SIPA History

SIPA History/Timeline

About SIPA
SIPA is the international trade association dedicated to advancing the interests of for-profit subscription newsletter publishers and other specialized-information services, such as:  directories, online publications, looseleafs, database services and conferences.  The mission of SIPA is to serve its member newsletter and other specialized-information publishers worldwide through education, training, networking and advocacy to foster growth, profitability and professional excellence.
 

A Short History of SIPA
Informal, luncheon-roundtable types of newsletter groups existed in New York City as far back as the '50s and the early '60s in Washington, DC. The Washington group formalized itself into the Independent Newsletter Association with the stated aim of winning full accreditation for its members and their reporters to places such as the Congressional Press Galleries and the National Press Club. Ash Gerecht of CD Publications was the leader in this effort, which was largely successful by the mid-sixties.

Howard Penn Hudson purchased  The Newsletter on Newsletters from Morris Hoverstein in 1968. Most of Howard's career had been spent in public-relations work and, he says, it had always been his practice to work as closely with the industry association as he could. Looking about the newsletter business, he found none which seemed to him to present an obvious opportunity to begin newsletter seminars and publish a directory. By 1973 his seminar had evolved into the first of what he called the International Newsletter Conference. By the second or third of these, a group of those attending approached him to say, "Howard, it's wonderful what you're doing here, but we think we probably ought to have a non-profit trade association like just about every other conceivable business." "Fine," he said, "let's organize one." Given the pace of volunteer effort, it took a couple of years until some bylaws were drawn up and the articles of incorporation for the Newsletter Association of America(*) were signed in Washington on January 26, 1977.

(*) In 1983, the board planned to change the name to International Newsletter Association to reflect the character of the membership. Debate, as it sometimes will, went awry at the board meeting, and the board wound up voting to simply drop "of America" from the name, leaving the Newsletter Association which never really suited anyone and so the name was changed to Newsletter Publishers Association in 1983 and then to Newsletter & Electronic Publishers Association in 1999.

During the next two years NAA metamorphosed quickly through stages of association development, from being run on an all-volunteer basis, to an association multiple management firm and then, with the employment of a full-time executive director, to opening our first office in the National Press Building early in 1979.

SIPA Today
The Specialized Information Publishers Association, now located in Vienna, Virginia, has continued to grow and enjoys strong support from the industry. The Association was born in 1977 with 18 members and today has nearly 600 corporate members (of all sizes), that publish more than 3,000 newsletters and electronic publications. The association's budget is approximately of $1,000,000.

SIPA offers many services to its members and continues to work at expanding its list of member benefits. SIPA offers the International Newsletter & Specialized-Information Conference, a Fall Conference, Special Publishers Conferences, Special Interest Group meetings, Listservs, Roundtable Forums, Specialized Information Publishing Days, and various specialized workshops and seminars each year.

In addition to SIPA's monthly Hotline newsletter and daily SIPAlert free e-zine, SIPA publishes an annual Membership Directory & Buyer's Guide and a 300+-page book, The Ultimate Guide to Newsletter Publishing. SIPA represents the interests of specialty information publishers in Washington, DC, and provides information to members on developments which affect the operations of specialty publishing businesses. These efforts take at least three forms:

1. SIPA acts directly in the interests of specialty information publishers;
2. SIPA and its counsel assist member publishers and their counsel in instances which are of potential concern to broad numbers of publishers; and
3. SIPA and its counsel cooperate with other groups representing the press and media in cases of concern to journalists.

Issues of interest to SIPA members include:

• Copyright
• Libel and Defamation
• Sales Tax
• Freedom of Information
• USPS matters  
• Privacy 
• Electronic Marketing

A total of seven SIPA-affiliated local chapters are active. Local chapter membership is included in SIPA dues, and, in addition, members who are traveling are eligible to participate in the activities of local chapters on a member basis. Currently, SIPA chapters are active in: New England (Boston), New York, Washington, DC, the Southeast (Atlanta), Northern California (San Francisco), Southern California (San Diego) and the U.K. (London).