Social justice all-stars featured in issue launch event by This Magazine

This Magazine is launching its Social Justice All-Stars issue (January-February 2015) with a special event called "This is Not a Ted Talk" on Wednesday, January 28. Thirty people are profiled in the magazine as everyday superheroes working to make the world a better place, from fighting for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and better mental health services to fighting against racism, discrimination and harmful stereotypes. 

Three of them will be speaking at Supermarket (268 Augusta Avenue), in the heart of Toronto’s Kensington Market. They are

• Sheila Sampath, an educator and activist designer who is, among other things, the editorial and art director of Shameless magazine, the independent magazine for young women and trans youth.
• Nayani Thiyagarajah, a writer, performance artist and filmmaker , doula, yoga teacher and dancer who has worked extensively with multiple arts-based organizations and performance groups across Toronto, including Manifesto Community Projects, ArtReach Toronto, b.current Performing Arts and Schools Without Borders. 
• Farrah Khan is a nationally recognized speaker and a counsellor and advocate at the Barbra Schlifer Clinic in Toronto; among other things she is currently the coordinator of Outburst!, a movement of young Muslim women against gendered violence and the editor of Heartbeats: The IZZAT Project, a graphic novella by South Asian young women.  

The event starts at 7:30; talks will begin at 8 p.m. Admission is $5, which includes a copy of the special issue. 

This Magazine to launch first summer reading issue

This Magazine, which has had a literary component for most of its 48 years, is for the first time publishing a summer reading issue. The special issue will be introduced at a special event on Wednesday, July 16 at the Supermarket in Toronto's Kensington Market (268 Augusta Ave.) Literary editor Dani Couture will host short readings by Aisha Sasha John (THOU, The Shining Material),David Seymour (For Display Purposes Only), and Tony Burgess (Pontypool Changes Everything, The n-Body Problem). The event starts at 7:30 and the $5 entry includes a copy of the special issue. 

Calgary's Avenue magazine chronicles three pillars of a successful city

One idea was the importance to students of alternative
transportation and daily exercise

Avenue magazine of Calgary has developed a close relationship with the University of Calgary's environmental design faculty and the results of  a year-long research work they shared is reflected in this year's annual Big Idea issue about what makes a successful city. 

In a release, the magazine said the overarching idea for this year's issue bubbled up at last year's launch.

“In talking with the Environmental Design faculty, we became very interested in the idea that the three cornerstones of a liveable city are education, health care and design,” said Avenue editor Käthe Lemon. “When these three elements come together, the city thrives. And so this is what we decided to explore in this year’s Big Idea. We’re encouraging our readers to get together with others and integrate the concepts into their own communities.”

Content was previewed throughout the year in a series of blog posts. 

The Hockey News publishes first-ever women's issue

The Hockey News has published its first-ever women's issue. The editor of the magazine, Jason Kay, says in a release

“We have wanted to produce an issue about women in hockey for some time. Women’s participation in the sport has increased exponentially and stars like Meghan Agosta and Tessa Bonhomme are only a couple examples of women who are trailblazing their way into power positions within women’s hockey -- both on and off the ice.”

Among the women-focussed features in the issue are

• How the game is growing, particularly outside North America
• Challenges to Canadian Women's League faces
• Hayley Wickenheiser's 20-year domination
• Julie Chu's continued success in the U.S.

The magazine is on newsstands now, selling for $3.99. 

Winter is coming; the Ski Canada buyers' guide is out

Rushing the season is now commonplace -- people talking about the "end of summer" about the second week of August in the midst of a heat wave. But an annual indicator of inevitable snowy days to come is the release of the annual buyers guide from Ski Canada magazine. Subscribers will be getting it during the coming week and it will be on newwstands starting September 3. It's all about skis, boots, bindings and related gear and has features about Jasper and skiing in Switzerland.

Fortune says every issue will be a special next year

Fortune magazine, which last year reduced its frequency from 25 issues to 18 (while beefing the issues up),  is going to have themed features in every one of those issues next year, according to a story in Adweek. Fortune is best known for things like its Fortune 500 and is looking to grow outside of its traditional print business.

“The big franchise issues score the highest when it comes to reader opinion,” said Jed Hartman, publisher of Fortune. “They also perform great for advertisers, and they also have that third ingredient: They’re picked up by the press or they’re influential in the community.”

Among the new special features (which fortune calls "franchises") will be“The Shape of the Future” that will name the people, companies, and ideas that will most influence the world in the years ahead. “How It Works” will explore the secret sauce of products and concepts. There also will be “Best Advice I Ever Got” and “Venture Special,” a look at small businesses. 

In addition to being adaptable to other platforms and providing a focus for advertisers, such special sections finance more space for long-form journalism, according to Andy Serwer, the managing editor of Fortune “That means they’re fat issues, and then we can do all this other stuff,” he said.

Special issue of The New Yorker includes 50 "Talk of the Town" profiles

The New Yorker magazine is issuing a special issue this week that, in the style of the famous "Talk of the Town" columns, showcases high profile celebrities from the past 10 years, with 50 profiled. A single sponsor -- USA Network -- bought all of the ad space in the issue to promote its summer line up. According to a post on Audience Development

The special issue launch is the first-ever print and digital compilation available for download on the iPad, which is priced at $5.99 on newsstands and $4.99 in the iTunes store, though New Yorker subscribers already receive the digital content as part of their pricing plan.