The theme of this year’s Advantage User Group conference—headquartered at The Maison Dupuy Hotel in New Orleans--is “Supporting the Marketer.” Although a number of sessions and events revolve around that theme, others feature different topics that AUG members have identified as being of interest.

The 2010 conference will open Wednesday afternoon—January 13-- with a choice of two discussion sessions:

1)      XML ICEDIS Standards for Academic Publishers

2)      Implementing Marketing Strategies in Advantage

An ACS-led update on AMB and BI will follow those sessions, and the day will wind down with a meet and greet reception.

Thursday begins with a guest speaker, Kevin Carr, president of Motor Information Systems, and continues with user and vendor presentations on Circulation Modeling, ACS News, Direction & Strategy, and discussions and roundtables on interfaces with Advantage. 

The final day includes a vendor presentation on print-on-demand, plus a look at some new features in the coming release of Advantage, and two roundtable discussions.

We hope to see you there!  If you aren’t able to make it this year, start planning now to attend in 2011.

Ogden Publications, a consumer magazine publisher located in Topeka, Kansas, publishes magazines and books for people interested in self-sufficiency, sustainability, rural lifestyles and farm memorabilia.  Their magazine titles include Mother Earth News, Utne Reader, Natural Home, The Herb Companion, Grit, Capper’s, Motorcycle Classics, Farm Collector, Gas Engine Magazine, and Good Things to Eat. The company also offers select products to its readers, including insurance and financial services.

Ogden is a company that practices what it preaches in its office building and publishing operations.  Their numerous green initiatives in recent years include installing solar tubes to supplement with natural light and eliminating artificial light where possible, providing designated carpool spaces, replacing all Styrofoam cups with glass mugs, providing each employee with recycling bins at their desk for paper, providing recycling bins throughout the office for aluminum cans, cardboard, chipboard, paper, plastic, steel and glass, and holding recycling drives for employees to bring in used home computers and tennis shoes to recycle.  Their magazines are printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks, and they use as little film and film processing as possible in production.  Plus, Ogden Publications has purchased 2.4 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy credits, effectively offsetting 100 percent of its electricity usage.

Ogden became an Advantage client in 2001.  They were searching for a reliable system and a vendor that they could partner with for the long-term, and they found both with Advantage.  Account manager Ken Darnell has worked with the Ogden team on a number of projects and upgrades.  He says that Ogden played a significant role in helping the Advantage Web Module become what it is today.  “Ogden had a real vision for what they wanted their web sites to be for their customers,” says Ken.  “They were well ahead of most publishers at the time and knew what they wanted in providing a web experience that was flexible and easy to use.”

“Efficient database management is at the very heart of Ogden’s business model,” says Bryan Welch, Ogden’s publisher.  “We believe our publishing business is migrating toward a model based on large and highly detailed databases of customers whose interests and passions are the driving force behind our enterprise. Obviously, our relationship with Advantage has been a key component in the development of our business.”

Ten years ago, as we crossed the millennium threshold, big changes were in the wind for print publishing.   Ecommerce and digital content were visions of growing clarity. Prognosticators abounded, but there was no clear industry direction. Many of our clients were waiting to see what other publishers would do to try and make money with digital content on the web, and what technologies would prevail. Amid much uncertainty, ACS developed several strategies that provided our clients with a competitive advantage:

• Keep Advantage functionality abreast of the known new developments, such as PCI, direct debit, 24x7 processing, and business intelligence.
• Aggressively pursue growing industry shifts where publishers could continue to thrive, such as  ecommerce, digital content access management, and conferences/events management.
• Explore and develop emerging features  in the European marketplace, such as alternate delivery (an innovative system that is now making inroads into several US markets)
• Develop project management excellence to offer to our clients, utilizing tools and techniques of   the internationally-recognized Project Management Institute (PMI).
• Establish an Advantage upgrade program that enables our clients to efficiently upgrade their Advantage software on a regular basis.

Many of these strategies are still works in progress. For example, we're just releasing the first version of our Business Intelligence module and we've started work on some major initiatives in alternate delivery.

What kind of job would you say we’ve done in implementing these strategies? Your feedback would be very helpful.

From a business perspective, ACS has seen solid success for the first 10 years of the new millennium. As is the case for many of our clients, the last two years have been difficult for us, though I’m happy to report that ACS enters the second decade with many projects either underway or planned with our current clients, and a strong sales pipeline.   We’ve also seen major expansion internationally: 10 new Advantage clients in the UK, France, Denmark and Australia.

Looking back, it now appears that the last 10 years were a time for sorting out where publishers could go with the advent of the internet and major new technologies affecting publishing. Here at the end of the decade, of course, we’ve seen major upsets to our world economy which have decimated certain segments of the publishing marketplace.

I expect that the next decade will be a period of transition providing many opportunities to fully implement and refine the new, innovative ways of publishing we’ve seen in the last decade. To be specific, I believe we’ll see major adaptation of automation in the following areas:

Content packaging - I anticipate the emergence of new and standardized taxonomies appropriate for different publishing segments, enabling information to be custom packaged for maximum benefit to target audiences. I expect we’ll see a new level of automation that allows some publishers to move away almost totally—at least in some market segments—from traditional methods which have evolved over centuries for organizing articles into magazine issues, and chapters into books.

Delivery methods - As sophisticated taxonomy methods will enable a major leap forward in organizing and packaging information for publication, so various distribution channels will be enhanced to deliver that information in the most expedient fashion for the customer.  Digital push via email; social media and podcasts; browser-based, smartphone-based and eReader-based presentation of content; printed content delivered more efficiently (e.g., the evolution alternate delivery); conferences and events both in-person and virtual. And the list goes on.

Pricing and payment - We’ve already seen the emergence of new pricing and payment models (micropayments on iTunes is the first that comes to mind). I expect these models will be refined and adapted in coming years to support the advances in content packaging and delivery channels. New levels of sophistication in automation will likely be the only means of handling the complexity this introduces.

Business Intelligence - Analysis through next-generation Business Intelligence tools will be essential to manage the new world of publishing in the 2010’s. Given the maturation of publishing concerning content packaging, delivery channels, and pricing/payment models, I expect publishers will only be able to track more closely with their audiences through efficient BI analysis. Fully realizing the value of each member of their audience will require good metrics for buying habits, content access patterns, etc. Finding optimal methods of communication through sophisticated analysis, I expect, will be the key to maximizing revenue opportunities.

We at ACS look forward to the next decade with great optimism. We stand committed to harness technology to help you not just survive in the down economy, but even thrive during the tough times. If my speculation (above) bears out, there will be a lot of adaptation necessary for publishing prosperity in the coming years. ACS is here to be your ‘adaptation partner’ for the 2010’s. Our software, consulting and support services, and staff expertise will help you through these years of transition. Dan Heffernan, as our Chief Product Manager, heads a team responsible for mapping the future for our software so we can stay ahead of the game, well positioned to help you adapt to the new publishing world. Dan will present exciting new futures for the software at the Advantage Users Group USA meeting in New Orleans in mid-January. I hope to see you there. 

ACS will be one of the exhibitors at Publishing Expo at Olympia 2 in London February 24th and 25th, 2010.  Pub Expo is the key UK event dedicated to the magazine publishing industry.   It combines a showcase of suppliers demonstrating exciting new products with a free education program incorporating seminars, workshops and demonstrations, all offering the latest up-to-date information.

It attracts thousands of publishing professionals involved in producing magazines, newspapers, brochures, newsletters, directories and catalogs - covering print, digital, electronic and online.  It offers the latest ideas, the contacts, the products, the services and solutions to enable publishing teams to compete effectively in their markets.

In 2010, Publishing Expo will again take place at Olympia February24th - 25th, and will feature more exhibitors, more seminars and workshops - and more visitors,  all coming to do business at what is the UK's only dedicated exhibition for magazine publishing professionals.

If you attend Pub Expo, please stop in at the Advantage booth: Stand A30.

www.publishingexpo.co.uk

Although Dave Rees is a 17-year veteran at ACS, the years are not consecutive.  He was first hired as a new college graduate in 1988.  He worked at ACS (then T & B Computing) for two years in the Trackstar group, a product line that has since been phased out.  He left ACS for a few years and, in the interim, he worked at Unisys and then at a small software company that developed electronic communication software for auto manufacturers and their vendors. 

Dave returned to ACS in 1995 and joined the development group led by Karl Davis.  He did a lot of work with Farm Journal, as well as other clients, and then became a lead engineer, working on implementation projects such as Weekly Reader, Massachusetts Medical Society and National Auto Research.

A couple of years ago, Dave moved to the technical support team, led by Linda Lorenz.  He likes dealing with client issues and enjoys learning new functionality and ways of doing things.  Currently, he spends most of his time on Bayard Presse and has studied French in order to communicate with the people there. He appreciates the fact that ACS is a small enough company that he can see a project through from start to finish and he feels a great sense of satisfaction in doing so.

Evelyn Acton, Support Center manager, enjoys working with him.  “Dave is a man of many words,” she says.  “The good news is that they are good words.  He communicates well both with clients and ACS staff.  Our clients always enjoy their exchanges with Dave.  I’m glad he’s on the team.”

The son of an IBM engineer, in a family that moved a lot, Dave enrolled in the computer science program at the University of Minnesota.  At first, he enjoyed all his classes EXCEPT computer science and thought that he might pursue something else.  He took a break from college, came to Michigan and worked for a time, and decided that computers were indeed what he wanted to study.  He returned to school, at Eastern Michigan University this time, and finished his degree in computer science.  He tossed in some accounting classes along the way, which have served him well working with the accounting functionality in Advantage.

Co-worker Bryan Varblow has this to say about him:  “Dave is dedicated to finding a solution to any problem which comes his way.  Whether it’s a quick task or a long term project, you can always count on the fact that Dave will see it through to completion until the client is satisfied that their needs have been fully met.  While Dave is solving the issue du jour, he also brings a positive attitude which encourages all those around him.”

Dave and his wife, Shelley, have three children: Emma, 20, a sophomore in college, Matt, 17, a senior in high school and Gabe, 16, a high school sophomore.  The family lives in Redford Township and Dave and Shelley are heavily involved in the worship ministry at their church.  When the kids were younger, Dave spent much of his free time with his sons in Boy Scout activities.  He is proud that Matt has achieved Eagle Scout status and Gabe is very close to it.  Dave’s other leisure-time interests include singing in the church worship band, reading up on his Welsh heritage (the family was able to spend two weeks in Wales a few years ago and would love to go back), exercising and tinkering with new technology.

A fun-loving guy with a great sense of humor, Dave has enlivened the ACS office over the years with a ready smile, his non-stop flow of puns, and an ever-changing collection of toys and novelties in his cubicle. Dave has twice served as the emcee at the ACS Christmas party, entertaining employees and guests with his humorous banter.  But when it comes to his job, he’s plenty serious.

It’s a busy time of year, but as you make that transition into the new decade, please remember to do your Advantage end-of-year processing. If you missed the Advantage End of Year Reminder Alert, you can find it here.

If you are not currently receiving email alerts, but would like to, simply send a request to support@advantagecs.com asking to be added as a system administrator for your company.  Then you will receive all alerts that may affect your operation.

You can also view or search for alerts that affect your Advantage revision by logging in to the ACS support website and using the Knowledge Base links at the left. 

For more information about alerts, please contact Angie Markel.

Advantage 2010R1 is full of new functionality and cost-saving features.  Here are some highlights:

• Auto-renewal Chains --With this release, you can set up auto-renewal "chains," which will allow you to step a customer through a series of structured offers with each CIR350 auto-renewal of the subscription.  For example, the initial offer might be for a basic rate, while term 2 steps the customer up in price, and term 3 offers a "loyalty" premium.  The feature makes use of subscription choices for defining the offers, and the pricing for each step in the chain is up to you.
• Automatic Migration Path --You can now use the Advantage inventory package feature to set up an "automatic migration" structure, whereby a customer is automatically moved from publication A to publication B when the first subscription expires.  You can set up as many publications in the package as you wish, using whatever pricing you want.  When the order is released, the system creates the subsequent subscriptions in suspend status.  When one subscription expires, CIR410 resets the subscription on the next one, and makes it the active subscription.
• First Name in Search --Previously, Customer First Name was available as a filter field at SVCDAT and in Customer Lookup.  You can now set a system option to have first name appear as a search field proper on the main SVCDAT/Customer Lookup view.
• Subscription “Restocking” Fee --With this release, you can link a fee to a customer cancel of a subscription, and credit the customer the cancellation amount less the fee (in this regard, the feature is similar to the restocking fee available for PRO returns).  You can charge the customer either a flat amount, or a percentage of the cancellation credit.  The cancellation fee can be linked to a promotion credit policy set up at CPNTBL/CPT, or it can be entered directly with the cancel at MSTDAT/SVC.
• Reserve Premium Before Earned --You can now configure the system to have it commit stock for unearned premiums, as a way of ensuring that enough of the premium item is available at the time the customer places the order.  Along with the automatic commit, you can have the system display a message if the premium is overcommitted (or out of stock), and optionally offer the customer a secondary, backup premium item. 

A Recent Acquisition of Our Sunday Visitor

Acquired by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing in June, 2009, Harcourt Religion Publishers, now referred to as Our Sunday Visitor Curriculum Division, recently completed its conversion and went live on Advantage.  The acquisition has brought together two leading Catholic publishing groups to provide a one-source solution for lifelong faith development within Catholic parishes and schools. The conversion of the Curriculum Division to Advantage allows Our Sunday Visitor Publishing to consolidate data, streamline customer service, improve fulfillment and inventory management, and maximize sales efforts by using the same system.

The conversion project was headed up at ACS by Scott Ghormley, and the team included John Sheehy and Doug Moore.

Joe Wixted was the point person on the OSV side, and his team included Gabrielle Cash, Penny Reichhart and Kim Vosilla.

“This was a very challenging migration,” says Joe, “as we carved the Harcourt Religion Publishing group out of a very large, complicated corporate parent.  With three weeks to go-live, we had to scrap a large portion of our conversion methodology, but the ACS staff did an outstanding job working with us, the data, the staff of Harcourt Religion’s previous parent company and the compressed timeline to make it happen on time and correctly.”

We are pleased to welcome the Our Sunday Visitor Curriculum Division to our Advantage family.