• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 29, 2011

  As business-to-business media struggles with the same trends affecting newspapers and consumer magazines, American Business Media -- the leading B2B industry association -- is regrouping and charting a new course, beginning with a new business plan approved by the ABM board of directors this week.

The new business plan calls for ABM to partner with other organizations, as well as industry experts, to provide a new suite of services appropriate to the needs of members in the era of Internet publishing. These include more industry research and actionable business metrics; education and training programs for new business models and technology; and new events and regional programs focused on new business models, to be held in cooperation with other organizations.

As part of the new business plan, ABM committees and councils will also focus more on tangible goals and professional development.

The plan was formulated after ABM president and CEO Clark Pettit met with 150 member executives to determine what kinds of support they needed as the B2B publishing industry continues its (sometimes rough) transition to digital platforms.

To help execute the plan, ABM also announced the appointment of a new senior management team, including Michael Burns, vice president for events, who will oversee the entire events program; Claudia Flowers, vice president of recruitment and retention, in charge of outreach to current and potential members across b-to-b media and related industries; and Marie Griffin, vice president for content and programming, leading efforts to define the content, programming and subject matter across ABM's various initiatives.

According to ABM's Business Information Network, total ad pages in B2B publications fell 3.1% last year, from 627,871 in 2009 to 608,530 in 2010, while total ad revenues slipped 1.3% from roughly $7.6 billion to $7.5 billion.