aspect of this powerful tool may find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of dealing with relationship outrage.
But wait a minute! You thought that aside from the occasional inappropriate tweet or embarrassing Facebook picture, there wasn't an evil side to social media? Well as it turns out, when you're managing a brand over social media a whole new world of concerns emerges that marketing officers and brand managers need to be aware of. That new list of problems revolves, for the most part, around a new social concept of trust between the brand and the consumer.
We here at Ad Nauseum have covered like-gating in the past. Dhyana Estephan's November 21st, 2011 posting (Click Here), Like-Gating: The New Marketing Tool? discussed the practice of like-gating and illustrated how it's become more prevalent in recent months. While the NAD has determined that like-gating is acceptable so long as it is not deceptive, it straddles a fine line between what is permissible and what is not. As like-gating has increased, so to have related tactics aimed at attracting social media users to particular brands or products.
Bayern Munich, a German football (okay, soccer) team recently discovered one of the few unpleasantries of social media when it promised to use their social media channels to reveal a "spectacular" new signing. Bayern's clever concept backfired though when thousands of fans logged onto the club's page only to find out that the newly signed athlete was in fact a digital representation of himself or herself superimposed into the team's active roster. Not, to the dissatisfaction of most of the Bayern fans, a season saving superstar athlete.
Bayern's strategy of enticing fans onto its website overlooked the possibility of failing to meet fan expectations. The ensuing public relations nightmare damaged the good will of the team and alienated hundreds. Bayern's problem lay in the fact that the team failed to understand the close, social level of trust developed between itself and its affectionate fans. Social media has enabled new channels of connections between brands and, in opening new, more interactive channels, has increased the amount of interaction between consumers (fans) and brands. Bayern's stunt was, while unintentional, tantamount to a close friend making fun of you while hanging out with the cool kids during lunch (I wouldn't know.)
Bayern quickly realized their foul (soccer lingo) when the fans handed the team a "yellow card" of approval with their reaction to the social media experiment. Bayern quickly released a statement apologizing for the social media campaign. Despite Bayern's apology, fans have continued to display their disapproval on Bayern's Facebook page and are blasting the team on twitter.
Mistakes such as the one that sidelined Bayern are not uncommon though, and are happening to other, well known brands. The power of social media is enough to attract any company or organization online. The benefits of social media are almost endless. Sports teams, for example, have utilized Facebook and Twitter to offer exclusive access to fans for certain sporting events or advanced ticket purchases. Music artists and movie producers have used social media to offer their followers "first glimpses" of songs and movie clips. It's not uncommon for a company to entice you online and onto their Facebook page promising a coupon or entrance into a give away. Imagine your dissatisfaction though, if upon visiting that company's page you realize you were tricked?
As Bayern learned, social media is more about a new level of trust with the customer than anything else. Enticing fans to visit your page and to play an active role in participating with your brand is a new, novel way of marketing. But when companies fail to understand the importance of trust, they alienate their customers. In the "like-gating" case discussed in Dhyana's November Ad Nauseum post, Coastal Contacts lured consumers to their Facebook page with the promise of a free pair of glasses if they "liked" their brand. While this may seem fine, it can come across as deceptive as well. After visitors "liked' the Costal Contacts page they were taken to a set of fine print contest rules. Many of the fans (rightfully) assumed that they would receive a free pair of glasses just for "liking" the product without realizing that they were in fact entering a contest with no real promise of winning glasses. While that may not seem all that harmful to the average consumer, the marketing benefits to a company employing this tactic are enormous. Almost instantly a company's social media page can gain thousands of hits, giving off the impression that their brand is significantly more popular than it is.
Similarly, companies are now paying celebrities to tweet about their products. "Snickers-gate" struck the United Kingdom last year when numerous celebrities were paid to tweet a picture of themselves eating a snickers bar. Almost instantly millions of people began following Snicker's on twitter. What is worrisome about "snicker's-gate" is that oftentimes it's not clear to consumers that celebrities are being paid to endorse those products – which is a deceptive practice. Customers learning of the paid endorsement plan felt as if they had been lied to and almost immediately "unfollowed" both the brand and the celebrities.
Bayern's social media campaign enticed hundreds of people online and, while the Bayern brand is certainly strong, the buzz created by the excitement set the visitors up for the same type of disappointment as visitors "liking" a page with the expectation of a free pair of glasses, or being let down by a product after a celebrity endorsing tweet.
Only when marketing officers begin to understand and appreciate the value of trust created by the social media platform and the brand will companies and organizations begin to maximize on the benefits of social marketing. Executives will have to be sensitive to the perceptions of fans and must work to maintain ethical, legal, and considerate practices so as to avoid the Bayern catastrophe. Offending the expectations of your followers can do more harm than good, and that's a quick way of finding yourself immersed in the evil side of social media. And that, regardless of which country you're in, is no goal.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CHAPEL HILL Police are looking for a 17-year-old who was last seen at home Jan. 13.
Michael Wayne Wilson left his home on Indian Springs Road around 3:30 p.m., according to a news release. He is 5-foot-9, weighs about 175 pounds and has blue eyes and blond hair.
Wilson was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and blue gym shorts, the release stated.
According to police, he frequents the downtown Chapel Hill area.
Anyone who has seen Wilson or has information about his whereabouts should call Chapel Hill Police Investigator N. Chambers at 919-968-2760.


text:
But I suppose Batman's never much cared for gravity, has he? - Matty Malaprop
It's a Mii Mario
This is Going Too Far: Twitch Gamer Gets "Swatted"
Steven Spielberg Criticized for the "Triceratops He Just ...
It's Me! It's You!
How People See Gamer Girls
Don't Stare too Long at This Ring Dance, You'll Get Hypnotized
This Les Mis Flash Mob is Probably the Lamest Flash Mob Ever
Make it All Count!
Attack on Titan Meets Pokémon and I'm Never Sleeping Again
The One Problem With Mario Kart 8
Pick Your Site Name
Tell me more


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White House: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 'Will Not Be Tried as an Enemy Combatant'
Obama spokesman says it's illegal to charge U.S. citizen in military commission.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspect apprehended Friday in connection to the Boston bombing, will not be tried in military courts.
Despite pressure from some Republicans, the White House said Monday it will not treat the captured suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings as a so-called enemy combatant.
[PHOTOS: Boston Marathon Bombing Investigation]
"He will not be treated as an enemy combatant," said White House spokesman Jay Carney during his daily press briefing. "We will prosecute this terrorist through our civilian system of justice. Under U.S. law, United States citizens cannot be tried in military commissions."
In a release over the weekend, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspect apprehended Friday in connection to the Boston bombing, was not a "common criminal" and called him a "good candidate for enemy combatant status."
Tsarnaev, who was born in Kyrgyzstan, legally immigrated to the United States with his parents about 10 years ago and received citizenship last fall.
[READ: Senators Spar Over Immigration in Light of Boston Bombing]
"It is clear the events we have seen over the past few days in Boston were an attempt to kill American citizens and terrorize a major American city," the press release from the senators said. "The accused perpetrators of these acts were not common criminals attempting to profit from a criminal enterprise, but terrorists trying to injure, maim and kill innocent Americans."
But Carney pushed back Monday, even before prosecutors officially laid charges against Tsarnaev.
"It is important to remember that since 9/11 we have used the federal court system to convict and incarcerate hundreds of terrorists," he said. "The system has repeatedly proven that it can handle the test that we continue to face. This is absolutely the right way to go and the appropriate way to go."
Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, 26, another suspect in the bombings, was killed as part of a firefight late Thursday. The two brothers are allegedly responsible for setting off two bombs last Monday at the Boston Marathon that killed three and left more than 100 seriously injured, as well as murdering a campus police officer and seriously injuring another law enforcement official last Thursday.
More News:


text:
The 2001 Mathematica Developer Conference was an
invaluable resource for users and developers
who are interested in creating Mathematica-related
tools, products, courseware, or literature--or who wish to
offer services as a Mathematica trainer, consultant, or
Listed below are many of the presentations.
(If you don't have your own copy of Mathematica,
you can download MathReader
to view
the talk notebooks.)
Button and Notebook Programming
David Withoff, Wolfram Research, Inc.
Button programming is not difficult. It is almost always easy to add a
user-friendly button interface to existing programs, and many imaginative
programmers have developed applications that would be all but impossible
without buttons. This session will include a tutorial on the basic
mechanics of button programming and a tour of the impressive range of ways
in which button and notebook programming can be used to enhance your
Mathematica Notebook
Graphing: A Package to Enhance Plots with Auxiliary Graphics
Barry Cherkas, Hunter College (CUNY)
To enable students of calculus and precalculus to include auxiliary
graphics conveniently in their graphs--and thereby reduce the potential
confusion and misinterpretation that can result from relying solely on a
singular function's plot--it is important to have tools that generate
auxiliary graphics in accordance with standard mathematical conventions.
In this presentation, we describe three commands--RationalGraph,
Graph, and
Graph1D (synonym InequalityGraph)--that display the
auxiliary graphics
enhancements that are traditionally used when graphing functions with
singularities and when graphing inequalities in one dimension. These
commands make up the 'Graphing package.
Mathematica Notebook
Group Bases and Rubik's Cube
Gerrard Liddell, University of Otago
Group bases are a key tool in computational finite group theory. The
ideas will be introduced in the case of Rubik's cube.
Mathematica Notebook (zipped)
Learning Activity Modules in Chemical Engineering using
Brian Higgins, University of California, Davis
Computing vapor-liquid equilibria is a common occurrence in many chemical
engineering operations. For ideal mixtures the calculations are fairly
routine. Unfortunately, many vapor liquid systems of industrial interest
form non-ideal mixtures and the calculations then require solving systems
of nonlinear equations. In this presentation we show how
can be used to develop an online site that students can use to validate
VLE models using their own experimental data.
Mathematica Notebook
Modelling, Analysis & Prototyping for Rapid
Christopher J. Purcell, Defence R&D Canada
A prototype Mathematica package for building finite element (FE)
was introduced in the 1997 Developer Conference. This package has
matured to the point where it has already been used in product
development. The package permits building parametric models, where the
FE database contains both numeric data and symbolic Mathematica
expressions which can be used to morph the model geometry. The package was
originally developed for sonar transducer modelling, but it is open and
extensible so that it can support a range of external solvers. Extensive
online documentation is now available from the Help Browser. An update on
the Model Maker package will be presented, with examples to illustrate
potential uses.
Mathematica Notebook
Wolfram Education Group
Paul Wellin, Wolfram Research, Inc.
In January of this year, Wolfram Research announced the creation and
launch of Wolfram Education Group, designed to provide Mathematica
training for individuals and corporations. Courses are offered by
certified instructors using materials developed at Wolfram Research,
sometimes in cooperation with outside developers. Two-day introductory
courses are now being offered throughout the United States, with plans to
expand the course offerings and locations in 2002. This talk will include
information on course development as well as certification of trainers.
Mathematica Notebook
Jon McLoone, Wolfram Research, Inc.
Wolfram Research's new mid-market technical computing system,
CalculationCenter, offers an alternative platform for delivering
electronic books and technical calculations. With an emphasis on
ease-of-use and low price, CalculationCenter is aimed at a less
technically demanding market than Mathematica. This talk will
CalculationCenter and discuss ways in which Mathematica
developers might use this new channel.
Mathematica Notebook
Creating a Button-Driven Application
Al Hibbard, Central College
It is relatively easy to create a button to accomplish a routine task. It
is another matter to create buttons to perform more complicated tasks,
such as notebook modifications. This talk will focus on illustrating the
programming details of the buttons created by the Pivot package. This
package creates an interface for a non-technical user to perform the
Simplex Method while solving a linear programming problem. Except for
entering in the initial matrix, almost all the other steps are
accomplished by appropriately clicking on buttons. Explaining how these
buttons perform their complicated tasks will be the goal of this talk. In
particular, we will look at how to programmatically create and modify
notebooks, including creating a matrix of buttons on the fly.
Mathematica Notebook
Implementation of Java Photo Editor
Junzo Sato, University of Kumamoto
J/Link is not just a wrapper for MathLink, but also a
powerful application
development environment because of Java's variety of GUI components and
built-in event handling mechanism. Digital Image Processing is an
application package for Mathematica. It covers a vast area of
and engineering knowledge and works as a powerful engine for image
processing. The combination of a customizable front end application and
the Digital Image Processing package is therefore the ideal
for research and education. The advantages of Java Photo Editor are
discussed in the talk.
Mathematica Notebook
Java and the Digital Image Processing Application
Mariusz Jankowski, University of Southern Maine
The Digital Image Processing application package, a relatively
addition to the Mathematica application library, enhances
Mathematica with
over 160 functions in the area of digital processing of images. The
introduction of the package supported by significant performance
improvements in Versions 4.0 and 4.1 have made Mathematica an
platform for image processing and analysis. Now, thanks to the
introduction of J/Link, the Mathematica user gains direct
access to an
extensive native Java imaging functionality found in the Java 2D and Java
Advanced Imaging (JAI) application programming interfaces (APIs) and
excellent graphical user interface (GUI) design features thanks to Java
Mathematica Notebook
Mathematica Inside: Software Development Made
Roman Maeder, MathConsult
The Mathematica kernel is uniquely suited as a computation server
control program inside batch-oriented, interactive, or web-based
applications. Its rich, interactive programming language allows for rapid
prototyping and its flexibility makes it easy to adapt to the environment
in which it will be deployed. With the recent expansion of
I/O capabilities and MathLink-based interfaces to backend databases
front ends, it is now possible to use Mathematica in many
applications in
place of more traditional, expensive solutions. Examples from the authors
work in finance give an idea of the possibilities. The first application
is a batch-oriented program for term structure modeling. The second
example shows the integration of the UnRisk PRICING ENGINE with the
Database Access Kit and the Mathematica Link for Excel.
Mathematica Notebook
The Mathematical Explorer
Stan Wagon, Macalester College
Paul Wellin, Wolfram Research, Inc.
The Mathematical Explorer is a new Wolfram Research stand-alone
that uses Mathematica to introduce the general public to some
ideas of modern mathematics. Creating the product combined work across
several areas: the use of a custom kernel, the creation of packages for
advanced functions, and the integration of historical documents and images
relevant to the mathematics. For example, the chapter on the Four-Color
theorem includes a copy of the original 1852 document in which the theorem
was first presented, a discussion of the ideas of Kempe's false proof of
1879 and the correct proof of 1976, access to functions that create and
color maps, as well as images and biographies of many of the
mathematicians involved in this problem.
Mathematica Notebook
Neural Networks
Jonas Sjoberg
This presentation is an overview of the Neural Networks
application package. Topics discussed include people in the neural
networks field, typical problems, tools, and examples.
Mathematica Notebook
Andreas Binder, MathConsult GmbH
The UnRisk PRICING ENGINE is an application package for the
valuation of financial derivatives. For most of the actively traded
financial instruments, closed-form solutions are not available and
numerical schemes have to be applied. In the UnRisk PRICING ENGINE,
Adaptive Integration is implemented, a method developed by MathConsult,
which combines analytic (local Green functions) and numeric components.
Adaptive Integration typically needs drastically fewer time steps than,
say, binomial trees. The computational engine of UnRisk is realized
in C++
and is linked to Mathematica via MathLink.
Mathematica Notebook
Dbg - An Easy-to-use Debugger
David Bailey, Salford Software
This talk will outline just some of the features of Dbg. It is hoped that
this talk will not only illustrate some of the features of the Dbg
debugger, but will also stimulate a discussion about what sort of debug
facilities would be useful inside Mathematica. It is felt that the
facilities of Mathematica have not kept pace with the rest of the
and could offer the programmer much more help.
Mathematica Notebook
Getting the Most out of (or into) Import/Export
Dale Horton, Wolfram Research, Inc.
The Import and Export functions are simple enough for
basic purposes, but
more sophisticated applications require a higher degree of control. We
will discuss tricks-of-the-trade, common problems, in addition to how to
modify the export of notebooks to HTML and TEX, and what do all those
ConversionOptions do, anyway? In addition, we will cover recent
and future
additions to Import and Export and how developers can
add their own
Mathematica Notebook
Symbol Contexts
John Novak, Wolfram Research, Inc.
All Mathematica symbols exist in name-spaces called contexts. There
are a
number of subtleties in understanding and managing contexts that any
Mathematica programmer needs to be aware of. This talk describes
notion of contexts, the tools to manage them, and some of the gotchas
involved in their use.
Mathematica Notebook
Turning an Application into an Interface
Dale Horton, Wolfram Research, Inc.
The front end has many features that can make packages more accessible to
users. Most packages are driven by kernel commands and their front end
interface (if one exists) consists solely of buttons that paste, and
sometimes evaluate, kernel commands in a notebook. A largely unused
strategy is to use the palettes as a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the
functionality of the package. Beginning users can start to use the package
with little knowledge of the underlying processes while the more advanced
users can quickly access commonly used functionality. If properly
implemented, the palette makes using the package easier, and the package
makes using the palette more powerful.
Mathematica Notebook
Extending Mathematica's XML Capabilites with
Todd Gayley, Wolfram Research, Inc.
Java and XML are a natural match, and there is a considerable body of XML
functionality available to Java programmers. Because of J/Link, all
capabilities are also available to Mathematica programmers. This
talk will
examine some ways to link the extensive Java XML APIs into
own XML-handling capabilities. We will see how to convert
Mathematica XML
expressions into Java DOM objects and vice-versa, how to perform SAX
parsing of XML data with event logic coded entirely in Mathematica,
how to
perform XSLT transformations and XPath queries on XML data directly from
the Mathematica environment, and how to query and process XML data
available on the internet, such as finanical data.
Mathematica Notebook
Importing, Exporting, and Manipulating XML in
Chris Hill, Wolfram Research, Inc.
XML is a structured data representation language with strong support from
every corner of the computing world. Mathematica will soon support
expression format for representing XML data. This talk will include an
overview of the XML representation and the XML import and export
processes. Examples utilizing Mathematica's symbolic manipulation
facilities to extract and transform XML data will be presented.
Mathematica Notebook
Notebook ML
Imran Rashid, Wolfram Research, Inc.
NotebookML is a format for saving a Mathematica notebook as an XML
This talk will explain the motivation behind NotebookML and how it can be
used in XML-based systems, specifically, the relationship between
NotebookML and XML; the relationship between NotebookML and other XML
specifications; generating NotebookML within Mathematica; using NotebookML
with standard XML applications, e.g., XSLT & SAX; and displaying
NotebookML on the web with CSS.
Mathematica Notebook
XML Primer
Imran Rashid, Wolfram Research, Inc.
XML has quickly become one of the hottest buzz words in the IT industry.
This talk will bring the user up to speed on what XML is and what it can
be used for. In addition, the talk will address some XML related
specifications, such as DTDs, Namespaces, XSLT, and Schemas. The talk will
touch on used XML APIs, like SAX and DOM. Finally, the talk will briefly
touch on XML functionality in Mathematica, with more detail being
in related talks.
Mathematica Notebook
Discrete Optimization in Mathematica 4.2
Daniel Lichtblau, Wolfram Research, Inc.
Often in optimization problems arise that are discrete in nature. For
example, there are the standard problems of integer programming; these are
similar to continuous optimization except that one needs to restrict some
or all variables to be integer or 0-1 valued. Other examples include
assignment problems, set coverings by families of subsets, set splittings,
routing problems, and more. We discuss application of Mathematica's
numeric optimization technology to such problems in discrete optimization.
We will illustrate nutsandbolts details of how to cast problems in a
framework that NMinimize can handle and will illustrate with a
variety of
examples. We will say a bit about tuning considerations.
Mathematica Notebook
(updated May 17, 2002)
High-Precision Approximate Solutions for Nonlinear 2x2 Systems
of First-Order IVPs with Periodic Solutions
Stephan V. Joubert, Technikon Pretoria and the University of Southern
We provide an interactive routine for producing high-precision approximate
solutions (truncated Fourier Series) for low degree nonlinear 2x2 systems
of first-order ODEs (IVPs) with periodic solutions. The routine is
primarily meant for use in the classroom by undergraduate and graduate
students, but might also be usefull to technologists and scientists
working with such systems for which no obvious closed-form solution
Mathematica Notebook
Brett Champion, Wolfram Research, Inc.
NumericalMath`NMinimize is a new standard add-on package for
solutions to constrained and unconstrained global optimization problems.
The package provides several derivative-free methods for finding global
minima. This allows us to solve problems where the objective function is
not differentiable (or even continuous.) The methods are robust enough to
allow us to find global minima and are not easily trapped by local minima.
Mathematica Notebook
(full version 28MB)
Mathematica Notebook (short
version 1.4MB)
Stability Investigation of the Exact Symmetrical Solutions of
the Plane Newton's Many-Body Problem
Alexander Prokopenya, Brest Technical University
It is well known that the many-body problem is very important for a wide
variety of applications, ranging from theoretical physics to celestial
mechanics and astrodynamics. But the differential equations of this
problem are in general not integrable. So, according to Poincares ideas,
the further progress in this field will be connected with finding new
classes of the exact particular solutions of the many-body problem and
investigating their stability. But the stability investigation turned out
to be the most complicated problem of qualitative theory of differential
equations. For example, solving of the stability problem of the Lagrange
triangular solutions has taken about 200 years, whereas stability of the
homographic and homothetic solutions in the three-body problem still
remains unsolved. However, now we have new computation systems, for
example Mathematica that essentially increase our ability to do
numerical and symbolic calculations. So there is a hope that we can push
considerably both the many-body problem and the theory of dynamical
systems generally using modern computer algebra systems.
Mathematica Notebook
Advanced J/Link Programming
Todd Gayley, Wolfram Research, Inc.
This session will go beyond the basics to examine some techniques that are
often overlooked by J/Link programmers, including the Expr class,
Java object references to Mathematica, using the front end for
rendering services, fun tricks with Periodicals ("How to Make the Kernel
into a Web Server in 20 Lines of Mathematica Code"), and tips for
debugging your Java programs. We will also look at the major new features
of J/Link 1.2 and discuss plans for J/Link in the future.
Mathematica Notebook
J/Link Programming
Todd Gayley, Wolfram Research, Inc.
This talk will provide an introduction to J/Link, a toolkit that
integrates Java and Mathematica via MathLink. You will learn
what J/Link
is and how to use it both to call Mathematica from Java, and Java
Mathematica. Demonstrations will be presented to give you an idea
of the
sorts of things that users and developers can do with it. If you have ever
wanted to call Mathematica from an external program, or access
functionality from within the Mathematica environment, but shied
away from
MathLink programming, then come take a look at J/Link.
Mathematica Notebook
Value-Added Services with webMathematicaLars
Hohmuth, Wolfram Research, Inc.
webMathematica opens up exciting new possibilities for
developers. For example, it is now possible to sell or rent
services, or to build specialized web sites that allow subscribers to do
highly advanced calculations through a standard web interface. This talk
will give an overview of Wolfram Research licensing and support programs
for developers interested in building webMathematica-enhanced web
It will also provide a forum to discuss your ideas.
Mathematica Notebook
Creating Notations, Templated Structures, and Tensors
Jason Harris, Wolfram Research, Inc.
This talk will cover creating notations in Mathematica. It will
from creating basic notations to details on creating templated structures
via TagBoxes and the corresponding notations to use for these
With these techniques a "proper" implementation of Dirac's Bra Ket
Notation will be presented. Several other advanced features of the
notation package, such as adding input aliases and the Action
option, will
be mentioned. These techniques will culminate in a presentation of a
notation for Tensors, which fully works in both input and output.
a highly efficient algorithm to canonicalize tensorial expressions will be
demonstrated. Functioning with the created tensorial notation, by an
innovative technique this algorithm circumvents the dummy index relabeling
problem of tensor calculus. The complete algorithm handles linear
symmetries such as the Bianchi identities as well as fullAy accommodating
partial derivatives and mixed index classes.
Mathematica Notebook
Oleg Marichev and Michael Trott, Wolfram Research Inc.
Currently the web site functions.wolfram.com
includes more than 33,000
formulas for the about 250 elementary and special functions that are
available in Mathematica. The structure and organization of the web
is discussed in detail. An overview of how to manage and update this large
mathematical knowledge base and how to deliver various format types (e.g.,
Mathematica notebooks, HTML, and PDF) is given. Various
ways to find new formulas using Mathematica will be demonstrated.
development directions will be outlined.


text:
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Essential sewer pipe repairs to start next week (From The Northern Echo)
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Essential sewer pipe repairs to start next week in Yarm
1:33pm Thursday 10th January 2013 in News By Graeme Hetherington
WORK to replace a section of sewer pipe is to begin in Yarm next week.
Northumbrian Water is spending £200,000 to renew a 175-metre section of sewer on Worsall Road.
Peter Trees, the water company's project manager, said: "The existing sewer is prone to leaking and this essential work, which will involve installing a new section of pipe between numbers 16 and 36 Worsall Road, will help to resolve this issue.
"It will be necessary to have a road closure in place between numbers 14 and 36 Worsall Road. We will ensure the diversion route is clearly sign-posted and I would like to assure residents and commuters that we will do our best to complete the work as quickly as we can."
Construction traffic will need access to the areas where the work is being carried out, and to the utility's site compound, which is to be located off Worsall Road.
Residents in the affected area will receive detailed information about the work in writing.
Customers who require further advice or have any special requirements should ring Northumbrian Water on 0845 717 1100 or log on to www.nwl.co.uk
Comments are closed on this article.


text:
Welcome to the month of October,
Flocab is the crew that came to rock for you.
With the news on deck, so here's what they told us,
Florida's having problems with registration of voters.
The Republican party's looking into what the problem is,
Some say that there's statewide fraudulence.
The Supreme Court is back sitting on the bench,
And the weight of their issues is immense.
They've got human rights and affirmative action,
Same-sex marriage and voter rights.
What happened in Pennsylvania? Well a judge,
Stopped a voter ID law he won't budge.
He's saying that the state's requiring an ID,
Doesn't leave enough time for everyone to be prepared.
In Syria they're getting scared,
'Cause the violence could spread to everywhere over there.
They're getting told by the UN,
That they need to find peace and bring it all to an end.
The presidential debate - did y'all tune in>?
With a race like this you never know who will win.
A high school student was bullied in Michigan,
Voted the homecoming queen but keep listening.
Apparently they did it as a prank,
But she went anyway and made them all look stank.
50 years ago - let me think.
James Meredith the first African American
To attend the University of Mississippi,
Peace signs in the sky to show respect with me.
Here's a scenario that really got sticky,
A peanut butter recall, but no not Jiffy.
See, the Sunland brand is damaged,
So for now I'mma stick to a jelly sandwich.
Nathan Sproul runs several voter registration companies, and the Republican party has hired him to help register voters in 5 states. He claims that he has registered 500,000 people over the course of his career. But the legitimacy of these registrations is now under scrutiny. After questionable voter registration forms turned up in 10 counties, the Republican Party of Florida fired Sproul's company. Some of these forms listed people that were no longer living, and other forms were incomplete or illegible. Why do you think that parties hire people to register voters? Learn more.
The Supreme Court began its new term this Monday. This year, the highest court in the land will make decisions on affirmative action, same-sex marriage and voting rights. On October 10, the court will begin hearing a case concerning affirmative action at the University of Texas. Affirmative action refers to policies that favors certain races, religions, ethnicities or other groups that have faced historical discrimination. The ruling on the upcoming case will determine whether the University of Texas will continue its affirmative action program. Do you think race, religion or ethnicity should be factors considered by college admissions staff? Learn more.
Six months ago, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law that required voters to show ID before casting a ballot. Since then, critics of the law have been fighting for its repeal, claiming that it would make it more difficult for young adults, minorities, the elderly, poor and disabled to vote. This week, Judge Robert Simpson blocked the law for the upcoming presidential election. Simpson was concerned that there was not enough time for all voters to get valid IDs before November 6. Do you think people should be required to have an ID to vote? Learn more.
Syria has been filled with violence over the last 18 months as rebels have fought to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. This week the violence crossed into Turkey, when a mortar attack killed five civilizans. In response, Turkey fired artillary back across the Syrian border. The international community is concerned that the situation will continue to escalate. Do you think that Turkey should fire back at Syria? Learn more.
Thursday night marked the first round of debates for the 2012 presidential elections. The focus was domestic policy, with President Obama and Mitt Romney sparring over economic policies, the role of government and even Big Bird. The next morning the consensus amongst the media was that Romney won the first debate. Next week will be the vice presidential debate, and Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan will square off on foreign and domestic policy. Were you watching the debate? Who do you think won? Learn more.
16-year old Whitney Kropp was voted onto the homecoming court. But in a cruel twist, some of her classmates told her that they had voted for her as a joke. After hearing her story, local residents decided to take a stand against bullying and show their support for Kropp. Business owners donated her gown, shoes, hair styling and makeup, and attended the homecoming game to cheer her on. The community support gave Kropp the encouragement she needed to take her place on the homecoming court. If you were in Kropp's position, would you have had the courage to attend homecoming? Learn more.
Monday, October 1 marked 50 years since James Meredith became the first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi. The university, also known as Ole Miss, was an all-white school at the time. Though Meredith had the support of the federal government, the Mississippi government refused him the right to equal education on account of his race. As the campus swarmed with segregationists, U.S. Marshals escorted Meredith to register. This event was an important milestone in the fight for civil rights in the 1960s. How do you think James Meredith felt when he arrived on campus to register? Learn more.
Sunland Inc. is in a sticky situation. The peanut butter manufacturer recalled 101 of its products due to contamination. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says the recalled peanut butter has been linked to 30 salmonella cases in 19 states but has caused no deaths. Grocery stores such as Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target and Safeway recalled their Sunland products. How do you think large food manufacturers can maintain quality control? Learn more.
What state is having a problem with voter registration?
What part of the government just got back in session?
The Supreme Court
What kind of law did a Pennsylvania judge block?
Voter ID law
Which country did Syria fire into this week?
What important event in the presidential election process happened this week?
The first presidential debate
What state is the bullied homecoming queen from?
James Meredith was the first African American college student at which school?
University of Mississippi
What food item was recalled this week?
Peanut butter
OK, time for the BONUS round.
To answer these questions, you'll need to read the infoboxes.
What illness was being spread through contaminated peanut butter?
What was the focus of the first presidential debate?
Domestic policy
What other name is the University of Mississippi known by?
Ole Miss
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text:
Black Tie Untied
Date: February 11, 2013
by: Black Tie Staff
A true sign that "season" is here: sell-out events.
Cat Depot celebrated their 10-year anniversary gala Saturday night with a sell-out crowd. The organization began with the rescue of one feral cat and led to saving the lives of thousands. The evening celebrated its co-founders Ken and Linda Slavin as well as local veterinarians.
Click here to view photos of the event.
Another hot event this weekend was the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast's Palm Ball, themed "All Aboard for Conservation." Palm Ball also sold out with it's biggest attendance ever. Guests danced the night away to sounds of Tampa's South Town Fever. Co-Chairs Pauline Joerger, Margaret Wise, Ariane Dart, Cornelia Matson and adorably pregnant Janelle Beruff (due in April) did not disappoint!
Click here to view photos of the event.
Currently 0 Responses
- Aug
5 Somewhere Over The Rose
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
- Sep
18 Sarasota Orchestra: Chamber Series
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
- Sep
18 Chamber Soirees: Flute
5:30 pm
- Oct
12 Chamber Soirees: Clarinet
4:00 pm
Have you seen Tiny Tim?
Tiny Tim, a 2-year-old Chihuahua, has gone missing from his foster home.
Temple plans community outreach
Temple Sinai will expand its presence in the Lakewood Ranch area this fall with programs and opportunities for socializing and learning.
Fifty-year reunion offers payback
When Lakewood Ranch resident Thomas Newman returned to his alma mater for a 50th reunion, he took home more than memories.