BCAMP to be refreshed and rebranded as Magazines BC

The British Columbia Association of Magazine Publishers, popularly known to date as BCAMP will very likely be changing its name to Magazines BC after approval from its annual general meeting on Saturday, June 12. In the annual report for 2009, executive director Rhona MacInnes explains:
In the process of strategic planning made possible with a Flying Squad grant, BCAMP has reaffirmed its vision

Two finalists named for PWAC Editor of the Year award

Holly Bennett, editor-in-chief of Today’s Parent Special Editions and Michael Totzke, editor of Canadian Interiors have been named finalists in the Professional Writers Association of Canada Editor of the Year Award. It is to be presented at the Writers' Industry Awards Luncheon on Friday 4th during the MagNet magazine conference. “This is a unique editing award because it comes from Canada’s

MagNet conference sees registrations soar; up about 23% over last year

It appears that people in the magazine industry are bullish about the business as word is that the registrations for MagNet conference  in Toronto starting tomorrow is up about 23% over last year, with about 1,300 individuals slated to attend and 4,300 sessions and events booked.

Magazine world view: VSS co-founder leaves; Time Inc. excited; troublesome letters

Swiss Post International continues to support Asian publishing (Earthtimes) 
FTC protects journalism’s past (Buzz Machine) 
Veronis Suhler Stevenson co-founder Veronis steps down  (Folio:) 
Open door: The letters editor lists the problems that are created by multi-signatory letters (Guardian)
Former Scotsman editor Alan Ruddock has died (Jon Slattery) 
Quad/Graphics has quarterly loss, eyes

A New App

Got this app on my phone that makes the photos look like I shot them with an old camera. Ah, modern technology eh?!

Table At The Gasoline Bar

This I like

This coming weekend in Germany!!

Cobra Seats.

The king of all Rockabillies and founder of Old Gold Garage Co, Dan Collins, has decided to leave the 1950's and bring you these rather lovely cobra seats...check 'em out!

Jeselo Beach Bike Show.

Ciao bella...

Globe editor tells journalists that re-launched paper will be "magazine-style"

[ This post has been updated] I'm only now catching up (courtesy of J-source) with John Stackhouse of the Globe and Mail, Canada's largest circulation national paper, saying last weekto the Canadian Association of Journalists  that the daily newspaper model as it stands is doomed and that when his paper relaunches this fall it will be as a daily full-colour magazine-style publication printed on

One mag writer disses another over article about Montreal jazz scene

A while back, we posted an item about the illustrations by Montreal illustrator and artist Aimée van Drimmelen in the spring issue of Maisonneuve, illustrating a story by Chantal Braganza about the late jazz guitarist Nelson Symonds. There as no comment here about the story itself, but what it said (or how it was said) it seems to have aggravated some Montreal jazz fans. One of them, lournalist

Jailed Cannabis Culture publisher blogs and podcasts to pass the time

If the U.S authorities thought that slapping the former publisher and editor-in-chief of Cannabis Culture magazine in jail would shut him up, they hadn't reckoned with Marc Emery. Formally extradited to the USA on Thursday, May 20th, 2010, Emery appeared in Seattle federal court to enter a (negotiated) guilty plea on May 24. He had surrendered on charges relating to selling marijuana seeds by

New listserv for Atlantic Canada freelancers

[This post has been updated] One of the things that I think distinguishes the magazine business, and journalism in general,  is its collegiality; people in this trade, such as freelance writers, wish each other well and realize that there's much to be gained from sharing, collaboration and networking. One good example is the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list (TFEW), a listserv that has

NOW magazine says it is the first magazine in Canada to offer its readers an iPad version

It remains to be seen whether iPad mania will be as virulent in Canada as it has been in the U.S. (where in a little over a month Apple has sold a million units), but today's launch (which had some lunatics lining up overnight) coincides with NOW magazine claiming bragging rights for offering its readers an the iPad iBooks friendly e-reader version. It can be downloaded now from nowtoronto.com/

Totem's Joe Barbieri named to board of Custom Content Council

Joe Barbieri, the senior vice-president of marketing and business development at Totem (formerly Redwood Custom Communications)  has been appointed to the board of the Custom Content Council, the professional association for custom media. Barbieri, got his start in the business as publisher of Eyetalian magazine in Toronto, later worked at the Globe and Mail and then moved to Redwood (now Totem).

Magazine world view: Rodale repurposes; Newsweek redesigns; US editor goes Hollywood

 Rodale, MSN sign deal to repurpose mags online (Folio:) 
Newsweek redesigns site (MediaDailyNews)
Atlantic Media halts work on business website (DailyFinance) 
Is Wired's app really the future of magazines? (Slashdot)
Former 'Us Weekly' editor to head 'Hollywood Reporter' (DailyFinance) 
7 More Time Inc. brands are getting iPad apps (The Business Insider) 
3b or not 3b, that is BPA's question

What a week! The Canadian magazine industry celebrates its best people and their work

We're heading into what, for many, is a hectic, amazing and energizing Magazines Week in Toronto, beginning with MagNet, the industry conference and culminated by the National Magazine Awards. There is much to celebrate about this business as it emerges bruised, but unbowed, from a brutal recession, not least of which is the blossoming collegiality, with cooperation and collaborations all over

George A. Romero - Survival of the Dead Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer-director George A. Romero about Survival of the Dead

Copyright Unlikely Films, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Not Currently Available

12 finalists named for the inaugural PWAC writing awards

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) has announced 12 finalists for its inaugural writing awards competition -- stories published in 2009 in print or on the web.In the features category (over 1,200 words), the finalists are:Jenn Hardy for “Cleanup in Aisle One” (This Magazine)
Kim Gray for “Magic Hour” (Alberta Views)
Eve Lazarus for “The Parent Trap” (Enterprise)
Kimberley

No comment

It's kinda nutty how good the new Maclean's looks.-- Maclean's senior columnist Paul Wells in a tweet

Quote, unquote: The virtues of cheapness and flexibility

If our experience of the internet in the last ten years teaches one thing, it's that cheap and cheerful beats expensive and polished most days of the week. One of the core skills of magazine publishers is being able to develop formats that can be affordably repeated. Once you stray into moving pictures and copyright music, you're into a different model altogether. If there's anything my friends

Quote, unquote: on shedding the cloak of anonymity

"Websites have been encouraging cowardice. They allow users to hide behind virtual anonymity to make hasty, ill-researched and often intemperate comments regardless of any consideration for personal hurt or corporate damage....

"If you are speaking up, then speak up proudly and with responsibility. Embrace this opportunity to come out from the cloak of anonymity. That’s for

Jesse Eisenberg - The Living Wake Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews co-writer-star Mike O'Connell, co-star Jesse Eisenberg and producer-director Sol Tryon about The Living Wake

Copyright Unlikely Films, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Not Currently Available

Fire. Ready. Aim. Blogger gives the magazine industry some tough love, we think

Whatever the strategy, getting annoyed with the public for being indifferent to the printed word is the quickest way for a magazine to have its own funeral.This was the way blogger Marc Weisblott (Mondoville) concluded his swingeing column  about magazines. It was hard to understand quite what he was getting at as he rummages through the history of five magazines to reach his dubious conclusion

Quote, unquote: the seeds of addiction

All the magazines that are actually surviving and are doing very well, they have the seeds of addiction built in them. When the Food Network Magazine first came out, I looked for what I call the seeds of addiction in that magazine, what will get you hooked so you will want more of the same. They had two major ingredients. They had food, which is, you know, everybody is addicted to eating.

"One price shopping" regardless of platform likely says The New Yorker editor

While magazines currently are in botherations about how to price digital editions to new customers or their existing customers, a reasonable bellwether of where we might be going is The New Yorker. According to a story by Nat Ives in Ad Age, The New Yorker is moving towards a model where one fee covers all platforms, rather than charging one price for a print edition, another for a digital app or

Quote, unquote: on building a new future for magazines

The magazine publishing industry withstood these incidents like survivors of a nuclear holocaust in some far-fetched science fiction story, waiting for the fallout to dissipate and adapting to their surroundings to build a new future. The growing cinema industry caused so much interest that wasn't satisfied by simply watching that it actually spawned a selection of new magazines dealing with

Magazine world view:Digital Macy's; ads pick up; SI prototype II; Zoo in 3D

Macy's ad gets digital ad play (Mediaweek) 
Following bankruptcy, Source Interlink 'looking for a turnaround' (Folio:)
Rafat Ali to leave paidContent (paidContent)
Ad firms say business picking up (Mediaweek) 
Search and banners lead online ad spend forecast (MediaPost) 
Another Sports Illustrated digital prototype shows off HTML5’s power (Folio:) 
Acquisition triggers major editorial changes at

Rogers and Quebecor trying to put a broomstick in the spokes of Canwest sale

The saying "it's not over until it's over" would doubtless apply to the story in today's Vancouver Sun about Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Media Inc. putting their heads together to stifle the $2 billion sale of Canwest television properties to Shaw Communications. No similar noises being made about the print properties, sold to a group of unsecured creditors headed by Paul Godfrey.

Totem helps NABS relaunch its communications

Totem, the custom media agency, has been named the advertising agency of record for the National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS). Canada's only charitable organization providing assistance to professionals in the media industry (including magazines) is about to re-launch its communications; a new website has been redesigned and is unveiled today and there will be an accompanying targetted

Newspaper web site visits surge in the U.S.

The paradox of popularity continues with newspaper web sites struggling with making money, all the while increasing in the number of visitors, according to figures released by the Newspaper National Network in the U.S.A story in MediaDailyNews recounts that in the top 25 media markets newspapers reached 83.7 million unique visitors in April, up 15% from January. They represented more than 2

Not Coming Soon

Quail Lodge Part 2.

Sporty.

Check out this super sweet picture of our mate Shige from Mooneyes on his first ever HD back in 1980! In his own words...
"I didn't like the right foot shift, so I sold it to Chico right away!"
This years Mooneyes show in Yokohama, Japan is coming together very nicely with Robert & Suzanne Williams on the list as guests! More news to come...

Tramped.

Jimmy Monk is a really great bloke who lives in London and we love him. He recently decided to change it up a little with the frontend on his Panhead! Oooh...Tasty!

News International CEO Murdoch attacks British Library for developing digital newspaper archive

James Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, Europe and Asia, one of the world's largest newspaper publishers, made a speech (reproduced by the Press Gazette) on Thursday in which he attacked the British Library for its plans to create a digital archive of 40 million historical newspaper pages in its holdings, to be available on a paid website. His reason? That the move

Heritage minister to talk about money and copyright on CTV Question Period Sunday

James Moore, the minister for Canadian Heritage, is a guest on CTV Question Period on Sunday. He says his pre-taped topics include arts funding and copyright, among others. The program is aired at
11 a.m. -- Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba
12 noon -- Maritimes
1 p.m. -- Newfoundland
Airtimes can vary in Western Canada:
Check local listings for Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia

Will trade for space, says filling station

filling station, a spunky little literary magazine from Calgary that is closing in on its 50th issue , has come up with a creative idea for finding some space for events and for an office for the magazine; it has announced on its blog that it will trade a sponsorship package worth $1,500 (full page print ad, website banner, inclusion in an e-letter and events credit. Unlike other literary

Globe feature asks if Ken Whyte is man enough to "save" Chatelaine

The Globe has an early web release on its much-anticipated Saturday takeout by James Adams on Chatelaine's makeover under the firm hand of publisher Ken Whyte and his hand-picked editor Jane Francisco. And it asks a number of interesting questions both about Chatelaine and, in the process, Maclean's. Certainly, Whyte has shown little hesitation about wielding power – and quickly. Even, as one

Magazine world view:single sales, not ads; mag readership stable; Guardian nixes registration

Source Interlink launches magazine with emphasis on newsstand, not advertising 
ST Media buys New York-based Hospitality Magazine 
MRI: Magazine readership remains stable 
What The New Republic thinks of the Pope
Guardian rules out online reader registration 
Newsweek sale book: First bids due by June 2; Complete financials 
FMA "State of Industry" panel offers optimism for 2010

Quote, unquote: on coping with artificial demand

Journalists, by and large, had so little appreciation for their dependence on the larger engine of artificial demand that they were mostly blindsided when the Internet happened and they lost the benefits of that engine. A lot of them seemed to take it personally. They got insecure. Some started writing “trend” stories and giving over their column inches to celebrity newswires and sincerely

Business-to-business titles hold their own as information source in an internet era

A study by STARCH Research, released by the Canadian Business Press shows that specialized business publications are maintaining their high overall ranking, second only to the internet, as a source of information for business decision-makers. Internet sources have shown a significant 23% gain since 2004 and trade shows have shown an 11% gain, tied with b2b publications. The influence of

Brunico discontinues print edition of Playback magazine

[This post has been updated.] Playback magazine, a fortnightly trade publication for Canada’s production, broadcasting & interactive media industries, is discontinuing its print edition and switching to a wholly online operation; it had previously had a companion website and a daily e-letter to subscribers as well as the print magazine. According to the publication's media kit, circulation of the

Lost Q&A with Lindelof & Cuse

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews show runner-executive producer-writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about TV's Lost

Copyright Unlikely Films, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Not Currently Available

Tidy, trendy and handy magazine rack

Thanks to Print Fetish for showing us that there are more ways of keeping magazines tidy and handy than stacking them by your chair. This example is one of weekly posts the quirky site makes about magazine racks of every size, shape and description.

Scratch and...meh

Magculture points out that if you're going to do something dramatic, as with the current issue of UK Wired magazine that has areas blanked out by grey scratch-off bars like you find on lottery tickets, you should be sure to have a payoff for the readers. In this case, the results are somewhat prosaic, and the opportunity missed.

Charlottetown paper launches free monthly magazine called G!

Transcontinental Media's Charlottetown-based paper, The Guardian ("covers Prince Edward Island like the dew)", has launched a free, monthly magazine called G!. It is an "infotainment" that covers food, fashion, entertainment, fitness and technology with a roster of regular G! columnists and guest contributors. It is being distributed free in convenience stores, restaurants, shops and salons

New-look Chatelaine seems to have dispensed with substance altogether

I don't believe I'm alone in wondering how far the transformation of venerable magazine Chatelaine will go. The current (June) issue essentially contains no feature material at all. No profiles. No issues dealt with. Nothing that would qualify as a "good read".  The Chatelaine of old could deftly blend fluff and substance. Now, much of the substance appears to have been jettisoned. 

The magazine

Quail Lodge Part 1.

Pussy Slaying Machine.

Actually it wasn't a cat that Scotty ran over...it was a small dog...but close enough.
His Super Fly machine is up for grabs....and its CHEAP too!!! You can read the full scoop in DicE Issue 23!
email him at: tmscott@surewest.net