Canadian Business Press to become a foundation, concentrating on awards program

The Canadian Business Press, Canada's oldest business-to-business publishing trade organization, has decided to relinquish being a member-driven organization in favour of a foundation that will ensure the future of the CBP's most important asset, the Kenneth R. Wilson awards (KRWs).

In a press release, the organization reported the unanimous decision taken by members at a special meeting.

John Kerr, the sitting CBP chair said that ultimately the goal was better to serve the business publishing industry.

"As we looked forward from the past several years experience, it had become evident the scope and scale of the programs we wish to provide to our members are either duplicated elsewhere or  will require a tremendous commitment of time by our membership and that the ongoing value we could continue to deliver was going to be sacrificed in favour of maintaining balanced budgets.”  

Faced with an increasingly difficult time maintaining both programming and a balanced budget in the face of a shrinking membership (many of its members having decamped to become members of the Magazines Canada trade division), it was decided that the CBP would continue to be an ongoing entity, but as a foundation.

“The concept and drivers for the foundation are to preserve an existing capital base, allow an operating structure for the KRWs, honour and protect it’s brand and provide a forum to celebrate the tremendous efforts of so many great publishers who worked tirelessly on the industry’s behalf’ said Jim Hall CBP Vice Chair.  In short, maintaining the CBP and KRW banners in one place was an important outcome.

CBP had earlier moved to merge its involvement in Magazines University with MagNet, the annual industry conference operated by Magazines Canada and to engage the National Magazine Awards Foundation and its staff to run the KRWs. As a result, the awards since have had record entries and attendance.

Over the summer, CBP will transfer its remaining operating surpluses to the foundation and any surpluses from the KRWs will be gifted to the foudnation; present KRW members will become patrons; and five of the current board members will form the board of the new foundation, which will continue to work on special events from time to time to raise money and build the capital base.

Related posts:

• Canadian Business Press names board
• Canadian Business Press moves annual general meeting back a month
• Magazines Canada grows by 45 new member magazines, including two b2b groups
• Revised b2b awards to have "magazine of the year" and internet categories for first time
• KRW trade magazine awards will go ahead in 2010
• Canadian Business Press discontinues MagsU, becomes partner in MagNet
• Canadian Business Press buys the Magazine University name
• Masthead closure has major implications for the Canadian magazine industry
• Magazines Canada ranks swell by 37 titles, including Rogers stable of b2b titles
• Magazines Canada to allow business-to-business magazine membership
  
• Segal to CBP board: the merger train is leaving, time to get aboard
• Rogers trade books decline to enter KRWs
• Rogers pullout costs CBP 20% of membership revenue
• CBP prez says trade publishing association should stay independent
• What have we been saying? What we need is one, big organization

Kenneth R. Wilson b2b awards nominations announced

The nominees for the 57^th annual Kenneth R. Wilson (KRW) Awards nominations, honouring  business-to-business publications, have been announced by the Canadian Business Press (CBP) and Magazines Canada. Three magazines are finalists for Magazine of the Year:  

• Alberta Oil 
• CAmagazine and  
• Up Here Business

There were more than 600 individual entries nationwide, 174 submissions from 62 different Canadian business-to-business publications for awards in 20 written, visual, special and online categories reviewed by 65+ volunteer judges. The Gold, Silver and Honourable Mention awards will be presented at The Carlu in Toronto on June 7, 2011 at the 57^th annual Kenneth R. Wilson Awards gala, presented by CDS Global. Tickets are on sale now.

A complete list of nominees: [PDF]

Leading in entry totals (visual, written and special) were 

• CA magazine (24)
•  Marketing (13)
• Canadian Lawyer (8)
• Foodservice & Hospitality (8)
• Alberta Oil (7)
• Precedent (6)
• L'actualité médicale (6)
• OHS (5)

This year Art Director Bernadette Gillen comes in with eight nominations, the highest number of nominations this year for any individual, followed by writers Chris Powell and Marco Beghetto, each with four nominations, and Allan Janssen, James Menzies, Kristin Laird and Peter Zaver each with three.

Rogers b2b publishing boss John Milne chuffed about new revenue stream

John Milne, the senior vice-president of business and professional publishing At Rogers Publishing, says his division has had great success with a new "fourth" revenue stream. He writes in a column in min, the media industry newsletter

At Rogers Publishing Limited in Toronto, the Business & Professional Publishing Group has been nurturing a fourth revenue stream over the past six years: research. Rogers is Canada’s largest publisher of business and consumer magazines in both of the country’s official languages.

The seeds of the business were planted in the mid-1990s, when discussions began with a pharmaceutical industry client around the importance of demonstrating thought leadership and sharing customer insights in order to develop new ones. Eighteen months of planning led to a project that has been—and continues to be—conducted annually.

As the initial project began to grow with each deployment, thoughts turned to replicating the success. After all, if one organization was prepared to invest in the high six figures for this type of branding, wouldn’t others?

In 2004, a new research sales/project manager position was created. Today, that individual holds a senior director’s position and is responsible for a department that consists of three full-time sales staff and six project managers. Last year, the group did more than 100 projects and generated revenues in excess of $2.5 million, with a 40%-plus margin.

(The column is only fully available to subscribers.)

Alberta Oil wins Magazine of the Year at the KRW business mag awards

Alberta Oil magazine is the first winner of the newly instituted Magazine of the Year award at the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards (KRWs), given in recognition of Canada's best business press journalism. The award is given to the publication that displays overall excellence in content and design and that most consistently mirrors its mandate/mission and most effectively engages and serves the needs of its readers. Alberta Oil edged out the other two finalists, Precedent and Salon Magazine. The judges noted:

“A magazine appealing to the senior executives of the energy sector in Alberta and the rest of Canada, Alberta Oil combines high-quality photography, illustration and graphics, and in-depth coverage on ‘the business of energy.’ Its attention to detail makes for a strong visual and editorial statement, offering a look at every aspect of this vital industry".

Alberta Oil is a 17,000-circulation bi-monthly published by Venture Publishing Inc. of Edmonton, which also publishes Alberta Venture, the province-wide business magazine. 

The M-o-Y award and awards in 21 other categories were handed out on Tuesday night at at event co-produced by Canadian Business Press and Magazines Canada. A complete list of winners can be found at the KRW website.

Web publishing is, if anything, more advanced and important in the trade and b-to-b sector and the award for Website of the Year, reflects this. It is given for fulfilling the site's editorial mission, effectively serving its audience, maximizing use of the web and representing the highest journalistic standards. The gold winner was Advisor.ca and the silver winner was Salon Magazine (salon52.ca).

The most gold awards were won by CAmagazine, with 5; it also won 2 silver awards. Marketing magazine, which led in nominations, won 4 gold and 4 silver. Quebec-based Conseiller received 2 golds and Canadian Lawyer and Professionally Speaking 2 silver.

There were also several sweeps, where magazines and individuals received both gold and silver in a particular category: Marketing (Peter Zaver, art director, Ally Tripkovic, associate art director) for Best Cover; illustrator Gérard Dubois for his artwork in CAmagazine (“The Business of Climate Change,” and “Containing Financial Contagion”);and photographer Jeff Kirk for Best Photograph (subjects Steve Nash and Paul Lavoie, both featured in Marketing).

The Best Single Issue award went to CAmagazine (The Heat Is On; Christian Bellavance, editor-in-chief; Bernadette Gillen, art director); the silver award went to Precedent (Fall; Melissa Kluger, editor; Underline Studio).

Best Art Direction of a Complete Issue went to Precedent (Fall; Underline Studio); silver went to CAmagazine (The Heat Is On; Bernadette Gillen)

There were more than 600 individual entries to the awards this year, from 68 magazines from across the country. There were 77 volunteer judges.

The KRWs are named for Kenneth R. Wilson, one of Canada's top business writers, whose career was cut short in 1952 in a tragic airplane crash at the age of 47. 

 *  *  *

The KRW awards, are making available seals so magazines can promote their wins on the covers of their magazines. 

At left is the gold seal, there are also seals for silver winners and Magazine of the Year.

Reed Business Information shuts down 23 b2b titles in U.S.

After nine months of trying to sell them, Reed Business Information's U.S. division has closed down 23 business-to-business titles, according to a story in Folio:. While it was able to sell Publishers Weekly and to hold on to such titles as Variety, the publisher has shut down 26 titles since January.

Business media summits announced by Magazines Canada

Magazines Canada is taking a couple of major strides in serving its new b2b constituency with a series of "Business Media Summits" to be held in October. As will be recalled, this year Magazines Canada began not only to accept, but welcome, trade publications into membership and the new summits are tailored to business media professionals. The two events, one in Toronto, one in Montreal, will feature world business media heavyweights:

Jonah Bloom, the editor of Advertising Age magazine, will headline in Toronto on October 20. His CV includes PR Weekly, Campaign Business Media, PrintWeek and the HarperCollins book Top Companies in Marketing & Media.

Ian Bedwell, director at Mediastraat B.V. will speak in Montreal on October 27. He runs the boutique media consultancy in the Netherlands, specializing in global new media strategies. He started the firm in April 2007 after a successful career with VNU Global Media, including being publishing director of VNU Business Publications Netherlands and later its CEO, developing and leading the world’s largest international sales rep houses in Europe, the US and Asia.

Further information can be obtained at courses@magazinescanada.ca

U.S. b2b publishers take significant hit on trade shows & events business

U.S. b2b publishers, like others in print, are feeling the recession both in depressed ad pages and revenue, but also in what had been a growing and hopeful part of their business -- trade shows and events.

According to a story from MediaDaily News, trade association American Business Media reported Monday that trade show revenues declined 18.6% during the first half of 2009: down 20.1% during the first quarter; and down 16.9% during the second quarter.

B-t-B magazine ad pages plummeted 31.6% and advertising revenues fell 26.1% in May vs. the same month a year ago, and the most recent month for which data is available. Through the first five months of 2009, B-to-B ad pages are off 30.3%, while revenues are down 26.3%, according to the ABM's Business Information Network.

Major British b2b publisher to charge for most of its content, starting this fall

A major British b2b publisher is going to charge users for access to "significant parts" of its websites, starting this fall. Emap Inform's CEO Simon Middleboe told the Press Gazette that the company would be moving back towards a pay-for-content model. There will still be some free access content, but much less.

"We are in the process of building all the bits of technology in Abacus [Emap's content management system provider] to allow us to put subscription barriers in. We won't be able to bring in subscriptions until the autumn."

Emap Inform, which is jointly owned by a private equity firm and the Guardian Media Group, publishes 10 b2b titles, including Retail Week, Local Government Chronicle and Broadcast.

In May, at the World Magazine Congress, GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall said:

"More people are looking seriously at how they can make money charging for content that costs a lot of money to make.

"I don't think we will be doing much content online in B2B unless we get money for it."

Traditional controlled b2b publishing is dead, magazines congress told

The controlled circulation business magazine is dead. That was the blunt message conveyed to an audience at the World Magazines Congress in London this week, according to a story in Press Gazette. Tim Weller, the chief executive of the business information group Incisive Media said

"In the years to come we will be charging in some way shape or form for all of our content. I don't think the controlled circulation model in its current form is sustainable."

Incisive Media has a turnover of £250m with a magazine and event company that specializes in legal and financial information. He said the company's strategy is to connect communities to markets by as many routes as possible.

"Now if you try to deliver your print brand online, or if you try to deliver the print brand of six or seven years ago, you're dead.

"Investment Week when we launched was a news weekly. We've evolved the print editorial, it's now more discursive, thought-provoking - bringing together user generated content that we have found online

"The daily products become products that deliver news as it happens when it happens. Our objective is to own the working day of our audience in terms of information and news."

B2B's diminished share is apparently moving more and more online

A report by an international research consultancy seems to confirm what is widely believed in the industry -- that there is a rapid change happening in business-to-business (trade) media, with a shrinking share of advertising dollars also shifting online.

According to the research, by Outsell Inc., as reported in a story in MediaDaily News, not only has the b2b share of print revenue declined in the last few years (from 58% in 2003 to 40%), online revenues in b2b jumped from 18% to 34%, with most of the shift happening between 2005 and 2007.

KRW Awards finalists announced

The top 10 finalists in the 12 categories of the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards for business-to-business publications, have been announced by the Canadian Business Press (CBP). The awards themselves will be given June 1 in a ceremony at the John Bassett Theatre in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Early bird tickets are available until May 1 at $85 for a CBP member and $100 for a non-member. Master of ceremonies will be comedian Simon Cotter.

Canadian Business Press publishes digital directory of members

It's a definite sign of the times that the new Canadian Business Press directory is published digitally. Working with Texterity, the Guide to Business and Professional Publications provides thumbnails of all CBPs 156 publications; the directory is searchable and contains live links to the various individual publication and publishing company websites.

Magazines Canada joins American Business Media as international member

Here's a curiosity: American Business Media has welcomed Magazines Canada as an international member, one of nine new members announced in a posting on its website. The curious part is that ABM -- the major U.S. association for b2b print and online publications -- sought out MagsCan. This is despite the alliance between ABM and Canadian Business Press (CBP) which has made little secret of its rivalry with Magazines Canada for the affections of Canadian business-to-business publishers.

ABM is also playing a large part in CBP's Magazines University conference, which goes head-to-head with MagNet, the annual conference of which Magazines Canada is a principal.

Hmmm...

Related posts:

• Canadian Business Press buys the Magazines University name
  
• Magazines Canada ranks swell by 37 titles, including Rogers stable of b2b titles
  
• Magazines Canada board recommends allowing trade magazines as members
  
• CBP prez says trade publishing association should remain independent

CLB Media closes four b2b titles

CLB Media which, a few years ago, was on an acquisition tear last week closed four titles, according to a posting in mastheadonline. The four titles were:

• Advanced Manufacturing (9 years old, now included as a branded section in another CLB title Manufacturing Automation).
• Green Business (launched with some fanfare last year, but apparently a victim of advertisers no longer as enamoured of promoting their green credentials);
• Network Cabling (serving an audience considered by CLB to be well-served by other titles such as Electrical Business); and
  
• Workplace (an HR title that suffered from the common wisdom in the b2b marketplace that you don't want to be #3; as it was, behind Thomson-Reuters' Canadian HR Reporter and the online pub HR.com).
  

Magazines Canada ranks swell by 37 titles, including Rogers stable of b2b titles

Magazines Canada just got substantially bigger, with the approval for membership of 37 magazines, the most ever welcomed at one time. This includes 7 consumer magazines and 29 to its new business media category. The new business media membership is largely made up of Rogers Publishing trade magazines that decamped from the Canadian Business Press to join Magazines Canada after the organization changed its bylaws.

The new consumer magazines approved by the MagsCan board are:

• Accenti (" the Canadian magazine with an Italian accent")
• Lake (a cultural publication)
• Mercado News (a bilingual Spanish and English magazine)
• Riddle Fence (a Newfoundland arts and culture magazine from the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador)
  
• Up Here Business (a companion consumer business based in Yellowknife)
• Vines (a wine, food and travel title)
• What's Up Yukon (a free bi-weeklyl entertainment magazine)
• The Wordscapes Youth Arts Journal (an arts and culture magazine for teens)

The b-to-b titles are:

• L’Actualité Medicale
• L’Actualité Pharmaceutique
• Advisor’s Edge
• Advisor’s Edge Report
• Avantages
• Benefits Canada
• Le bulletin des agriculteurs
• Canadian Contractor
• Canadian Grocer
• Canadian Healthcare Manager
• Canadian Insurance
• Canadian Investment Review
• Canadian Metalworking
• Canadian Packaging
• Coatings
• Design Engineering
• Food In Canada
• Hardware Merchandising
• HPAC
• Le Journal Industriel du Québec (JIQ)
• Marketing
• Materials Management & Distribution (MM&D)
• The Medical Post
• Meetings & Incentive Travel
• On-Site
• Plant, Canada’s Industry Newspaper
• Plastics in Canada
• Purchasing B2B
• Québec Pharmacie

Related posts

• Magazines Canada to allow business-to-business magazine membership
  
• Segal to CBP Board: the merger train is leaving...
• Magazines Canada board recommends allowing trade magazines as members
• Rogers pullout costs CBP 20% of membership revenue
• CBP Prez says trade publishing association should stay independent
• Rogers b-to-b titles to pull out of Canadian Business Press
• One magazine organization

U.S. b2b revenue down 6% in first half

Business to business revenue in the U.S. was down 6 per cent in the first half of 2008. And even trade show revenue, which had been growing as a proportion of over all revenue for the sector, was down 1 per cent. 20 of the 21 b2b categories reported declines in pages. This according to a story in Folio:

Gordon Hughes, the president and CEO of American Business Media said:

“Considering the current state of the economy, b-to-b media has held up well. B-to-b media information companies continue to broaden their portfolios to satisfy market needs such as digital products, custom media and data.”

Segal to CBP board: the merger train is leaving, time to get aboard

In an article published today on Mastheadonline about his company's wish to have its trade titles served by Magazines Canada, Rogers Media CEO was blunt about his views of the trade association Canadian Business Press (CBP).

“I don’t think the CBP has anything effective to offer its members,” Segal said. “We don’t know what it does. What programs does it have? What events does it have? Besides the Kenneth R. Wilson awards, which is nice....

“[The board members] would have to have an interest in [a merger] it and some sort of structure would have to be created to meet everyone’s objectives.”

“But if you aren’t interested, there’s no point trying to figure out how to get you interested. Either make up your mind and try to figure out how to do it, like we did when we integrated the old Magazines Canada into the new Magazines Canada. But, you know, some people have their view of the future, and some people have their view of the past.”

Rogers left CBP late last year and has been in negotiations with Magazines Canada to have its members accepted. The Masthead interviews (including clashing views from proponents and opponents) follows on a story first published here about the Magazines Canada board recommending to the association's June AGM that the restriction of trade publisher memberships be dropped.