The Media Management Center explores that one question in its Advanced Executive Program curriculum. The program does have curricula in diversity, but no one class answers that question. Rather, the executives experience first hand, thanks to foundations and companies who send participants from wide backgrounds to the senior executive seminar.

Diverse groups of people live life differently. We approach business differently and we, as newspaper leaders, make decisions based on all that we are and all that we have learned. — Renee Hampton

One group of executives are sponsored with grants from the McCormick Tribune Foundation. They attend the Advanced Executive Program as McCormick Fellows. After attending the first two weeks of the Advanced Executive Program in February and March, the four fellows all agree it is an excellent opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the media industries and to share and discuss the challenges with their peers from different media organizations from around the world.

I now better understand business valuation and investment decisions in the media context. — Mark Russell

The fellows were surprised at the diversity of the executives attending the program. AEP participants attending came from many regions in the U.S. including Montana, California, Florida, New York, and Canada, and Latin America. They are from different departments including circulation, marketing, advertising, human resources, editorial, and corporate legal department. Their companies are small and large, public as well as private. All of these differences make the AEP experience richer.

I believe that the training and class discussions have helped to expand my knowledge base and have taken my way thinking to a higher level. — Cristy Gracia-Thomas

During the first two weeks of class, the fellows were exposed to topics on journalism content, readership, finance, culture, customer marketing, and strategy. Other topics included readership and journalism content, culture, strategy, and a session on becoming an effective communicator, one of the fellows’ favorite course. After a few days of the rigorous schedule and tackling the required reading for each class, the fellows found their fountain of youth and were reminded of being back in college.

The readership info was helpful to hear again. I have spent lots of time diving into our own research to learn more about our readers, to formulate programs to boost readership and circulation. — Don Wyatt

The demographics of this country are changing, and so is the marketplace. Executives with different life experiences help organizations expand their boundaries and maintain their competitive advantage. Minority executives in AEP create great discussions from more than one perspective.

The fellows all agree AEP has expanded their knowledge of the industry, provided an opportunity to network and learn with their peers, and prepared them for even more responsibilities and authority as leaders. They are looking forward to returning for the second two-weeks.

 

			Advanced Executive Program February 23 - March 5 and April 26 - May 7, 2004