Craig Reiss Introduces Seminar Attendees to The Audience Whisperer

We all have heard of The Horse Whisperer and The Dog Whisperer, but in San Diego, attendees will learn about how to become The Audience Whisperer. Craig Reiss presents a two-part session on Saturday morning covering Discovery: What the Audience Wants and Application: The Formula for Market-Leading Editorial. Print publications seeking to improve their design will not want to miss Craig’s Saturday afternoon sessions on The Emotional Handshake: Principles of Cover Design and Seeing Content: Magazine Design in a Pinched Landscape.

Craig Reiss is a C-level media executive with extensive experience in revitalizing mature properties, launching successful new products, and crisis management of seemingly untenable businesses. He has been the principle creative and strategist on more than 260 publications and more than 200 digital extensions from print.

Craig has been the principal strategist and creative for more than 120 consumer magazines and Websites from Motor Trend, Surfer and Power & Motoryacht to Soap Opera Digest, Horse & Rider and Equus. He performed the same role for more than 140 business publications from Adweek, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter to Architecture, National Real Estate Investor and Farm Industry News.

Earlier, he was Chairman of Craig Reiss Media, an Internet publisher of video-driven enthusiast Websites that converted magazine advertisers into interactive video marketers. He has had bottom-line responsibility for Kagan World Media, the Media Central unit of Primedia and The Design Group of VNU.

Mandee Widrick Helps Attendees to Navigate Social Media Marketing in San Diego

Today, we either love or hate social media, but everyone needs to understand it. Mandee Widrick will train attendees how to market online using sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and similar sites. Are you new to social media marketing and wondering how to use it to promote your business? Then her first session, Facebook and Twitter for Beginners, on Friday morning will discuss these two major social networking sites and how to utilize them to get you noticed online. The session will additionally talk about common mistakes and misconceptions that newbies have about social media marketing, and help you overcome any fears you may have about using the internet to sell yourself.

If you are already active on social media and looking for the next step to grow your networks, then Advanced Social Media Marketing is for you. Learn how Mandee has successfully built a following of thousands in the horse industry for her online magazine, Horse Family™. She will take an in-depth look at the steps she followed to get where she is today; sharing tips and tricks that will boost your following and help you become recognized as an "expert" on the internet.

Mandee firmly believes in pursing the career that she loves and enjoys and encouraging everyone she meets to do the same. Public Relations for Small Business Owners will help you get creative in your business marketing efforts. Learn how to come up with unique strategies and methods that will get your business noticed. This session will discuss traditional marketing methods as well as new media marketing, and how they can work together.

Mandee Widrick is an entrepreneur and social media consultant in her early 20's living in a small town near Watertown, New York. She is CEO of ChargedUp Media, a social media marketing company, and trains other entrepreneurs and business owners how to market online using sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and similar sites.

In January 2010, Mandee founded Horse Family™ Magazine, an online blog for equestrians which has now grown to accumulate over 8,000 followers on social networks. She has interviewed top equine professionals and reviewed products for numerous companies, establishing a successful presence on the web while still getting her “horse fix” as she works.

Mandeeʼs first speaking engagement occurred in 2009 at the LEAH Homeschool Convention in Rochester, New York, where she spoke to over 130 young students and their parents on the topic of entrepreneurship and business startup. She has since moved on to speak at various small business events and host her own workshops, sharing her story and marketing expertise with many. Mandee firmly believes in pursing the career that she loves and enjoys, encouraging everyone she meets to do the same.

AHP Seeks Horses on the Beach Images for Awards Presentations

To capture the theme of the AHP “Hoofprints in the Sand” Seminar, we would like to use between 10-15 images of horses on the beach photographed by AHP members in the Awards PowerPoint Presentations in June.

If you are interested in submitting an image, here are the guidelines:

• Size: Minimum approximate size of 1024x768 pixels, preferred 2048x1536, at 72 dpi

• Orientation: Horizontal or vertical

• Quantity: No more than 5 images per photographer

• Limited to AHP members and staff only

Selection of images shall be at the sole discretion of the Executive Director and Webmaster. If your image(s) are used, photographer will grant AHP rights to use the chosen images in 2011 Awards Presentations without compensation. Photographer will receive credit in the PowerPoint presentation.

Submit images to Chris Brune at ahorsepubs@aol.com on or before May 9th.

Bill Shelton Presents a Motivating Afternoon to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

Bill Shelton spoke at an AHP seminar for the first time in Lexington in 2010. His two presentations received rave reviews and he will be back this year with two new sessions in San Diego.

On Saturday afternoon, he begins with Creativity and Creative Problem Solving, a session that will teach you how to better understand creativity and how to work smarter, not harder. The second session, By the Numbers - Fast Fixes to Problems Large and Small, is a fun, fast-paced, exciting, information packed hour done in a live blog style. Bill will address problems and opportunities large and small, faced by publishers and marketers in the equine industry in blog-form list style such as:

• 5 ways to attract more readers

• 7 ways to get customers' attention

• 3 ways to keep your team innovative

Bill Shelton represents the rare combination of business entrepreneur and advertising creative. As Co-Founder and President of “micro-agency” Left Field Creative, Shelton and his partner Terri Lacey have developed a reputation for wrestling accounts and project work away from larger, more traditional agencies. The creative duo opened Left Field in 1996 at the request of their first client, CITGO Petroleum.

Innovative and unconventional, Bill carries a reputation as an uncompromising strategist, whose work creates lasting bonds with consumers. Outspoken about advertising and marketing produced only to win awards, yet passionate about truly great work, Bill challenges conventional thinking, always looking for new ways to reach the hearts and minds of people on a deeper, more emotional level.

Bill’s experience ranges from consumer packaged goods to agriculture, on a diverse mix of accounts including Purina, Anheuser-Busch, John Deere, Monsanto, Lender’s Bagels, Aunt Jemima, CITGO Petroleum, NIKE, Midas Automotive and more.

To attend Bill's sessions, register for the AHP Hoofprints in the Sand Seminar today!

Seminar information available at www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.asp

Sharing Ideas in San Diego

At last year’s seminar, we introduced a Sharing Ideas Forum, where members could discuss any topics, exchange ideas and ask questions in an informal environment. Moderator, Diana De Rosa, had achieved success in her local area with a group she started of prominent businessmen and women who gathered monthly to share and learn.

Over 70% of members who responded to the AHP seminar survey indicated an interest in a Sharing Ideas session. In San Diego, attendees will have multiple opportunities to explore ideas with others as there will be forums on several topics including Digital Publishing, Social Media, Small Publishers, Marketing Yourself or Your Business and (weather permitting) On the Beach. Most of these forums will follow breakout sessions on these subjects which will motivate discussion.

Taking your knowledge and sharing it with others and vice-versa is what the Sharing Ideas Forum is about. Think of some tidbit you could pass along that would only take you 5 -10 minutes to explain, or maybe even less, and bring that with you to one or more the Sharing Ideas Forums. And if you can outline it on paper and hand it out even better.

Check the seminar schedule for times at www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/files/2011/Schedule_2011.asp

AHP Member Guests Get Extra Perks

Staying at the Catamaran Resort Hotel & Spa will not only give you a great room rate, but as a hotel guest and AHP member, you will reap some extra benefits. 




Complimentary Wireless Internet Access in all the guestrooms and beach service

Complimentary access to Indoor/Outdoor Bay Front Fitness Facility http://www.catamaranresort.com/activities/fitness-center/

$15 Discount on Any Spa Treatment (50-Minutes or more) with 7-Days Advance Reservation
http://www.catamaranspa.com/

Complimentary Boarding Passes to the Bahia Belle Sternwheeler
(Valued at $10.00 per person) for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening.
http://www.catamaranresort.com/dining-entertainment/bahia-belle/

Onsite Water Sports Rentals
http://www.catamaranresort.com/activities/water-sports/

Special Group Rates
Standard Room: $159 (Applicable local and state taxes not included)
Upgraded rooms may also be available online. These special group rates have been reserved for AHP members, but only for a limited time. Group rates will be provided three (3) days pre and three (3) days post the conference dates based on availability.

Please book your reservations early.

Deadline for reservations is May 23, 2011 or until all group rooms have been allocated whichever comes first. Reservations after the deadline are based on availability. All reservations require a deposit or credit card guarantee to hold them and they may be cancelled, without penalties up until 72 hours of your arrival date.

Online room reservations:
AHP members can click on the link below to make reservations. You will be directed to the property's home page. Please enter any preferences such as king or double; ground floor; etc. in Special Requests section.
Catamaran Reservation Online Link for AHP Members

Phone room reservations
Call 858-488-1081 and mention the American Horse Publications Seminar.