MADISON – Beth Bennett, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, was elected president of Newspaper Association Managers today during the group’s 98th annual conference in Madison.

Bennett has led the WNA since 2010 and previously served as the Illinois Press Association’s Director of Government Relations. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Newspaper Association and is a past president of TEMPO Madison.

The directors of 29 newspaper associations from across the United States and Canada attended the conference this week at The Edgewater Hotel. The event kicked off Monday with a golf outing at Trappers Turn in Wisconsin Dells and concluded tonight with a banquet. Programming included sessions on management, public notice legislation, remote work, team building, collaboration, revenue building, technology and philanthropic journalism, and discussed fundraising opportunities for newspapers and highlighted the Wisconsin Community News Fund.

Others elected to leadership positions during the NAM conference were vice president Laurie Hieb, executive director of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, and secretary Mark Maassen, executive director of the Missouri Press Association. Phil Lucey, executive director of the South Carolina Press Association, was elected to serve a three-year term on the NAM Board. Continuing directors are Brian Allfrey, executive director of the Utah Press Association, and Susan Patterson Plank, executive director of the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association Executive Director Steve Nixon becomes immediate past president. Layne Bruce, executive director of the Mississippi Press Association, serves as the organization’s clerk. That’s correct

Founded in 1923, NAM is a coalition of state, provincial, regional and national North American trade associations serving the newspaper industry.

Conference sponsors included Column, Ask-CRM and Coda Ventures.