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ANF seeking golf hole sponsors for annual tourney Guest Column: Postal Q & A by Max Heath
ARKANSAS
Ar kansas
PRESS
Publisher Weekly
Vol. 14 | No. 17 | Thursday, April 25, 2019
ASSOCIATION
Serving Press and State Since 1873
New president named at Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette has named Brent Powers as its president. Powers replaces, Todd Nelson who is retiring.
Powers had been director of advertising and marketing for the newspaper for the last two years, according to an article in the Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette. He was hired by Nelson for that role and was selected by Nelson to be his successor. Powers, a native of Mississippi, had a degree in advertising and marketing from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has worked at newspapers in Mississippi, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri, and he also worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He and his wife, Kimlyn, have two children.
Brent Powers
Powers was quoted in the newspaper as saying: “Northwest Arkansas is such a special place. During the last two years
as director of advertising and marketing, I’ve seen our organization’s devotion and dedication first-hand. We work hard on telling the stories of our communities and with advertisers to grow their businesses through marketing and advertising. The employees that work in every department and each location represent this community and our brand, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. We are honored to live here, to contribute as residents and to serve this great community.” The newspaper is owned by WEHCO Media, which publishes newspapers in Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri. The Northwest Arkansas-Democrat Gazette is distributed in 12 counties in northwest Arkansas, and also publishes several weekly newspapers and operates a digital marketing firm.
The Sentinel-Record ad director reflects after 44 years of service In spite of the digital revolution that has transformed the newspaper industry over her 44 years in the business, Debe Johnson’s sales advice remains the same.
out and meet with people face to face and just talk to them about their business and helping their business grow.” It’s a tried-and-true philosophy she’s used since she was 24 years old and got her first ad sales job at The Sentinel-Record. That followed five years as a page diagrammer and office assistant. She’s been advertising director for the last nine years and was retail advertising manager for five years prior to that.
Johnson, who retires this month from her job as advertising and promotions director at The Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs, said some sales professionals have become too reliant on text messaging and email to cultivate business. Her philosophy is the same one she’s used since she started at the newspaper decades ago. “I still believe in going out and calling on people,” said Johnson, who is retiring on May 1. “It still works. It’s effective to go
Debe Johnson at The Sentinel-Record in her office
She recalled the days of taking a long a pen and paper on sales visits, writing down ad copy then returning to the newspaper office to build the ad by hand. She’d then take the proof back to the Continued on Page 2