2002 Annual Conference Pictures, Page 4

Chrysti the Wordsmith entertained members by decoding the magazine jargon we throw around daily. She has a regular feature on Montana Public Radio – and syndicated in dozens of U.S. markets and worldwide on Armed Forces Radio and Voice of America. "Dictionaries," she says, "are simply alphabetized story books."

Mike Meier, Quebecor World, visits in the hospitality suite with Al Zikovitz, publisher, and Al's wife, Wendela Roberts, editorial consultant, of Cottage Life. Magazine talk never ceases at IRMA conferences and the hospitality suite is just about the best venue for picking up ideas.

Karen Liechty, conference coordinator of Adventure Connections of Montana; Beverly Magley, editor of Montana Magazine; Betsy Haggerty, editor of Offshore; and Nina La France, vice president of consumer affairs at Red Herring; trade ideas in the hospitality suite. Nina served as president/host of the 1999 IRMA conference while publisher of Arizona Highways.

Special guest Verena Koja of Austria and David Dauer of Offshore work on their "A Dark and Stormy Night" story.

Kate Bast, editor of Wisconsin Trails; Mike Meier of Quebecor World; and Susan Ebert, publisher/editor of Texas Parks & Wildlife; work on what would become the winning entry for "A Dark and Stormy Night."

The hospitality suite, the "real meeting," continues into the wee hours with ideas that still echo within its walls – and within the far-flung minds of IRMA members long after each conference. Here, Al Zikovitz, Wendela Roberts, Ethel Hess, publisher of New Mexico Magazine, and Nina La France add to those ideas.

Inspiring those ideas are guest speakers throughout the conference. Here's a glimpse of Dedra Smith leading her concurrent session Turns Out, You CAN Please Everyone. It consisted of seven production decisions editorial and art must make to optimize production for readers and advertisers.

Just the Facts, Ma'am and Susan Ebert, publisher/editor of Texas Parks & Wildlife, hands them out. This session on applying research to advertising and circulation campaigns was presented by Susan and Eric Czechowski, corporate director of marketing & research at Pace Communications.

Tim Sayles, editor of Chesapeake Bay Magazine, presented This Is Not Your Grandfather's Adverbial Phrase: An Examination of the Evolved Comma. Think this was tedious? The group howled as they applied commas to sentences on taped up banners about a fictitious predicament Adirondack Life publisher Tom Hughes had concerning his wife and an ill-placed tattoo on his body.

Two no-host round-tables were tried for the first time at a conference. This one for advertising staffers was billed as Breezing Out of the Doldrums.

Jeffrey Dearth, partner at DeSilva & Phillips Media Investment Bankers, presents Defining the Empire. The concurrent session dealt with positioning a magazine for sale or merger or justifying its existence to the governor.

Give IRMA members half a chance and they'll congregate for an impromptu session just about anywhere, any time.

Editorial round-tables are among conference favorites. This one was top-rated. Bryan McGill, editor of British Columbia Magazine, moderated Eating Humble Pie, a discussion of gathering information about editorial matters from surveys and focus groups. The interaction among like-minded participants is what makes round-tables so popular.

Just as popular are circulation round-tables, which date from the beginning of IRMA in 1960. The first IRMA meeting was held in 1960 between two circulation managers in a fishing boat and slowly grew into what the organization is today. JJ Coggeshall, reader services director of Montana Magazine, moderated this one, titled Circulating Ideas.