The Free Press, under the umbrella of Kansas Pub?lishing Ventures, LLC, belongs to several newspaper and trade associations (state, regional and national) that probably not many of our readers know about. You may have seen some classified network ads on our classified page, but possibly didn?t know why they are printed there. Before I explain the ads I will tell you briefly to which associations we belong.
Our memberships include the Kansas Press Association, Midwest Free Community Papers, Independent Free Papers of America and Association of Free Community Papers. The Buyer?s Edge of South Central Kansas belongs to IFPA and the Free Press belongs to the other three groups.
Belonging to these associations keeps us abreast of what is happening in our industry. Each has an executive director and a board of directors that guide them.
Part of each membership includes a goodwill gesture of running the association?s network classified ads, which for the most part fund these organizations. In all cases there is a rebate from each association.
AFCP and IFPA are national organizations and the ads in these two networks hit more than 20 million and 11 million homes, respectively. MFCP ads are printed in more than 2 million homes and KPA ads run in about 1 million homes in Kansas newspapers.
If you are interested in learning more about these groups a simple Google search would turn up each one?s website.
You also may not know that we can sell ads into all of these networks if anyone is interested in a broader geographical reach than with the Free Press or the Buyer?s Edge.
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I am privileged to serve on the board of directors of MFCP. For some unknown reason, they elected me its president for this calendar year, which is really an honor and a way to give back to the many folks who work so diligently in our profession.
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I wonder if people still use mothballs like they did in the old days to keep off-season clothing from getting eaten by moths.
The reason this subject comes up now is that I was remembering that my grandma and my mom always had lemon drops sitting around the house in the candy jar. I used to put them in my coat pockets for later use. You just never know when you?ll need a lemon drop.
Anyway, one winter when I put on one of my jackets for the first time, I reached in my pocket and thought I had found a lemon drop and popped it into my mouth. Mothballs are about the same size, but they really don?t taste anything like a lemon drop.
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If you read the message boards, you know KU and MU?fans don?t like each other much. As a Jayhawk, I didn?t enjoy the ending of the game played between the two schools this past Saturday night. How?ever, I have enjoyed most of them in the past, as KU has the upper hand by far in total victories.
Having said that, I know my school isn?t going to win every game, so I accept that, and am now waiting for the next one to see how it turns out. It is a long and grueling season, so being tied for first at this juncture is a good place to be.
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Let it snow, let snow, let it snow.
If you wish to share your comments or ideas, my e-mail address is joel@hillsborofreepress.com.
