Magazines Canada ramps up: when the going gets tough, the tough get going

In response to the storm of depressing magazine news these days, it's encouraging that Magazines Canada is taking several very worthwhile initiatives.

• Two new national association partners have joined the MagNet superconference, held each June (this year June 2 - 5) in Toronto. The Canadian Authors Association (CAA) will hold its annual conference at MagNet 2009, while the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC) will be kicking off its annual conference at MagNet on Friday, June 5 and running until Sunday at 89 Chestnut in downtown Toronto. They join the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) which last year announced it has integrated its full annual conference program inside MagNet. The other national association partners are Magazines Canada, the Circulation Management Association of Canada (CMC) and the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (CSME). as a national partner. The National Magazine Awards gala is the evening of June 5.
  
• Magazines Canada is also launching a "toolkit" that contains links to facts, data, video podcasts and newsletters and advisory services, most of which have existed separately, but which haven't been clustered together in one, easy location.
• There is also word that there is a new, tactical promotion initiative in the works, developed with input from the industry's top sales directors, giving Magazines Canada members a new way to reach advertising decision makers.
• Magazines Ontario is being launched, a new microsite within Magazines Canada, serving the specific interests and issues of importance to magazines with an Ontario regional focus. It complements other regionally and provincially based associations. Members of the Magazines Ontario sub-commitee are Sharon McAuley, Toronto Life, Matt Robinson, Outpost, Graham Scott, This Magazine and Terry Sellwood, Quarto Communications (Cottage Life).