Reaching Young Readers
A new initiative by MPA gives free digital editions of magazines to college students hoping to convert them into magazine readers and to test the viability and popularity of digital delivery. Five publishers are participating in this initiative. Read more

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World's First Mag
The Gentleman's Magazine was the first general-interest magazine. It was founded in London by Edward Cave in January, 1731. The original complete title was The Gentleman's Magazine: or, Trader's monthly intelligencer. More>>

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30 YEARS
Merrill Lynch report on the state of the newspaper industry does not see online representing over 50% of total newspaper ad revenues until more than 30 years from now.More>>

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  • ASME's Top 40 Magazine Covers
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  • Talking Magazine Videos
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  • Global Voices Online - The world is talking. Are you listening?

    Magpie

    Why Magpie? Because I like observing these sleek birds with a tapering tail. And like Magpies, I live with the burden of being a 'chatter', even though I believe that I am rather shy, reserved and unobtrusive :).

    Tuesday, November 13, 2007

    Newspaper: Launch of Mail Today, INMA Event

    The India Today Group has announced the launch of Mail Today, a newspaper venture in collaboration with Associated Newspapers (ANL), the publishers of Daily Mail. Mail Today is expected to hit the Delhi market by the end of this week, according to agencyfaqs.

    According to Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group, the paper will not address everyone, but target "upper echelons of society, who have a certain lifestyle, interests, certain education level, financial level".

    New Delhi is also the venue for the INMA's (International Newspaper Marketing Association) first-ever South Asian Conference titled “Building Market Cap in the Newspaper Enterprise”. This two-day forum (14-15 November) will examine trends in the global newspaper industry that are relevant to India.

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    Wednesday, October 31, 2007

    Event: Future of Business Media

    Future of Business Media, an executive conference focused on the future of business and trade media industry concluded in New York yesterday.
    Detailed coverage is available here at the paidContent.org website and makes a very interesting read.

    PS: The Industry Standard will be resurrected as a blog-cum-community site in December, IDG president Bob Carrigan revealed at the conference.

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    Thursday, October 11, 2007

    Event: Indian Magazine Congress, 2007

    The Indian Magazine Congress 2007 was held in Mumbai on October 8-9.

    Here are some highlights:

    Postal delivery: Industry veteran and publisher of Delhi Press Paresh Nath pointed out that the postal distribution system for magazines was pathetic, with some 30-40 per cent of magazines getting stolen midway.

    Distribution System: Magazines were still following a distribution method that was probably right for newspapers, and this was a major concern for the industry. M.Rajagopalan Nair of ‘Malaya Manorama’ raised the problem of the dependence of magazines on newspapers vendors for distribution and the vendors’ reluctance to pick up magazines. This led to a situation where the consumer had to pick up his own copy, which he did at his own convenience.

    Cover Prices: R Rajmohan, president and publisher, Images Multimedia says that rising cover prices have been an most important change as people were willing to pay for quality content.

    Imbalance in ad revenue: 20 per cent of the total magazine readership lands up with 60 per cent of the total magazine ad revenue.

    Read more on agencyfaqs.com
    http://www.agencyfaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=19331
    http://www.agencyfaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=19330
    http://www.agencyfaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=19332

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    Monday, September 17, 2007

    Event: MPA Forum | International - Outsourcing

    The upcoming MPA Forum (September 19) hopes to show outsourcing as a way to reduce costs across all aspects of the media business and has two speakers from India.
    1)Hoshie Ghaswalla, President of CyberMedia, will discuss the fundamentals of outsourcing.
    2) Juhi Bhambal, Executive Editor, Global Services will discuss how she and a team put together a magazine, website, and events from an offshore destination.
    Peter Meirs, Director Alternative Media Technologies, Time Inc., will add his perspective on the changing nature of outsourcing and discuss when outsourcing is not always the solution.

    Related stories:
    India: “Boston, not Bangalore” Campaign (posted November 13, 2006)
    India: Ripe for Magazine Design and Production Outsourcing? (posted March 16, 2007)

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    Friday, May 18, 2007

    Event: World Magazine Conference (FIPP)

    Two clear messages at recently-comcluded 36th World Magazine Conference (organised by FIPP) in Beijing were “Embrace the change” and that despite a decline in numbers, attractiveness of magazine advertising will prevail.

    Highlights of Day 1: Embrace the Change
    “This Congress is taking place in what we call a global transformation. We are now being offered a great opportunity to reach a greater audience – far greater than we could reach with print alone. This is exciting and frightening at the same time.”
    Donald D. Kummerfeld, FIPP President and CEO
    “Online is the best thing to happen to the magazine business since the printing press. Anything that creates a richer relationship with our customers can only be good for us. The question is how to we deal with it? They key thing is that the companies that win are those that will embrace the change.”
    Steven Pleshette Murphy, President & CEO, Rodale Inc, USA
    “Change creates threats but also opens the doors to new opportunity.’ In my 50 years of publishing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more exciting time. Good luck dealing with the threat and making it a great opportunity for you.”
    Patrick J. McGovern, Founder and Chairman, of IDG, USA
    “It was magazines that built and established brands and it was the magazines that created brand extensions. Today, a brand can start with a website or with an event. When you combine the internet and face-to-face, it’s a great combo, and when you add a magazine to that, it’s a knock-out in b2b.”
    Gordon Hughes, President & CEO, American Business Media (ABM),

    Highlights of Day 2: Magazines have a lot to offer
    “Magazines reach the hearts of readers and gain their trust, serving to enhance value. The time that people spend reading magazines is a rewarding time during which they are most receptive to messages. Magazines provide a rich experience during which both content and ads are absorbed.”
    Tateo Mataki, President and CEO of Dentsu Inc, Japan
    “It’s about knowing what they want. If you see habits and tastes changing, you’ve got to change with them. You’ve got to keep them front of mind – that’s all that matters.”
    Mark Frith, Editor, heat magazine, Emap, UK
    “Magazines are the one medium where advertisements are considered a valued part of the package, particularly in speciality magazines where ads offer inspiration and ideas. Advertising in magazines is more relevant to consumers than almost anything else.”
    Jack Griffin, President, Meredith Publishing Group
    “I think magazines have an advantage over television or radio because we actually do create our own content. People don’t watch television channels, they watch television shows. People read an entire magazine and that creates more reach.”
    Brian Segal, President & CEO, Rogers Publishing Limited, Canada.

    You can read more details about this recently concluded event here.

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    Tuesday, May 15, 2007

    Event: Video of Colophon 2007

    In March I had featured a post on 'Colophon 2007' an international magazine symposium that highlights magazine culture. If like me you wanted to, but were not part of this event, you might want to see the video of the event featured here.

    Presented by Andrew Losowsky, the video features magazines involved in the exhibition along with brief interviews with Mike Koedinger, David Renard (author of 'The Last Magazine: Magazines in Transition') and Samir Husni (Mr Magazine).

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    Friday, March 09, 2007

    Event: Colophon 2007

    The much awaited Colophon 2007, an international magazine symposium curated by Creative Director Jeremy Leslie (London), Writer Andrew Losowsky (Madrid) and Publisher Mike Koedinger (Luxembourg) starts in Luxemburg today.
    Five exhibitions on magazine culture will be on view including a visual representation of 10 groundbreaking magazines by the people who make them.
    Other highlights:
    PORTFOLIO SHOWS is a series of live presentations of artwork in the fields of photography, illustration and editorial graphic design. Each one-hour session allows 10 talents to show samples of their work on a projected screen for a period of 5 minutes.
    ROOM WITH A VIEW, a temporary magazine store set up in the stunning “aquarium” of the Casino Luxembourg
    Launch of the book WE LOVE MAGAZINES which includes in-depth features on all aspects of magazine creation, a worldwide magazine directory (+ 1,200 titles) and an international guide to distribution.
    COLOPHON 2007 is also the world's leading online directory of pop culture magazines. Over 1,300 magazines are listed with factsheets, covers and exclusive interviews, sorted by countries and language. Yes, you can find some Indian Magazines here, in fact 2 have been added by me :)

    If like me you love magaines and would love to know more about the event, you can check here for latest updates: MagCulture, Colophon2007

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    Monday, October 16, 2006

    Event: Indian Magazine Congress 2006

    The Association of Indian Magazines is holding its second annual Indian Magazine Congress at New Delhi on October 30-31. The conference, on the theme "Winning with Magazines," hopes to address issues like: Can print publications survive and thrive in the face of Internet competition? Will print publications be able to transition to a digital environment by creating their own Internet presences? It also hopes to focus on some issues like acquisitions and joint ventures by foreign media companies. "Winning with Magazines" is intended to explain the intricacies of the Indian market to foreign businessmen trying to get in.

    Key speakers and panelists include publishers who are already in the market as well as policy makers, media owners, buyers and planners, and marketers familiar with the environment. You can read the conference program and register for the event here

    Surprisingly, the website does not list out any registeration costs for 'Indian delegates'. Indians interested in attending the event have to email to an id mentioned on the sign up page to get more info.

    Read more about event on FIPP website: Still time to register for Indian Magazine Congress

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