Feb. 12: Webinar training on InDesign software. Session co-sponsored by NCPA. Details

Feb. 26-27: Annual meeting of North Carolina Press Photographers Association, Asheboro

March 1-5: Newspapers in Education Week

March 5: Webinar on Social Media co-sponsored by NCPA. Get the details

March 14-20: Sunshine Week

March 16: Sunshine Day program at Greensboro

March 18: NCPA Winter Institute at the Dean Dome, Chapel Hill

April 29: Newspaper Academy at UNC-Chapel Hill

May 14-15: North Carolina Newspaper Production Conference at Durham. Details.

Best Ad Contest information available Friday
Rules, instructions and more will be available Friday for the 2010 Best Ad Contest for North Carolina Press Association members. All of this will be available online. We will not mail entry forms and material this year. You’ll need to go to www.ncpress.com, look for the button on the right side of the home page and click on it to access contest information. Remember, as reported previously, almost all entries must be submitted online, in either PDF or JPG format. Entry deadline is March 8.

Also on Friday…
Take advantage of the first of several Webinars cosponsored by NCPA, SNPA and the Iowa Newspaper Foundation scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday. The topic is using InDesign software. Get more details by clicking on the link above left in the Upcoming calendar.

New ad for you to use
NCPS has created a new promotion advertisement you may use in your newspapers for alerting your readers of the many services provided. NCPS offers a variety of one-stop programs to help people reach the most newspaper customers with the least effort on their part, whether through advertising or press releases. To obtain this ad, go to www.ncpress.com/ncps/download.html.

Come enjoy the sunshine!
Here’s a date to mark on your calendar: March 16. That’s the date of the annual Sunshine Day sponsored by the North Carolina Open Government Coalition. The venue should be a real treat for attendees – the newly opened International Civil Rights Center & Museum in downtown Greensboro. The day’s program includes a tour of the museum, a panel on the state of open government in North Carolina and a national media panel. That evening NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg will be speaking at the Carolina Theater in Greensboro. The coalition has reserved some seats for its Sunshine Day attendees. Watch for more information soon at www.ncopengov.org.

Winter weather causes group to postpone meeting
The rounds of winter storms creating havoc for the East also had an impact on one North Carolina gathering. The annual meeting and awards presentation for the N.C. Press Photographers Association had to be postponed. The new date is Feb. 26-27. The location is the same, Randolph Community College at Asheboro. Get more information by going to www.ncppaonline.org.

Does your paper have a Facebook page?
Last week in your favorite e-mail newsletter, we asked for newspaper members with Facebook pages to let us know about it. So far we’ve heard from: The Warren Record, The Daily Tar Heel, The Dispatch (Lexington), Eastern Wake News, The Sanford Herald, The Stanly News & Press and The State Port Pilot. If you have one, drop us an e-mail and let us know about it!

• Mitchell Oakley retired as group publisher of three Cooke Communications papers, The Times-Leader of Grifton, The Farmville Enterprise and The Standard Laconic of Snow Hill. Kyle Stephens has been promoted to associate publisher of those three papers.
• Ashley Futrell, publisher of the Washington Daily News, has been appointed to the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Authority.
• Chris Miller, prep sports writer for The Daily News at Jacksonville, won an award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. He won the NSCAA Writing Contest award for non-dealline feature writing.

• Teens, young adults blogging less, use social media sites more, according to Pew study
• Issue of trust: Fewer people believe what their peers have to say online
• Watch the Webcast of Making Media Work discussion
• News Corp. digital chief stresses multiple revenue streams needed, including paid content
• Legislation to extend sales tax to newspapers dies in Colorado
• City unhappy with stripes carrier painted on pavement to ID subscribers
• Newspapers expected to get less than 10% of political ad dollars this year
• Is online news just ramen noodles? What media economics research can teach us about valuing paid content
• 25% of Web viewers on newspaper sites go elsewhere when an advertisement is tacked onto the front of a video
• Texas attorney general says cities don't have First Amendment right to secret meetings

• BILL MITCHELL: Can local advertisers be sold on local online news?
• JILL GEISLER: What great bosses know about 'no suprises'