SND/Update

It is my pleasure to announce Denise M. Reagan as the president of the Society for News Design Foundation effective immediately — she takes on a three-year term that involves leading the Foundation’s efforts in research and education, as well as coordinating the Foundation’s board of trustees.

“I am so excited to take on this new challenge,” said Denise. “I have always been a huge supporter of SNDF’s mission, and I can’t wait to help boost its profile. I want to let people know how the Foundation’s money has helped so many people, from the yearly student travel grants to the scholarship recipients to the free Web Design Boot Camp registrations for unemployed journalists and many more.”

The Gannett Foundation has just made it a lot easier for SND members to get the training they need to transition to careers in online journalism.

Hello, SND members. I hope this note finds you all in full holiday swing, heading into your best year ever. As 2009 draws to a close, I wanted to update you one last time on where we are.

The beginning of a new year also marks a transition for SND: The end of Elise Burroughs’ service as executive director.

Over the past five years Elise has worked tirelessly to strengthen the Society on many fronts, helping find new avenues for fund-raising, spread the Society’s footprint around the globe and countless interactions with members. Elise is a dedicated professional who immerses herself in every challenge. In anticipation of our workshop this fall in Buenos Aires, she even began learning Spanish.

Elise was kind enough to share some of her thoughts on SND, design and the state of the industry.

It’s the season of giving, and the SND leadership team would like to give you a way to bring your friends into the Society in the year ahead.

The Society for News Design and the Society for News Design Foundation are moving to Florida.

As of Dec. 12, 2009, please remit all payments and direct all correspondence and invoices to:

SND 424 E. Central Blvd., Suite 406 Orlando, FL 32801 Phone: (407) 420-7748 Fax: (407) 420-7697

Direct all inquiries to the Executive Director, Stephen Komives, skomives@snd.org.

SND’s Web site and main e-mail address remain the same: http://www.snd.org; snd@snd.org.

Last year SNDS upgraded the online news design competition. This year SNDS takes a further step into the online media business and will include the judging of mobile media.   “Mobile media is a growing platform widely used by news media. It is therefore natural for Best of Scandinavian News Design to include this platform into the annual news design competition,” says Flemming Hvidtfeldt, chairman of Best of Scandinavian News Design competition.

Mobile media will be a category under the online competition. The net jury will judge the entries. Learn more at http://snds.org/Default.aspx?ID=71&Purge=True

SND’s fourth annual cover competition for the 31st edition of The Best of News Design™ is under way.

A panel of 12 judges will begin reviewing cover entries soon after the competition’s Dec. 18 deadline.

SND’s new executive director, Stephen Komives, has completed an intense week onsite in Rhode Island, leading the transition of SND’s headquarters from an office park in North Kingstown, R.I. to a virtual office that will be based in Orlando, Fl. Stephen, Executive Director Elise Burroughs and Membership Manager Susan Santoro are immersed in the process of establishing new bank accounts, incorporating SND in Florida and moving equipment to ensure a smooth transition.

We are starting to make plans for an exciting 2010. We’d like to invite everyone to help reboot SND.

Join us for a Saturday of presentations AND conversations, Dec. 12, 2009 from 9:30 until 1:30 at the Hickory Daily Record, 1100 Park Place, Hickory, N.C. 28603. An optional, informal lunch will follow with plenty of time for more conversation, networking and Q&A.

If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to expand your print design skills to the Web, look no further. SND’s acclaimed, two-day introduction to the essential building blocks is coming to Columbia College in Chicago. In this weekend course we’ll demystify the Web 2.0 toolbox and help you build a compelling, news-driven package from scratch. We’ll focus on HTML/CSS (the foundation of the Web) and how to integrate widgets from Google, Twitter, Flickr and more. See the details, including hotel and travel information, here. Then register for theWeb Design Boot Camp — space is limited!