Signature May/June 2015 - 15


shortruns
duties such as monitoring and analyzing
Google Analytics data or some form of
revenue reporting, which someone else
handled at their campus newspapers. Or
they might need to know how to make a
business case for why their organization
should take up their ideas.
Lynsey Hart, ASQ's newsletter editor
and a 2013 college graduate, has taken
many online courses. "I'm currently
taking How to Edit Marketing Materials with Savvy and Sense to learn how to
better maintain brand standards, tone,
and voice in my editing process," she says.
"In journalism school, you're sort of in
this bubble that makes you think everyone
understands the importance of things like
social media, responsive design, and not
using comic sans font," Hart continues.
"But that bubble pops very quickly when
you enter the real world. It's important
that you can back these ideas up with hard
numbers. At the very least, you should be
able to prepare a basic business document
to support spending five hours a week on
Twitter, or a couple thousand dollars on
a new web design or platform."
These types of reports also could
require a firm understanding of Excel.
There are lots of options for Excel training, but don't forget that YouTube and
Google searches can yield quick answers
to your cell-formula and graph-creation
quandaries. And Excelexposure.com offers
free training guides and videos.
"There are quite a few things I want
to learn that I didn't have a chance to
cover in journalism school: coding, data
analysis, and another foreign language,"
Hart says. "There are so many things you
can learn, and the field is so competitive
that you must keep improving."
A report by Poynter and the Knight
Foundation, "Constant Training: New
Normal or Missed Opportunity," explained that the seemingly exponential
changes of the digital-age are happening
faster than training is becoming available,
pointing out, "In today's world, no one is
ever fully trained." n
Tyler Gaskill is assistant editor, Quality

SIDEBAR
SURVEYS
Highlights of weekly online
polls from Association Media
& Publishing's e-newsletter

BLOG RESULTS

How would you describe your
organization's blog?

EFFECTIVE

40%
NOT SURE PEOPLE REALLY READ IT

20%
FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

Is your flagship publication a
stand-alone brand?

WE DON'T HAVE A BLOG

40%

YES
SOURCE: APRIL 21, 2016, SIDEBAR

75%
NO, THAT'S NOT OUR STRATEGY

25%
SOURCE: APRIL 14, 2016, SIDEBAR

FONT SELECTION

In your organization's main
publication, what is your
philosophy on font selection?

ONLY SPECIFIC FONT, SIZES AND STYLES
ARE ALLOWED, AND WE NEVER DEVIATE

BOOK PUBLISHING

Does your organization have a
book-publishing program?

YES

25%
THE BODY TYPE IS ALWAYS THE SAME, BUT
THE HEADLINE TYPE CHANGES TO REFLECT
THE SUBJECT OR TONE OF THE ARTICLE

50%

67%

WE DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO WITH FONTS
TO MAKE EVERYTHING FIT

NO

33%
SOURCE: MARCH 31, 2016, SIDEBAR

25%
SOURCE: APRIL 7, 2016, SIDEBAR

Progress, published by ASQ.
MAY/JUNE 16

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15
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signature May/June 2015
