Challenging environment, but still a money-maker finds Alberta Oil top 200

In the face of slumping oil prices and astounding political change in the oil patch, Alberta Oil magazine, published by Venture Publishing, decided to up the ante by expanding its annual review from 150 to 200 companies reflecting the entire sector. The list was unveiled today at a luncheon in Calgary.

The list is of  the biggest producers, midstream and service companies by revenue. The companies on this year’s list had combined revenues of just more than $332 billion and saw an average growth rate of 11.8 per cent and an increase of assets by 10.7 per cent.

"This year's expanded list really showcases the depth and breadth of Canada's energy sector," says Max Fawcett, editor of Alberta Oil.  "And our four top companies demonstrate that even in a challenging commodity environment it's possible to grow, expand and make money." 

The four companies highlighted as the "best of the best" are

• Top Oil Producer – Raging River Exploration  • Top Gas Producer – Tourmaline Oil• Top Midstream Company – AltaGas• Top Service Company – Calfrac Well Services

The magazine has created a comprehensive online package with a searchable database to complement the  printed issue.  

Two leading western business magazines collaborate to talk about pipelines

Two of Canada's leading business publications -- BCBusiness and Alberta Venture -- have collaborated on a joint project to discuss various, often contentious, pipeline plans between and across the west.

Canada's Pipeline Dialogue has been in the works since the spring, and Alberta Venture editor Mike Ganley and BCBusiness editor Matt O'Grady and their respective staffs have collaborated on features, profiles and slide shows. There are also the results of a survey by Insights West which shows that the notion of the economy taking priority over environmental issues is not supported by a lot of people in both provinces. 

The two magazines are also moderating a conference in February, sponsored by Cenovus, that will include a panels in two places at once -- two in Calgary, two in Vancouver -- discussing pipeline infrastructure and what it means for BC and Alberta. 

Ruth Kelly of Venture Publishing of Edmonton receives AMPA 2012 achievement award

Ruth Kelly the president and publisher of Venture Publishing of Edmonton has been given the 2012 Achievement Award in Publishing from the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA). The award, which was presented on the weekend at the AMPA magazine conference, recognizes Kelly's outstanding contribution to Alberta's publishing industry.

Venture publishes Alberta Venture, albertaventure.com, Alberta Oil and contract publishes WE Magazine on behalf of the United Way of the Alberta Capital Region; it won the best new magazine award.

The recognition of Kelly was a crowning achievement to the company's and her 15th anniversary year of publishing.

Complete list of winners in other categories at the awards.

Venture Publishing of Alberta to launch Unlimited to serve Generation Y

Venture Publishing of Edmonton is to launch a new magazine aimed at the so-called "millenials", the children of boomers. It's called Unlimited and focuses on work and business issues for the highly prized 20- to 35-year-old demographic.

The magazine will have a slightly oversized format (9" x 10.75) and publish 6 times a year, with a circulation of 20,000 copies through a combination of paid subscriptions, newsstand sales and controlled distribution. Issue 1 is on the stands September 1.

The publishing team will be Joyce Byrne, associate publisher, Dan Rubinstein, editor, and Malcolm Brown, art director. Byrne was the publisher of This Magazine before moving west to work at Venture. Rubinstein was features editor at Venture magazine and had been at Alberta Views and the alternative paper Vue Weekly. Brown has worked at many well-known titles, including Saturday Night, Outpost, enRoute and shift.“Brown’s great eye, particularly with text and photography, means exciting things will be happening on the page and beyond the page at unlimitedmagazine.com," said Byrne. "We’re sensitive to the fact that this audience demands interactive, high-quality content online and we have some terrific things up our sleeve.”

The publisher and editor-in-chief of Venture Publishing is Ruth Kelly. the company produces business magazine Alberta Venture, The Money Book, Fore! The Ultimate Guide to Golf in Alberta and B.C., Alberta Market Facts Directory, Meeting and Convention Planner, Open Mind, Tracks & Treads, BioZine, Your Health and Food for Thought.

Kelly is bullish about Unlimited's prospects, extending to a national audience:

“With Alberta’s economy as red-hot as it is, and the youngest population in Canada, it’s time our next generation of business leaders had a publication that reflected their issues in the workplace and beyond. Moreover, we’re confident that Unlimited will have appeal beyond our borders, so the idea of an Albertan magazine with a national audience is thrilling.”

In a letter from the editor on the magazine's website (no sneak peek at the look, yet), Dan Rubinstein outlines what the first issues will contain for its readers:

In our September 2007 debut issue and the first of two issues this year, we’ll bring you stories about an industrial designer who’s doing it his way in Edmonton and a banker/lawyer couple who turned their backs on Calgary’s oil and gas sector to buy a drive-in burger joint. We’ll tell you how to land that dream job abroad (hint: it is who you know), how interdisciplinary teamwork has created a solar car that’s firing on all cylinders, and how to get “Rich by Thirty” (the title of our financial advice columnist’s new book). You’ll learn how to swim with neo-con sharks, how shark-like companies market their image at you, how young working parents are redefining success, and why you need to move out of your parents’ basement.

Alberta Venture: 10 years covering the boom and being part of it

Alberta Venture, Alberta’s only province-wide business magazine, marks its 10th anniversary in April with a special issue that looks back at the first 10 years and forward to the province's next 10.

As part of the special issue, publisher Ruth Kelly reflects on the challenges of starting a magazine that has grown to an audited circulation of 32,000 -- 25% paid and 75% largely qualified controlled -- with a claimed audience of 168,000.

“That first year is a blur…We threw parties in both [Edmonton and Calgary], to introduce the magazine and ourselves. To save money, we catered the party ourselves…And we hit the streets to talk up the magazine to every possible potential advertiser…Amidst the exhilaration were some brutal rejections. One agency owner in Calgary told [advertising sales director] Sharma Christie he would never buy advertising in Alberta Venture because, as he elegantly put it, “What do girls know about business anyways?”

Over the decade, Venture Publishing has grown from a staff of five to more than 30, increased frequency to 12 times per year, added a contract publishing division producing six different magazines (Tracks& Treads, Food for Thought, Your Health, Grip, Open Mind and Alberta Innovators) as well as corporate magazines for clients such as Syncrude, Epcor and Nait.