Alberta Magazines Conference March 19 & 20

Interested in magazine publishing? Whether you're a newbie or a professional, an editor or a circulator, the 2009 Alberta Magazines Conference (AMC) has something for you. With sessions in the business of publishing, sales, circulation, editorial, online and design, and ample networking opportunities, you should make sure you're there too!

View the full AMC 2009 Conference Brochure for speaker bios and session details.

Noted speakers for the 2009 Alberta Magazines Conference include: Al Zikovitz with Cottage Life magazine, Rick Boychuk formerly of Canadian Geographic, Stephen Osborne with Geist magazine, Matt Blackett with Spacing magazine, Lisa Manfield of The Tyee, Rebecca Legge of Canada Wide Media, and Donna Braggins, former art director of Maclean’s and Canadian Business.

Be sure to REGISTER by February 23, 2009 to get early-bird rates.

Don't forget to:

Nominate an Editor of the Year (deadline February 9)

Enter your magazines in the Alberta Magazines Showcase (deadline March 9)

The late great 2008

Despite murky economic times, Alberta magazines have a lot to celebrate. In the past year, a lot was accomplished, and we’re proud these fine magazines call Alberta home goshdarnit (and we hope you feel the same).

And the award goes to…

Congratulations go out to Unlimited for winning two major awards, the Best Designed Magazine in Canada at the National Magazine Awards and Best New Magazine in Western Canada at the Western Magazine Awards. Alberta Views was named Magazine of the Year AB/NWT at the Western Magazine Awards. Prairies North won Silver in the Nature Feature category of the International Regional Association Awards.
Ruth Kelly of Venture Publishing was the first Albertan to be honoured as the Canadian Women in Communications’ Woman of the Year. Michael McCullough, editor of Alberta Venture, won the Editor of the Year Award at the Alberta Magazines Conference. Teldon Print Media won 59 awards from the International Association of Printing House Craftsmen including recognition for Avenue (Calgary), CalgaryInc., up!, Where Calgary. This is just a sampling of the many achievements of Alberta magazines in 2008, not to mention the copious number of nominations.

The Mag is a Vamp

Magazines must be chameleons to the design times. Makeovers were abundant, audacious, and fierce. In many cases, the magazine redesign meant a revamping of websites too. For new looks, check out Alberta Venture, Avenue Calgary, Avenue Edmonton, CalgaryInc., Oil & Gas Inquirer, Real Woman on the Run, Resorts.

Work it!

RedPoint Media Group (publisher of Avenue, CalgaryInc., up!, Wine Access) was named one of Alberta’s Top 40 Employers organized by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers in partnership with the Human Resources Institute of Alberta for offering a creative and challenging workplace, which includes benefits such as: flexible hours, paid time-off for employee volunteerism, tuition subsidies, and health care spending account. “If we can provide the kind of work environment that keeps talented and skilled people engaged and happy, then we’re doing our job as employers,” explains Gary Davies, executive vice president. The company was also ranked 88th in the 20th annual PROFIT 100 ranking of “Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies.”

New Starts and Stops

“We are working on several new projects that include: hulabazoo, our fabulous new family event at the zoo in May, our online e-edition is going digital, and we are expanding our web pages to include quick links to hundreds of Calgary resources,” says Calgary’s Child publisher Ellen Percival.

On the flip side, the publishing community says goodbye to industry mag, Masthead, though it lives on at www.mastheadonline.com. Thank you to Texterity for sponsoring a digital archive of Masthead magazine. Readers will have unlimited, free online access to an archive of all of the 2007 and 2008 print editions of Masthead.

Around the World

True story: Alberta magazines make news around the world. New Trail, the University of Alberta alumni magazine, just wrapped up the last in a series of four issues celebrating the university’s centenary (that’s right, 100 years!). The four centenary issues began with a special 82-page pictorial edition and ended with an issue that looked ahead to the next 100 years. In between these bookend issues were editions about U of A grads working and living around the world (U of A grads receive New Trail in a total of 138 countries) and an issue featuring outstanding alumni stories from the U of A’s first century, including such notables as one-time prime minister Joe Clark; Nobel Prize laureate Richard Taylor; actor, producer and director Paul Gross; and iconic Canadian author W. O. Mitchell.

Events

See our Events page for details and registration information:

Magazines Canada School for Circulation

February 6 - 10, 2009

Where: Pillar & Post Inn, Spa & Conference Centre

Who Should Attend: Circulation staff who are new to the business or looking for a refresher; publishers and managing editors responsible for circulation; and editors and sales people who would benefit from understanding the circulation side of publishing.

Indexing with Moira Calder

When: Saturday, February 21, 2009, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Alberta Teachers' Association, 11010142 Street NW, Edmonton, Room 406

About the course: What is the purpose of an index? How do you create one? How do you recognize a good one? This course provides an introduction to the indexer's craft, including what an index is, how people look for information, indexing in the age of Web 2.0, index components, style, and more.

Web Weekend Vancouver

February 21 & 22, 2009

Revenue generation. Branding. Advertising. Audience development. Interactivity. Metrics. Web 2.0 and beyond. Web Weekend delivers everything you need to know to maximize your website!

Now in its second year, this intensive digital training program will be held in Vancouver. Through seminars, discussions and hands-on applications, our seasoned faculty will deliver practical advice, tools and templates to help make your publishing business more successful.

You built it but do they come?

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Featuring Martin White

Where: Delta Bow Valley, 209-4th Avenue SE, Calgary, 9am to 4pm

Experience an intensive one-day workshop to explore what it takes to increase your magazine's website traffic, subscribers and revenue. You know your readers are online, but are they on YOUR site? This workshop will explore making your website a destination location, making your
database more than a well kept secret and finding ways to “show you the money.”

Magazines Canada School for Professional Publishing

March 27 - April 4, 2009

Leadership Through Fundamentals

Where: Queen’s Landing Inn, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
Tuition: Members - $4,000, Non-Members - $4,750

Who Should Attend: This program is designed for people in all magazine disciplines who want to further their publishing careers: Publishers, Sales Staff, Editors, Managing Editors, Art Directors, Circulators, Production Staff, Magazine Start-ups.

Job Opportunities

See our Job Board for more details:

(posted February 2, 2009)

Internship Opportunity: Avenue Magazine, Editorial Intern
Avenue magazine, RedPoint Media, Calgary
Start Date: May 1, 2009 – August 31, 2009
Salary: A stipend of $1,456.00/per month paid bi-weekly.

Avenue is published by RedPoint Media Group, one of Western Canada’s largest independent publishers. Our award-winning magazines CalgaryInc, the city’s business source, up!, WestJet’s in-flight magazine and Wine Access, Canada’s wine and food magazine. RedPoint has been honoured with the distinction of being named one of Alberta’s Top 40 Employers for 2009.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:
• Fact checking magazine content.
• Researching and writing for several departments.
• Proofreading copy for each issue and for website.
• Researching upcoming feature stories.
• Conducting interviews for departments and features.
• Attend editorial meetings as requested.
• Set up interviews and photo shoots.
• Distribute magazines to editorial subjects each issue.
• Write for the website and newsletter.

Qualifications:
A successful candidate will have a post-secondary education in journalism or a related field and at least a year of experience in media. You write, edit and proofread effectively and have great communication skills. Your skill set includes fluency in Microsoft Office, Adobe InDesign and various Mac suites.

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(posted January 21, 2009)

Senior Editor - AMMSA-Windspeaker

Full time position 37.5 hours/week

Position will be located in Edmonton.

The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) Canada's largest and most respected publisher of Aboriginal news and information seeks a Senior Editor to help set and implement the editorial direction for its various publications including Windspeaker - Canada's National Aboriginal News Source.

Responsibilities include:

* Directing and overseeing the production of AMMSA's publications (currently one monthly magazine, one quarterly magazine and two monthly newspapers);

* Supervising editorial staff as well as contributors and freelancers;

* Editing and writing articles for AMMSA's publications from local/regional to national in scope;

* Assigning and coordinating editorial contributions from staff, columnists, stringers and freelancers;

* Establishing and maintaining a positive relationship with the Aboriginal community;

* Knowledge of Aboriginal issues and culture an asset.

Contributing Editor - AMMSA-Windspeaker

Part time position 16 hours/week

This position can be home-based and outside of Edmonton.

The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) Canada's largest and most respected publisher of Aboriginal news and information seeks a Contributing Editor to help implement the editorial direction for its various publications.

Responsibilities include:

* Edit and write articles for AMMSA's publications from local/regional to national in scope;

* Assigning and coordinating editorial contributions from stringers and freelancers;

* Establish and maintain a positive relationship with the Aboriginal community;

* Knowledge of Aboriginal issues and culture an asset.

Staff Writer - AMMSA-Windspeaker

Full time position 37.5 hours/week

This position will be located in Edmonton. The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) Canada's largest and most respected publisher of Aboriginal news and information seeks a Staff Writer to join our editorial staff to contribute to its various publications.

Responsibilities include:

* Research, photograph and write articles for AMMSA's publications from local/regional to national in scope;

* Attend media, cultural and community events to provide coverage in all publications;

* Arrange and conduct interviews in person or over the telephone;

* Must have a valid driver's license;

* Establish and maintain a positive relationship with the Aboriginal community;

* Knowledge of Aboriginal issues and culture an asset.

Please send resume and work samples to:

Paul Macedo,

AMMSA-Windspeaker

13245- 146 Street

Edmonton, Alberta T5L 4S8

Email: market@ammsa.com

Fax: 780-455-7639

Web: www.ammsa.com

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