Coffee Break: SBJ advertising adds new Calendar of Events

Readers will soon be seeing a new advertising feature in the Business Journal: a paid Calendar of Events.

We are excited about this new concept, as it serves both readers and advertisers. Readers will be able to find out about job training courses, continuing education, seminars, arts events, etc., while those who advertise in the calendar will receive guaranteed placement of their event information at a reasonable cost.

SBJ's readership is made up of the movers, shakers and decision makers of southwest Missouri business.

For anyone with an event to promote, and especially these companies that specialize in work force education, we feel the calendar is certain to be an effective tool.

The Business Journal will continue to provide information about upcoming charity events through the Slice of Nice feature in our Heard on the Street column, and we will continue to give notice of public meetings of governmental and civic entities in our Daily Update e-mail publication.

What the paid calendar provides is guaranteed placement. People are still welcome to let the SBJ editorial department know about upcoming events of possible news interest. However, the only way to guarantee that advance notice of an event appears before our readers is to advertise in the SBJ Calendar.

Calendar or news?

While we are now offering a paid Calendar of Events, our news staff still welcomes information about events of news interest. Who you should contact depends on what you want to accomplish.

If you want direct contact with our readers in order to promote an event, sell tickets, sell sponsorships etc., you want to contact Executive Listings Represen-tative Sarah Jenkins, 417-831-3238 or sjenkins@sbj.net, about the Calendar of Events.

If you have an event that you want our reporting staff to know about as a potential news or feature item, you want to contact me, Managing Editor Clarissa French, 417-831-3238 or cfrench@sbj. net, about editorial coverage.

Advertising and editorial

There has always been a clear division of advertising and editorial at the Business Journal, and that will continue to be the case.

The editorial department covers events based on their relevance as news, period. While we appreciate our advertisers for their support of our publication, whether someone advertises with us has absolutely no weight in deciding editorial content. This is true of all advertising, from Calendar of Events items to two-page, full-color spreads.

The issue at stake is editorial integrity and credibility. News coverage cannot be bought at the Business Journal for any price, which is one of the reasons why coverage in our publication is so highly sought. Conversely, if you could buy it, it wouldn't be worth anything.

In other SBJ news

Something else that SBJ will be doing for the first time is our Economic Growth & Development section, which will debut Aug. 6.

This issue, focusing on regional growth and area communities, also will feature a new list, Area Chambers of Commerce. We think you'll find this section to be an interesting and useful resource for doing business in southwest Missouri, and we welcome your suggestions related to the topic. Please contact Inside Business Editor Frank Shipe, 417-831-3238 or fshipe@sbj.net, or me, at the address above, with your ideas and issues.