Thursday, October 12, 2006

MagNet officially launched and
hopes to attract the whole industry

[NOTE: A comment has been posted from the President of the National Magazine Awards Foundation saying it is not a partner in MagNet. Click on comments, below.]

MagNet has been launched, a joint venture of Magazines Canada, the Circulation Management Association of Canada, the Professional Writers Association of Canada [and the National Magazine Awards Foundation].

The new industry conference, to be held June 13 to 15 2007 as the direct outcome of the decision by Magazines Canada and CMC to pull out of Magazines University, which is apparently to carry on without them, offering its own conference and trade show at the Old Mill on June 4, 5 and 6, under the auspices of Masthead magazine and the Canadian Business Press.

What it means, of course, is that people in the industry will have a number of alternatives, including choosing one or the other or attending both events. In a sense, people in the industry may benefit from the competition as each conference tries to offer the most value. There will likely be some vigorous promotion in the months to come (although, long term, it remains to be seen if there is sufficient appetite for professional development so that both events can survive).

MagNet will be offering
  • a central location (89 Chestnut Street, north of Toronto City Hall),
  • a flexible pricing regime, with discounts for taking more than one session
  • affordable onsite accommodation
  • seminars on editorial, digital media, art direction, circulation, advertising, management and production
  • dedicated rooms for networking and catching up on work while attending the conference
  • free tea, coffee and light refreshments throughout the day
  • an international speaker
  • the CMC Excellence Awards luncheon
  • the Volunteer of the Year awards
  • the CMC annual Connoisseurs Club party
  • A newsstand show and
  • the 30th anniversary National Magazine Awards gala on Friday, June 15.
More information will be available at CMC or at Magazines Canada.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Dave--Kim Pittaway here. NMAF is not a partner in MagNet; nor are we a partner in Mags U. We are an independent awards program and as such, we're working with all of the events to promote our awards dinner. In the past, though we were not a partner in Mags U, we worked with the Mags U team to promote our event as part of their program materials. We are in discussions with Mags U and hope the same kind of promotion will happen with them this year. In the same vein, MagNet is promoting the NMAF event in their program materials. However, we remain an independent program and have not partnered with either event. I'd appreciate it if you could correct the post as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Kim

1:29 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'd rather not choose. I'd rather support all of the groups that are contributing to the industry. Trouble is, with a limited budget for training (and a tight personal budget), I'll be voting with my dollars. It will come down who has the most relevant content and the price of the sessions.

1:50 pm  
Blogger D. B. Scott said...

I saw the same press release as the rest of the industry and it included with equal prominence the logos of Magazines Canada, the Circulation Marketing Association of Canada, the Professional Writers Association of Canada and the National Magazine Awards Foundation. If it was my mistake to conclude this was a partnership, I would suggest it was presented that way. My presumption (clearly wrong) was that each of these had signed off on the release.

2:39 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, did Kim P. give Magnet permission to use the logo or not?

6:20 pm  
Blogger D. B. Scott said...

There is no question that NMAF agreed to be aligned with, and have its event co-promoted by, the Magazines Canada event. The problem comes from my interpretation of the logo placement, not the use of the logo itself. Nowhere did Magazine Canada use the term "partner" or "partnership"; I took that on myself (though, as I say, it seemed a reasonable conclusion). From further conversation Magazines Canada says it consulted everyone on the issuance of the release and that there will be further such releases, with more organizations associating themselves with this event.

9:19 am  

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