Alberta Magazine achievers named

Joyce Byrne

Joyce  Byrne, the publisher of Avenue Calgary, is this year being named volunteer of the year at the Alberta Magazine Awards. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated that they bettered the Alberta magazine industry through their involvement, and has inspired others to take part. The citation said

There’s an old adage that goes: “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” It should, therefore, come as no surprise that Joyce Byrne’s heart is full of love for magazines – ink runs through her veins. Byrne, a respected industry leader and generous mentor, is known and celebrated for her commitment to advancing the magazine industry as a whole – not just the publications for which she is on the payroll. She has earned a reputation of one of the most tireless champions, promoting magazines as vital and essential cultural industry products, as well as the publishers, staff, freelancers and industry partners who contribute to them.

Katharina Doyle

Byrne was one of three achievement awards announced by AMPA, including

Katharina Doyle, the co-founder and publisher of Creative Scrapbooker, will receive the achievement in publishing award for demonstrating a history of creating excellent magazine content and/or products; achieved long-term success in the magazine industry; and made significant contributions to the Alberta magazine industry, including volunteer work, advocacy, leadership and collaboration. The citation said

Many people aspire to share their passion with the masses by creating a magazine; few find long-term success. Katharina Doyle is one of the few. The co-founder and publisher of Creative Scrapbooker (formerly Canadian Scrapbooker) has been a passionate scrapbooker since the birth of her children. Yet the idea of expanding that love to the pages of a magazine never crossed her mind until her now-business partner Jackie Ludlage proposed the idea. Today, Creative Scrapbooker has a circulation of nearly 26,000, including a large and growing market in the United States. Ten years after the first issue was released under the title Canadian Scrapbooker, the magazine was re-branded as Creative Scrapbooker to meet North American and global demand.

Named editor of the year was Lisa Cook,  who started as editor-in-chief at New Trail just over four years ago. Since then, the magazine has won more than 20 awards, including four National Magazine Awards and was named the Alberta Magazine Awards’ 2016 Magazine of the Year. 

Cook’s colleagues credit her vision, creativity, mentorship and journalistic passion for transforming the 96-year-old University of Alberta alumni magazine into a popular general-interest magazine whose readership reaches well beyond that of the typical institutional alumni periodical. That said, she has never lost sight of the magazine’s mandate to “entertain, illuminate and engage” U of A graduates around the world. Cook has broken down silos and fostered strong relationships across departments and faculties to ensure New Trail is not only an educational and entertaining read, but also a viable tool that helps to achieve the university’s strategic goals.

Best new magazine finalists are Canadian Rockies Annual, Dote and The Yards.

Magazine of the year finalists are Avenue Edmonton, New Trail and Westjet magazine.