Finalists Named for First-Ever Andy McLaughlin Rising Star Award
The SIPA Board of Directors voted earlier this year to establish a new award to spotlight rising stars in our industry—in recognition of a past rising star who left us all too soon.
The seven highly worthy finalists for the inaugural Andy McLaughlin Rising Star Award are listed below:
- Allison Berlin, product marketing director, BLR
- Dana Byerwalter, editor, Prime Publishing/FaveCrafts.com
- Katelyn Duggan, senior marketing manager, Simplify Compliance
- Kristy Keller, brand director, Access Intelligence
- Laura Shay, editor, Prime Publishing LLC
- Scott Waldyn, editor, Prime Publishing LLC
- Stephanie Williford, CEO, EB Medicine
As you may know, Andy died unexpectedly last fall at the age of 47. What you probably don't know is that Andy was the ultimate rising star, founding his company, PaperClip Communications, at the age of 24. He was deeply involved with SIPA, including serving as president, and credited that involvement with fueling his success in the industry.
The winner will be named at the SIPAwards luncheon on June 6.
Welcome New Members
We are excited to welcome the following new members to the SIPA community:
The Day News & Media Ltd. - The Day is an affordable, online news service designed specifically for schools and colleges, linking the news to different parts of the curriculum. It currently boasts 1,300 school subscribers, and an Average Issue Readership (AIR) of 546,000 students per day.
FiscalNote Inc. - FiscalNote has reinvented influence – dramatically improving the way organizations build and manage their relationships with all levels of government, enabling them to have maximum impact on legislation and regulation.
Pugpig - Pugpig is a leading mobile publishing, comms and engagement platform that powers apps for the world's biggest publishers, associations and institutions. From The Economist, Penton, InfoPro and Hearst, to the American Institute of Physics, the ACCA and many more.
Cabot Wealth Network Brings in Ed Coburn as President
Cabot Wealth Network has announced the appointment of Ed Coburn as president of the company. Tim Lutts, previous president, retains the titles of chairman, CEO and chief investment strategist.
"We are delighted to add someone with Ed's experience and expertise," said Lutts. "His marketing insights and technical knowledge are just what we need for continued growth for Cabot Wealth Network." Lutts mentioned that adding Coburn is part of his succession planning and will permit him to focus more on investment strategy.
For his part, Coburn said it is "wonderful to be joining this team and to help build on the company's long, successful history." He also noted that he has operated numerous specialized information businesses and has been looking for an opportunity to acquire one.
Previously Coburn had run B2B and B2C publishing and media businesses including School Family Media, Harvard Health Publications and Circadian Information and had been a lead consultant for consulting and technology firm Mequoda Systems. He will be speaking on diversity at the 2018 SIPA Annual Conference in June.
Simplify Compliance Completes Acquisition of Bluepoint Leadership Development
Simplify Compliance, a portfolio company of Leeds Equity Partners, has acquired Bluepoint Leadership Development, Inc., a provider of leadership training and content. Based in Ohio, Bluepoint provides leadership training through in-person workshops and coaching solutions to a blue-chip customer base in the U.S. and internationally.
Bluepoint represents the fourth acquisition for Simplify Compliance since its formation in 2016. "We are extremely excited to have partnered with Bluepoint," said Dan Oswald, CEO of Simplify Compliance and a speaker on M&A at the upcoming 2018 SIPA Annual Conference. "With this addition to our portfolio, we have continued to underscore our dedication to customers, employees, and stakeholders by investing in our core solutions to deliver actionable information and high quality training to our customer base."
Lobbyists.Info Launches First Full-Scale Government Relations Industry Compensation Survey
Columbia Books & Information Services' Lobbyists.Info is launching the first-ever full-scale Government Relations Compensation Survey spanning the complete landscape of government relations professionals from firms to corporations, associations, PACs and think tanks. Lobbyists.info, the provider of industry staples including Washington Representatives to the US Congress Handbook and Almanac of American Politics, aims to explore and unveil compensation truths and trends in an often-misunderstood industry.
Given the complexity of the industry structure which includes a wide variety of professional focuses, specialties, and education levels and the lack of a certifying body, government relations has been vastly ignored in compensation reporting.
Ascend Math Announces Addition of School and Teacher Summary Dashboards
Ascend Education has announced the addition of new School and Teacher Summary Dashboards to its Ascend Math program. The School Summary Dashboard displays a summary of all progress in an Ascend Math school. The dashboard may be saved or printed. Charts and data provide valuable information on student's usage and growth for last week and the current school year.
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Nevena Jovanovic.
Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 and SIIA in 2013 as editorial director…