MagNet conference registration now open

Registration is now open for MagNet 2018, the national industry conference April 25 and 26th at The Courtyard Toronto Downtown, 475 Yonge St, Toronto.

A complete program is live now at 
http://magnet.magazinescanada.ca/schedule/. 

Information about pricing: http://magnet.magazinescanada.ca/pricing/

New this year are "global intensives" with FIPP President James Hewes, what makes the BBC's Good Food brand so successful across platforms from publishing director Chris Kerwin, and MPA's President Linda Thomas Brooks talking about what makes magazines the most powerful medium for advertisers.

Especially for arts, literary and cultural magazines is the Arts & Literary Magazines Summit, a full-day deep dive into the inner workings of cultural magazine publishing from coast-to-coast. 

Magazines Canada is offering rebates for MagNet expenses to members in good standing that have annual circulation under 25,000, covering over 50% of travel costs and 50% of session fees. Bursaries are limited, so visit magazinescanada.ca/program/skills-rebates to apply now!

Munro's Books of Victoria named Magazines Canada's Retailer of the Year

BC's Munro's Books has been named Magazines Canada's Retailer of the Year for 2015, It is well known as having been co-founded by renowned short story writer Alica Munro and her then husband Jim. Here's the text of the Magazines Canada announcement:

Co-owner Ian Cochran, along with Sarah Frye, Carol Mentha and principal owner Jessica Walker, was pleased to add the Retailer of the Year award to another recent accolade from none other than National Geographic: in their 2015 book Destinations of a Lifetime, Munro's was #3 on a list of their top 10 bookstores in the world. 

From the National Geographic citation: "In 1963, exactly a half century before she won the Nobel Prize in literature, Alice Munro cofounded a bookstore with her then husband, Jim. Munro's has since moved into a magnificent, neoclassical former bank, decorated with gorgeous fabrics, in Old Town, Victoria, British Columbia." 

Open at its first of three locations on Yates Street in 1963, the store watched as the neighbourhood changed and the library and movie theatres that were the anchors moved away and, in 1979, Munro's followed the pedestrian traffic flow to a new location on 4th Street. This is where Cochran joined the staff just before the move in 1984 to its current location on Government Street. 

When asked about the role of magazines at the store, Cochran said this could be dated back to the early 1990s: Munro's added magazines "when Chapters came to town in order to compete with them." The store has been a great seller of Canadian magazines and literary magazines in particular, and a great support of Magazines Canada's promotions over the years. 

The Magazines Canada Retailer of the Year Award recognizes the vital role retailers play in the Canadian magazine landscape, and is awarded annually to an outstanding client of Magazines Canada's distribution service who cultivates this connection between consumers and their Canadian magazines. Congratulations to Munro's! 

The Retailer of the Year Award will be presented at the Magazines Canada reception on Thursday, June 9, 2016 at MagNet: Canada's Magazine Conference at the Courtyard Toronto Downtown at 475 Yonge St. in Toronto.

Volunteers needed to help run MagNet conference in June

Magazines Canada is looking for student volunteers to assist at this year's MagNet industry conference. The payoff is that, depending on the amount of time you volunteer, the more access you gain to free sessions. And the more opportunities there are to network in a place where many of the industry's leaders gather. 

This year’s dates are June 7-9, with sessions happening on the 8^th and 9^th. It’ll be held at the Courtyard Toronto Downtown Hotel at 475 Yonge Street. Students can learn more about the conference at magnet.magazinescanada.caand if they’d like to sign up to volunteer, they can do so atmagazinescanada.ca/magnet-volunteer-form. Every year Mags Canada gets applications from more volunteers than we can use, so it’s best not to wait to sign up. Typically, the roster fills up by the end of April.

MagNet returns to Toronto June 7

After a one-year hiatus (to make room last fall for the rare opportunity to host FIPP's world congress) the MagNet industry conference returns to Toronto June 7 - 9. The site and registration is open now (early bird rates close May 3.) The conference is co-hosted by Magazines Canada, CMC and the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (CSME).

The event kicks off June 7 with the MagNet Marquee featuring Jay Lauf, the senior vice-president, co-president and publisher of Atlantic Media and Quartz, Among other national and international speakers are:

• Sree Sreenivasan, chief digital officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Gary Stephen Ross, president Gary Ross Consulting
• Ryan Dohm, CEO Brain Swell Media
• Kat Tancock, partner Tavanberg
• Curtis Gillespie, editor Eighteen Bridges
• Robert Rose, chief strategy officer, Content Marketing Institute
• Ken Hunt, publisher, Toronto Life
• Jess Ross, multiplatform content director, TVA
• Lianne George, editor in chief, Chatelaine

MagNet conference will not be held in 2015, instead integrated with FIPP World Congress

MagNet, the annual industry conference in June will not be held next year, according to Magazines Canada. Instead, some of the Canadian programming will be integrated with the FIPP World Congress that is to be held in Toronto October 13-15. (It's the first time that the international congress of magazine media has been held in Canada.) The association will be considering how to revitalize MagNet before June 2016. 

In a message to members, Mark Jamison, CEO of Magazines Canada said:

After broad consultation, Magazines Canada’s Board of Directors and the team behind the MagNet conference have decided to develop and integrate Canadian programming with international programming at FIPP 2015 instead of mounting the annual MagNet, normally held in June.  

Over the next few months, the Canadian and European management team will create a 2015 FIPP World Congress program that will shine a global spotlight on Canada’s magazine media within a diverse international perspective. The Congress Co-chairs are Fabrizio D’Angelo (Hubert Burda Media, Germany) and Douglas Knight (St. Joseph Media, Canada).  

And there is more good news. This change in scheduling will allow Canada’s magazine media to consider future-focused initiatives to serve the needs of our evolving industry, including a dynamic new MagNet conference in June 2016.

Magazines Week kicks off tomorrow

Over the years, Magazines Week has evolved to encompass many of the biggest Canadian magazine industry events. The MagNet conference runs June 5 - 8, presented collaboratively by the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors, Circulation Management Association of Canada, Kenneth R. Wilson Awards, Magazines Canada, National Magazine Awards Foundation and the Professional Writers Association of Canada.

The conference-- which presents four dozen seminars on all aspects of magazine publishing, marketing and production -- starts officially tomorrow (Tuesday 5th) with the kickoff event called MagNet Marquee, always a sellout, this time a presentation by the editor of Bloomberg Business Week, Richard Turley.  Other highlights:

• The Birth of a Typeface: Changing a Modern Classic, and Understanding Type Design for Magazines with Christian Schwartz, Partner, Commercial Type
• What It Really Takes to Get Paid for Digital Content with Kevin McKean, Vice President and Editorial Director, Consumer Reports
•  Multi-Platform Publishing: Breaking Down the Print Paradigm, and Talking in Code: 10 Lessons from the iPad -- James B. Meigs, Editor-in-Chief, Popular Mechanics
• Engaging the Influential: Creating an "Ideas Community" -- Nick Blunden, Global Managing Director and Publisher, the Economist Online
• Tumblr: The Hot New Social Media Tool for Magazines -- Mark Coatney, Media Evangelist, Tumblr
• Building Brand the Bonnier Way --Gregg Hano, Senior Vice President, Corporate Sales and Technology Group, Bonnier Corporation
• Inside Data Intelligence: How Canadians are Reading Online -- Brent Lowe-Bernie, President, Media Metrix Canada, Comscore

Among the events and celebrations that are offered throughout the week:

• The 35th annual National Magazine Awards
• The 58th annual Kenneth R. Wilson Awards (for business-to-business magazines)
• The Editors' Gala, presented by the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (CSME)
• The Writers' Awards, presented by the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC)
• The PWAC Awards
• The Magazines Canada luncheon at which the volunteer and retailer of the year awards are handed out

All events are held at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel  at Yonge and College in Toronto -- except for the National Magazine Awards and KRWs, which are held nearby at the Carlu. (Online registration is closed but registration in person at the conference is still offered.)

Registration opens for MagNet 2012 industry conference

Registrations are now open for the annual Canadian magazine industry conference MagNet and the conference website has been launched today, with word that the marquee speaker will be Richard Turley, the award-winning creative director of Bloomberg Businessweek.

This year, for the first time, the National Magazine Awards and the Kenneth R. Wilson awards for business-to-business publications will be held back-to-back on the same night with a shared reception between and, also for the first time, on a Thursday (June 7).

There will be 50 seminars and other related events, including the CMC Excellence Awards, the Editors' Gala presented by the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors, the PWAC Awards and the PWAC Writers' Award luncheon.

The event takes place June 5 - 8 and is held at the Courtyard Marriott in Toronto, except the magazine awards and KRWs which are at the Carlu.

Details about events, presenters, pricing and accommodation are available on the website magnet.magazinescanada.ca

[disclosure: Magazines Canada advertises on this site.]

MagNet magazine conference gets a new look

MagNet, the annual industry conference has been given a new look. A release from Magazines Canada says that the new logo, designed by K9 Design, is "bold, cool and vibrant". The 6th annual conference will be held June 5 to 8, 2012 in Toronto. It's a collaborative effort by Magazines Canada, Circulation Management Association of Canada and the Professional Writers Association of Canada.

The logo reflects the future-focused evolution of Canada's magazines. With its spinning circular motif, the image suggests the change that is a part of growth, while the strong vibrant colour accents embody the excitement MagNet generates annually among delegates and in the industry in general.

Evan Hansen of Wired.com says the core product is community, not content

Evan Hansen, the editor-in-chief of Wired.com, was the marquee speaker late Tuesday afternoon as the kickoff for MagNet 2011 magazine industry conference in Toronto. For a flavour of the event, see the liveblog done by Graham F. Scott of This Magazine, with Chantal Braganza.

It was interesting that Hansen said there is almost no overlap (5%) between Wired magazine's print content and the original online stories on Wired.com. The site now is bringing in about 40% of Wired's revenues and he is expecting that this will crest 50%. It now gets 13 MM unique visitors/month; 43 full-time and freelance editors, writers, photographers; ~40 posts/day. ~200 videos/year; ~880,000 Twitter followers, 243,000 Facebook fans.

Kat Tancock's Magazines Online blog linked to the liveblog and summarized some key points including Hansen's 8 keys to digital success:

1. Don’t think platforms. Think brand. Stop thinking print first; it’s just part of the brand.
2. Your core product is community, not content. Example: Wired started a Ning.com site around the Haiti earthquake, and now has 2,000 community members there, including 80 engineers talking about building earthquake-resistant buildings.
3. Let technology lead editorial strategy. Eight of top 10 media companies in the world are digital (i.e., Google, Apple, etc.).
4. The web is not dead.
5. Pay attention to your advertisers. People will sell ads through networks: huge disadvantage. Custom campaigns are better, brand first. Advertisers will pay for brand affiiliations. They don’t want banners and buttons on the website; they want events, content, to be part of the editorial ecosystem.
6. Scale up.
7. Keep an eye on costs.
8. The web is the web. If you want to succeed there, don’t act like a magazine, act like a website.

June is just around the corner (really) and so is MagNet conference

Magazines Canada's website for the MagNet conference in June (7 - 10) went live today, as they say. The site has a refreshed design and, I think, an improved navigation to go with the look. There is an astonishing lineup of speakers and panelists.

MagNet conference moving to better venue in Toronto for 2011 event

MagNet, the annual industry conference, is changing venues in 2011. It will be held June 7 to 10 at the Courtyard Marriott, also in Toronto.

The move is an acknowledgement that the burgeoning event (doubled participation in the past four years) has outgrown the capacity of 89 Chestnut which in the 2010 event had difficulty keeping up with air conditioning and wireless demand.

"The entire Marriott facility has been renovated within the last two years; the guest rooms are comfortable, spacious and fully equipped; the meeting areas are elegantly appointed; the technology is robust and up to date; there is an onsite bar, restaurant, business centre and other guest amenities that will add value and comfort to the conference," Magazines Canada said in a posting on its website.

MagNet conference sees registrations soar; up about 23% over last year

It appears that people in the magazine industry are bullish about the business as word is that the registrations for MagNet conference  in Toronto starting tomorrow is up about 23% over last year, with about 1,300 individuals slated to attend and 4,300 sessions and events booked.

MagNet launches 2010 website with details about conference events

You can start planning your agenda for the first week of June, as the new website for Magnet: Canada's Magazine Conference is now available for viewing. The conference is held June 1 - 4, 2010 in Toronto. 

Now in its fourth year, MagNet is a multi-disciplinary seminar, professional development and networking event that is produced collaboratively by Canada’s key industry associations: Canadian Business Press; Canadian Society of Magazine Editors; Circulation Management Association of Canada; Magazines Canada; and the Professional Writers Association of Canada.

Don't apologize for your content's value, Economist boss says

The MagNet publishing conference was kicked off Tuesday night with an upbeat presentation at Hart House inToronto by Paul Rossi, executive vice-president and managing director of the Economist Group. He gave a summary of the thinking and principles that have been and are driving the Economist worldwide, resulting in a growing circulation, now over 1.2 million.

The Economist believes in the growth, not the diminution, of mass intelligence, at the same time it has identified that consumers no longer stay inside the lines when it comes to consumption of everything, including information. The Economist reader values what the magazine does and is willing to pay for it; Rossi says that the average sub recovery is about $101 a year and their expectation is that reader revenue (now about 48%) will grow to dominate the bottom line -- in other words, an extension of their perception of value in the brand.

He told the crowd that their research shows the 'mixing and matching' tendencies of modern audiences but also of Economist readers. For instance, the average Economist reader at an airport buys The Economist, a bottle of water and the decidedly trashy, downscale US Weekly. "Something is happening," he said.

He was coy about the web; it is clear the magazine does things that make money (events) and spends less time on things where making money is harder (the web). But it was interesting that he said the proportion of Economist subscribers who access its website has held steady for 4 years at about 35%. Print, for now, is still primary.

Encouraging advanced sales for Magnet and Magawards

Projected attendance at next week's industry events should be quite heartening. Word is that there are about 900 registrants for the MagNet conference, booked for 3,000 sessions. And sales for the National Magazine Awards are going well, so much so that the floor tables at the Carlu are all but sold out. No word yet on what attendance is expected at Magazines University conference run by the Canadian Business Press (CBP).

Economist publisher & Hong Kong design guru to headline MagNet

The MagNet magazine conference in June (2 - 5 in Toronto) will be headlined by a presentation by Paul Rossi, the publisher of the Economist magazine, it has been announced. A release from Magazines Canada says other highlight presenters will be Tommy Li, the international design guru from Hong Kong and three top Canadian independent publishers: Marion Lavigne, publisher and founder of Yellowknife-based Up Here and Up Here Business; Ruth Kelly, owner and publisher of Alberta Venture and Unlimited magazine and Sheila Blair-Reid, owner and publisher of Halifax-based MetroGuide Publishing.

Magnet conference lineup announced for June

The partners who produce Magnet: Canada's Magazine Conference, have unveiled the preliminary lineup for this year's event.

Among the speakers and seminar leaders are:

Jack Griffin, President of Meredith Corporation’s Publishing Group

Lewis Lapham, Harper’s and Lapham’s Quarterly

Peter Willson, Rogers Media Publishing

Evan Smith, Texas Monthly

Rona Maynard, Maclean’s, Flare and Chatelaine

Helen Berman, Folio Magazine and Expo Magazine

Roger Black, Rolling Stone and Esquire

Noah Richler, The Walrus, Maisonneuve, Saturday Night, the National Post

Rod McDonald, Applied Arts, Maclean’s and Toronto Life

Tara O’Doherty, Momentum

Gordon Hughes, President of American Business Media

Don Kummerfeld, President of the International Federation of the Periodical Press

Magnet is produced by the Circulation Management Association of Canada (CMC), the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (CSME), the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) and Magazines Canada. The conference takes place June 4–6 2008 at 89 Chestnut Street, downtown Toronto, and features the CMC Annual Excellence Awards Luncheon, the CMC/CDS Global Connoisseurs Club Reception, the CSME Annual Dinner, Magazines Canada Annual Luncheon, Cross-Country Volunteer Awards Reception and the PWAC Annual Editor of the Year Awards and Lunch.

It culminates with the National Magazine Awards gala on the evening of June 6 at the Carlu.

Message from participants in magazine conferences: kiss and make up

[NOTE: This post has been updated.] We promised to report on the results of the online questionnaire, asking readers to give their views about the two magazine conferences that took place this past month -- Magazines University and MagNet: Canada's Magazine Conference.

According to the latest information available, the attendance at the two conferences was:

• Magazines University (according to the Mastheadonline website):
• 1,348 unique registrants
• 2,611 registrations for seminars and events
  

• MagNet (according to a bulletin from Magazines Canada, which said the details had been approved by its board of directors):
• 692 unique registrants
• 2,518 registrations for seminars and events

To reiterate: this questionnaire was put up by the Canadian Magazines blog without the support, or even approval, of Magazines Canada, Masthead magazine, the Canadian Business Press, Circulation Marketing Association of Canada or any of the other partners and associates of the two conferences.

This is more of a straw poll; a self-selecting sample and shouldn't be considered representative in any way of the wider industry or even those in attendance at the conferences.

Still, the responses and comments are interesting and may be useful in any post mortems by both organizing teams and in assessing what happens next.

Copies of the survey's summary results were sent to both Magazines Canada and to Masthead (through whom it was shared with the Canadian Business Press) and these representatives of both conferences declined to comment directly about the questionnaire.

[UPDATE] Mark Jamison, the President of Magazines Canada said: ""We appreciate any feedback and will review it in the context of all the member and sponsor consultations we are beginning now as we prepare for MagNet 2008 June 4-6". And on behalf of Masthead and the Canadian Business Press Masthead Publisher Doug Bennet said: "We are not ready to comment on the survey at this time. We have a post-mortem meeting scheduled for July 11 with all the Mags U partners (including the audit boards) at which we will confirm the final numbers and formally evaluate this year's show."[END UPDATE]

[Fair disclosure: I write a column for Masthead and have given seminars in the past for Magazines University. I also do consulting work for Magazines Canada, sit on their professional development committee and was a moderator at three panels presented this year at MagNet.]

Survey summary

• There were 59 surveys completed.
  
• Of the 52 respondents who gave their postal codes, 73% were from the greater Toronto area, 17% from southern Ontario, 4% from Montreal, 2% from Ottawa, 2% from Manitoba and 2% from Alberta.
  
• 41% worked in editorial, 36% in management, 20% in circulation, 9% in advertising, 2% in production
  
• 32% worked at a consumer magazine, 9% at a trade magazine, 5% were custom publishers
  
• 13% were suppliers, 11% were conference sponsors
  
• Of those, 19% attended Mags U, 43% MagNet, 30% attended both and 8% attended neither.
• 74% who attended Mags U and 65% who attended MagNet said overall experience of the conferences was Excellent or Very good

Asked for their opinion of various specific aspects, the answers were:

• Location (Excellent or Very good): Mags U, 87%; MagNet, 80%
• Price of events (Excellent or Very Good): Mags U, 88%; MagNet, 93%
• Quality of presentation (Excellent or Very Good): Mags U, 89%; MagNet, 80%
• Opportunity for networking (Excellent or Very Good): Mags U, 89%; MagNet, 69%

• Asked to select statements that most closely represented their views about the two conferences, the answers were as follows:
• I cannot afford the TIME to attend two different conferences: 72%
• This industry is too small to sustain two conferences: 53%
• I cannot afford the COST of attending two different conferences: 53%
• It seems to me to be confusing to have two conferences: 44%
• There should be only one conference and it should be MagNet: 26%
• There should be only one conference and it should be Mags U: 18%
• I appreciate having a choice of conferences: 14%
  
  Open-ended comments
• As I'm based in Toronto, it isn't a problem for me, but I can see how people from the rest of the country would appreciate having one conference as they are pretty much forced into picking only one.
• There are some things at Mags U that I would have liked to attend but couldn't possibly go to both conferences. It seems to me to be the height of absurdity to have two conferences. Surely there must be a way to solve whatever the conflict is and return to one conference.
• Perhaps if one was immediately after the other, there'd be more opportunity for folks from out of town to still attend both.
• The length of courses at MagNet is far too short (75 minutes) and only offers a glossing over [of] the course curriculum.
• It is too obvious that these conferences are competing with each other. More cooperation please.
• I would much rather one conference that ran longer, perhaps for a full week. I don't mind that there are two, but it makes sense to me that by combining efforts there would be opportunity to offer a broader variety of sessions as well as increased discounts for attendees.
• The downtown location of MagNet puts it on the top of my list.
• I have to come in from Montreal. Unless all the events -- including the NMAs-- are held in the same week, I cant really afford to attend. A Magazine Week that leads up to the NMAs is the most reasonable solution. Now, can we get folks to work together?
• Kiss and make up!
• It would be nice if they weren't so close together. I think a coordinated effort to support a Spring and a Fall conference would ensure a viable plan for all entities involved. We sent an employee to one session at MagsU because they couldn't attend MagNet and they enjoyed it.
• A larger, combined conference should have the financial resources to bring in top quality speakers who will benefit both the trade and consumer sides.
• MagNet brings together the consumer magazine press in Canada. Looking at who was at the Thursday lunch, virtually anyone who is anyone in the business was there. Hard to discount that.
• The pre-conference email newsletter became VERY annoying after awhile. Getting 2-3 emails from each conference each week was a bit excessive. It made me want to dump both events.
• Business and consumer magazines have different needs. Why not hold them in the same location, during one week, with half the time devoted to business mag concerns and half devoted to consumer.
• Only one.
• To be of true service, the parties behind MagNet and Mags U should kiss, make up and focus on putting together the best conference they can -- content, content, content.
• If there must be two, then don't schedule them to run so close together.

Say your piece about mag conferences

Still time for you to give your views about Magazines University and MagNet in our online questionnaire (which closes this Monday). For more details, see post.

Two magazine conferences and what you think about them

This has been a busy month in terms of professional development, with two national magazine conferences running back-to-back in Toronto. Just to remind you, they were:

• Magazines University, which -- until this year -- was a partnership principally between Masthead magazine, Magazines Canada, the Canadian Business Press and the Circulation Management Association of Canada (CMC). This year, for the first time, it was produced by Masthead and the Canadian Business Press only. It consists of a series of seminars, a trade show and various special events such as the Kenneth R. Wilson awards for trade magazines and the Canadian Newsstand Awards. As has been usual in recent years, it was held at the Old Mill Conference Centre in the west end of Toronto. It ran for two days, Tuesday June 5 and Wednesday June 6. The official count of registrations was about 1,300.*
  
• MagNet: Canada's Magazine Conference, which this year is a partnership between Magazines Canada and the CMC, who ran a wholly separate conference in downtown Toronto at 89 Chestnut Street. It consists of a series of seminars and a number of special events, including the ACE awards for circulation marketers, the Magazines Canada luncheon honouring the national volunteer of the year, the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors awards dinner and culminated in the National Magazine Awards. It ran for three days, Wednesday June 13 to Friday June 15. The official count of registrations was about 2,400.*
  

It may be that some people in the industry see these two shows as complementary; or that they will be competitors who keep each other sharp. But there are undoubtedly also people who think that it's a shame that a cooperative approach can't be found to hold one Magazine Week, encompassing both consumer and trade, the industry's two major trade organizations (Magazines Canada and CBP) and its trade magazine, Masthead.

In the interests of assessing the views of those who attended one, or both, conferences and of anyone else with a stake in what happens, including sponsors, an online questionnaire has been prepared by this blog.

(Please note: this is being done without the approval or endorsement -- or even the knowledge -- of either conference or its organizers.)

To complete the questionnaire online, click on this link. It should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. It will remain live until Monday, June 25, at which time the results will be tabulated and published here.

*A reliable, comparable number of registrations, attendees, what have you, is in dispute and unavailable at this time; therefore struck from this post.