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. 

The joy of creative freedom leads five German EICs to collaborate on a magazine

An unusual and intriguing project is taking place at  Condé Nast Germany in which the editors in chief of five of its leading publications collaborate on a 200-page magazine called Shokunin. The magazine will have a press run of 800,000 and be a supplement to all five -- Vogue, Glamour, Myself, GQ and AD.

According to a story from WWD, 

“Shokunin” is generally translated from the Japanese as craftsman or artisan but it is a term which also implies commitment to providing society with something of value and excellence. The publication will be organized in five sections — Clever, Radical, Poetic, Sexy and Refined — the contents aiming for a free-wheeling and interdisciplinary mix of visuals and text. Prior to publication, readers can follow the project on the blog (Shokunin.condenast.de). In addition, Condé Nast is offering mentorships for up-and-coming journalists and graphic designers in connection with the Shokunin project. 

“The motivation for this project is the joy of exercising creative freedom,” said Moritz von Laffert, president of Condé Nast Germany. “Making readers and users aware of the value of carefully made media is an indirect goal of the project — and there has never been a better time to do so than right now,” he continued.

The magazine has five departments: Radical, Sexy, Poetic, Refined and Clever. The five editors Christiane Arp (Vogue), Sabine Hofmann (Myself), Oliver Jahn (AD Architectural Digest), Andrea Ketterer (GLAMOUR) and Jose Vega-Redondo (GQ Gentlemen's Quarterly).

Readers win when magazines make combined subscription offers

Collaborative circulation promotion is hot these days, we see. 

• Three small art/literary journals — CAROUSEL, The Feathertale Review and Pilot — are offering a 3-for-1 sub deal by which two issues of each magazine are mailed to Canadian subscribers for $30, about 60% off the combined newsstand price.

• And The Walrus magazine and This Magazine are making a combined subscription offer, both publications for $30 (effectively subscribing to 10 issues osf The Walrus and getting foursix issues of This Magazine free). Essentially 16 magazines for $1.88 each.) (We understand this is the last week for the offer.)

Both excellent deals. 

The Walrus magazine to partner with Royal Ontario Museum on centennial book

[This post has been updated] The Walrus Foundation, publishers of The Walrus magazine, is collaborating with the Royal Ontario Museum on a lavish coffee table book marking the ROM's centenary. It will be published in March 2014 as the 100th anniversary year begins. The ROM, which is and agency of the Ontario government, is Canada's largest museum of natural history and world cultures, with six million objects in its collections and galleries. 

"The full-colour, approximately 120-page book will focus on ROM’s encyclopedic, internationally recognized collections and their continuing relevance to contemporary audiences," according to a release. "While it will include a history of the ROM’s collections, the core of the publication is a dialogue about specific artifacts and specimens in the collection by ROM curators and writers from across Canada, selected by The Walrus and the ROM."

The book project will be led by The Walrus editor and co-publisher John Macfarlane and Kelvin Browne, ROM vice-president, communications. In addition to the bound paper version, an e-book is also to be produced.
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