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#7: In Conversation with Samantha Whitehorne, of ASAE, on Switching from a Print Magazine to Digital-First

Jul 26, 2022

Today’s guest is Samantha Whitehorne, senior director, and editor-in-chief, of Associations Now at ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership. Sam leads content development and management of ASAE’s Associations Now media channel.

Throughout her 17 years at ASAE, Sam has managed both print and digital channels and developed content that positions Associations Now as the definitive source of news and thought leadership for association professionals. Since Associations Now initially launched in 2005, it has won more than 60 awards from FOLIO, Association Media & Publishing, Association Trends, and others.

Prior to joining ASAE, Samantha worked at Prevention magazine. She earned an M.A. from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications and a B.A. from American University. 

Topics covered:

  • Sam’s evolving role at ASAE over 17 years.
  • The evolution of Associations Now, which was a print magazine. Now, it’s a digital-first media channel. 
  • How they use an artificial intelligence-driven platform for member e-newsletters. 
  • How Associations Now staff and their outside partner develop content each day. 
  • Around 2020–but pre-pandemic—digital revenue overtook print revenue for the first time.
  • How they saw that both advertisers and members were becoming more interested in the digital content. 
  • Associations Now has never said they’re getting rid of print entirely; they create special publications in print. 
  • When they eliminated the print magazine, ASAE wanted to give members something new. So, they relaunched AssociationsNow.com and redesigned their e-newsletters at the same time. 
  • Associations Now created new Deep Dive feature packages online on specific topics. 
  • Examples of digital and sponsored content products that Associations Now now sells. 
  • Advice for when you reduce or eliminate print publications. 
  • Being transparent and acknowledging the grief some staff may have over eliminating print.
  • The exciting opportunities of multimedia and video in association content.  

Resources:

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