CWCMA and NICE Merge to Become the Great Western Audience Alliance

Cal Western Circulation Managers Association (CWCMA) and Northwest International Circulation Executives (NICE), two longstanding trade organizations with members in media companies in 11 western states and 4 Canadian provinces, have announced they are merging. The motion was brought to the floor at their joint annual conference on June 20 and was approved unanimously.

The new organization will be the Great Western Audience Alliance (GWAA).

CWCMA and NICE have served their members for 100 and 98 years respectively. The merger creates a new, more sustainable organization. GWAA will focus on creating opportunities for like-minded industry professionals to connect, to provide educational opportunities for its members to learn more about the expanding subscription economy and to equip its members with an increased capacity to drive positive change in their respective organizations.

Troy Niday, president of CWCMA, new immediate past president of GWAA and chief operating officer of Sonoma Media Investments, said, “I am bullish on the future of our industry and believe the merger of these two organizations will help all involved become better equipped to meet the challenges media companies face today and going forward.  Our intent is to build on the legacy of CWCMA and NICE and to become acutely focused on audience development and consumer revenue growth.  We want the Great Western Audience Alliance to help member organizations maximize consumer engagement with high quality content and delivered through an impressive consumer experience that compels consumers to support with their wallets.”

NICE president, new incoming president of GWAA and McClatchy director of audience budgeting Jim Wall added, “As our industry has evolved to rise to the challenges of new media company business models, so too must our organizations. Based on this and our positive relationship in working together to run a joint annual conference for the past nine years, both NICE and CWCMA have agreed to merge the two organizations into one. Doing so allows us to keep building on our combined learnings of nearly 100 years in each organization and build one strong audience development organization with a bright future moving forward.”