How do you remain relevant?

The recent news about New York, American Media and Hatchette Filpacchi Media forgoing membership in the Magazine Publishers of America, brought to my mind a variety of thoughts.

1) How do associations that cater to publishing remain relevant in a time when the publishing environment is so tough?

2) How do we as writers/editors/graphic designers/Web editors, etc. ensure our publications remain relevant to our particular niche when the economic environment is so tough?

3) Do these departures signal anything in terms of changes in the advertising environment and a breakdown, maybe breakdown is too strong of a word, but a lessening of the advertising/editorial divide that remains a large part of cornerstone of editorial integrity the MPA is partially responsible for upholding? And if it is, is that a larger signal that the ethical rules need to be rewritten to reflect the current environment that looks as if it's here to stay?

I don't have many answers to these, but I'm sure collectively we do.

This year's National Editorial Conference will have several sessions that will help attendees answer my second questions, including:
  • Innovative responses to today's troubling times
  • How to keep your print publication relevant in a digital age
  • Ways to sell your ideas to company executives
The meeting is set for July 15-17 in Washington, D.C.

And to address the influx of digital properties being added to your publication's mix, ASBPE has added a special Digital Conference, to be held in San Francisco Nov. 5.

You can find more information on both of these conferences under the Conference tab (left side of the Web page) on www.asbpe.org

But we'd love to hear from you about what we (ASBPE) can do even better and some ideas you've been applying at your respective publications to address some of these issues.

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Posted by Nikki Golden on Thursday, February 19, 2009 @ 1:16 PM
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Comments:
I just attended the ASBPE networking even in Chicago and really enjoyed it. I used to work in magazine publishing, and currently work in book publishing (where we also are having our struggles). It was great "talking shop" with people. In terms of magazine publishing I think, in general, publishers are in the midst of a sea change. They have their "readership" market, but they also have their "advertiser" market. The quick answer is "hey, we'll give the advertisers what they want editorially; they're paying the freight," which like you said, is a slippery ethical slope. And, as I remember from my magazine days, not very gratifying as an editor. But, if you look what marketers are getting geeked about lately, it's the potential to market to individuals. Technology is making it more and more possible for them to understand an individual's buying habits and target their message very specifically. Very likely, that could lead to a future where display advertising doesn't meet their needs for personalization. Clearly, publishers as a whole need to think outside of the box to meet advertisers' needs. And, it doesn't have to mean loosening editorial standards, just offering some different options. what I think an organization like ASBPE can do is keep doing what they're doing. Connect publishing people so they can share ideas.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : February 20, 2009 at 4:52 PM
 
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