Evan Hansen of Wired.com says the core product is community, not content

Evan Hansen, the editor-in-chief of Wired.com, was the marquee speaker late Tuesday afternoon as the kickoff for MagNet 2011 magazine industry conference in Toronto. For a flavour of the event, see the liveblog done by Graham F. Scott of This Magazine, with Chantal Braganza. It was interesting that Hansen said there is almost no overlap (5%) between Wired magazine's print content and the original

June is just around the corner (really) and so is MagNet conference

Magazines Canada's website for the MagNet conference in June (7 - 10) went live today, as they say. The site has a refreshed design and, I think, an improved navigation to go with the look. There is an astonishing lineup of speakers and panelists.

MagNet conference moving to better venue in Toronto for 2011 event

MagNet, the annual industry conference, is changing venues in 2011. It will be held June 7 to 10 at the Courtyard Marriott, also in Toronto. The move is an acknowledgement that the burgeoning event (doubled participation in the past four years) has outgrown the capacity of 89 Chestnut which in the 2010 event had difficulty keeping up with air conditioning and wireless demand. "The entire Marriott

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.

MagNet launches 2010 website with details about conference events

You can start planning your agenda for the first week of June, as the new website for Magnet: Canada's Magazine Conference is now available for viewing. The conference is held June 1 - 4, 2010 in Toronto. Now in its fourth year, MagNet is a multi-disciplinary seminar, professional development and networking event that is produced collaboratively by Canada’s key industry associations: Canadian

Don't apologize for your content's value, Economist boss says

The MagNet publishing conference was kicked off Tuesday night with an upbeat presentation at Hart House inToronto by Paul Rossi, executive vice-president and managing director of the Economist Group. He gave a summary of the thinking and principles that have been and are driving the Economist worldwide, resulting in a growing circulation, now over 1.2 million.The Economist believes in the growth,

Encouraging advanced sales for Magnet and Magawards

Projected attendance at next week's industry events should be quite heartening. Word is that there are about 900 registrants for the MagNet conference, booked for 3,000 sessions. And sales for the National Magazine Awards are going well, so much so that the floor tables at the Carlu are all but sold out. No word yet on what attendance is expected at Magazines University conference run by the

Economist publisher & Hong Kong design guru to headline MagNet

The MagNet magazine conference in June (2 - 5 in Toronto) will be headlined by a presentation by Paul Rossi, the publisher of the Economist magazine, it has been announced. A release from Magazines Canada says other highlight presenters will be Tommy Li, the international design guru from Hong Kong and three top Canadian independent publishers: Marion Lavigne, publisher and founder of

Message from participants in magazine conferences: kiss and make up

[NOTE: This post has been updated.] We promised to report on the results of the online questionnaire, asking readers to give their views about the two magazine conferences that took place this past month -- Magazines University and MagNet: Canada's Magazine Conference.According to the latest information available, the attendance at the two conferences was:Magazines University (according to the

Say your piece about mag conferences

Still time for you to give your views about Magazines University and MagNet in our online questionnaire (which closes this Monday). For more details, see post.

Two magazine conferences and what you think about them

This has been a busy month in terms of professional development, with two national magazine conferences running back-to-back in Toronto. Just to remind you, they were:Magazines University, which -- until this year -- was a partnership principally between Masthead magazine, Magazines Canada, the Canadian Business Press and the Circulation Management Association of Canada (CMC). This year, for the

June is magazine conference month

This is shaping up to be a heckuva three weeks in Canadian magazines with a whole lotta learning, networking and schmoozing goin' on.Starting today (June 4) and through Wednesday, June 6, Masthead magazine and the Canadian Business Press are partnering for Magazines University at the Old Mill in the west end of Toronto (with other partners being the audit organizations CCAB/BPA Worldwide and the

Nigel Dickson to present at MagNet in place of Chris Buck

Nigel Dickson, a superlative Toronto-based photographer with an international portfolio, has replaced Chris Buck as international speaker at MagNet. (Buck, a Canadian who has built a career and a reputation in New York, cancelled because of a work conflict.) Dickson has done (and will show) groundbreaking editorial work (Rolling Stone, Esquire, Toronto Life, Regardies, Fortune, Fast Company and

The volunteers who make this industry hum

The volunteers who make this industry run are being honoured at MagNet, Canada's Magazine Conference. Already announced is that Terry Sellwood has been named Volunteer of the Year and will receive his honour at a Magazines Canada luncheon on June 14 during the conference. In addition, there are regional volunteer award winners who will be feted at a champagne reception later that day. They are (

Breaks for small mags at MagNet

Small magazines who are members of Magazines Canada are being alerted that there are bursaries available to them to attend MagNet, the industry conference being held June 13 to 15 in Toronto.A release from Magazines Canada says there is assistance available for titles with less than 50,000 circulation to get up to 50% of tuition or travel costs covered! Further information can be obtained from

Rep fret about conference choice

It was probably inevitable that criticism would break into the open about there being two magazine industry conferences in Toronto within a 10-day period this June. From the estimable (but slightly cranky) Reptile (an anonymous ad rep) comes a more-or-less tongue-in-cheek advance "scorecard" of the two events. Reptile like the Mags U shield logo, hates MagNet's reverse type, etc. etc. In a very