New SEC Chief Coming to SABEW Meeting; Early-Bird Rates Still Available

COLUMBIA, MO--(Marketwire - March 25, 2009) - Mary Schapiro, the new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will speak at the annual conference of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers on Monday, April 27.

Act now to be sure of getting the reduced $299 registration rate for the conference, which is April 26-28, and a discounted room at the conference venue, the Westin Tabor Center hotel in downtown Denver. These discounts are available only through Friday, March 27; the hotel is sold out beyond the limited number of rooms we have reserved at our group rate. For registration details and hotel online booking, go to http://www.sabew.org/events/annualConferences/2009/index.php. For more about SABEW and the conference, see our site at www.sabew.org.

Schapiro was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate after President Obama nominated her for the position. The first woman to head the 75-year-old agency permanently, she is expected to play a leading role in reshaping the nation's securities regulation in the wake of the financial crisis.

A seasoned regulator, Schapiro was most recently CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, created two years ago by the merger of the regulatory arms of the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers. She served as an SEC Commissioner from December 1988 to October 1994. She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, reappointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1989 and named Acting Chairman by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Later, she served as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The society's meeting also features a number of other speakers including CEOs Christina Gold from Western Union and David Hunke from the agency that operates the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News; former SEC Chief Accountant Lynn Turner and William Cohan, author of "House of Cards," a just-published book that tracks the fall of Bear Stearns.

A high-profile town meeting to examine coverage of the financial meltdown will kick off the conference at noon on Sunday, April 26. Moderating the debate will be ProPublica CEO and former Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger. Panelists include Larry Ingrassia, Business Editor of the New York Times; Bloomberg News and Newsweek Personal Finance Columnist Jane Bryant Quinn; Dean Starkman, financial journalism critic for the Columbia Journalism Review's Audit site, and Greg Miller, a business professor at the University of Michigan who has studied the business press.

The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is offering free, day-long video training on Saturday, April 25, to those registering to attend the entire SABEW conference. To register for this training, go to http://www.businessjournalism.org/workshops/2009/denver/shootingvideo042509. Skills workshops during the conference include sessions on good writing online, use of flash design software, creating podcasts, using Twitter and other social networking sites in reporting, interviewing like an FBI agent, covering bank failures and journalists as entrepreneurs.

Another highlight will be the society's annual Best in Business awards banquet on Monday evening, April 27. Ray Shaw, founder of American City Business Journals, will receive a Distinguished Achievement Award.

With more than 3,000 members, SABEW is the world's largest association of journalists covering business, finance and the economy.