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October 5-10,
2007 |
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Contents |
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| Program Schedule | |||||
| Things You Need to Know | |||||
| Thank You, Major Sponsors for 2007 | |||||
| Guest Speakers | |||||
| Who's Coming | |||||
Program Schedule |
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NEW THIS YEAR: We're introducing a new kind of session to IRMA. Please welcome the POWER SESSION. These short, 45 minute tutorials will provide an overview and solid "how-to" guides you can take home and immediately implement at your magazine. Designed with the printed takeaway in mind, these short sessions will run concurrently with other breakout sessions. You will be able to come and go as you see fit. |
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Thursday, October 4 |
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All Day |
Board of Directors/Presidents Council Arrivals and Check-in | ||||
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6:00 p.m. |
Board of Directors/Presidents Council (and spouses) Dinner | ||||
Friday, October 5 |
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All Day |
General Arrivals and Check-in | ||||
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8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. |
Board Meeting (Includes breakfast & lunch) | ||||
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9:00 a.m. |
Registration Begins | ||||
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5:00 p.m. |
Welcome Dinner at the Skirvin Hilton | ||||
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7:30 p.m. |
Private Evening at the Oklahoma City National Memorial | ||||
| We'll walk four blocks to the site of the 1995 Murrah bombing. Visit www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/. | |||||
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9:00 p.m. |
Hospitality Suite | ||||
Saturday, October 6 |
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7:30 - 9:00 a.m. |
Breakfast at hotel | ||||
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by 9:00 a.m. |
Luggage to north conference doors | ||||
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9:00 - 10:15 a.m. |
General Session: The State of the Magazine Industry | ||||
| "Mr. Magazine,"™ Dr. Samir Husni will offer an overview of the magazine industry and how the regional magazine fits into the overall scheme of things. | |||||
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10:15 - 10:30 a.m. |
Morning Break | ||||
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10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
General Session: Buy This Magazine | ||||
| "Mr. Magazine,"™ Dr. Samir Husni continues: What really sells copies? Is it bare breasted young ladies, fast cars, movie stars, or scenic vistas? The world's leading expert on magazines will offer his insights. | |||||
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12:15 p.m. |
Load Buses (box lunch on bus) | ||||
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Afternoon |
Stops at Fort Sill and Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge | ||||
| Tour of Fort Sill National Landmark and Museum: This special place is one of the best kept secrets in the country. The post is located in Lawton, Oklahoma, and is home to the largest museum in the U.S. Army. Quanah Parker and Geronimo are both buried here. | |||||
| Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge: This 60,000 acre refuge, the oldest in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife system, is home to coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, longhorn cattle and buffalo. | |||||
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5:00 p.m. |
Arrive at Quartz Mountain Resort | ||||
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7:00 p.m. |
Dinner at the Lodge | ||||
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Sunday, October 7 |
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7:00 - 8:30 a.m. |
Breakfast at the Lodge | ||||
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8:30 - 10:15 a.m. |
General Session: Web Overview | ||||
| Long-term business strategist Bob Melk explains our digital future. Once you hear Bob, you'll want to attend one of his breakout sessions...and you'll know which one is appropriate for you. | |||||
| TO DO: If you haven't completed the IRMA Conference Attendee Survey sent a few weeks ago, please do so and return it to joan@oklahomatoday.com ASAP. Your answers will help Bob tailor his content for our conference. If you haven't kept a copy of it handy, you can find it on the Downloads page in the Members-Only area of this Web site. | |||||
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10:15 - 10:30 a.m. |
Morning Break | ||||
| 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Breakout and Power Sessions | ||||
| Spend the next 1½ hours in one of the two Breakout sessions—OR start with the Power session, then move to one of the Breakout sessions in progress. | |||||
| 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Breakout Sessions 1 or 2 | ||||
| 1 Beginning Web Strategy | |||||
| Do you consider yourself a Web novice? Does your Web site (if you have one) remain static day-to-day or year-to-year? Bob Melk's in-depth session could be the first step to establishing a Web strategy for your company. | |||||
| TO DO: Make sure you attend Bob Melk's general session, Web Overview. | |||||
| 2 Circulation 101 | |||||
| Throughout the conference, circulation expert, Nicole Bowman, will share tried and true circulation boosting techniques. In this session, Nicole will provide an overview designed to educate everyone on your staff about how to maximize subscription profitability. | |||||
| 10:30 - 11:15 a.m. | Power Session | ||||
| Copyright in Today's Media Marketplace | |||||
| Come hear about trends and case law that might impact your business. | |||||
| Feel free to join one of the Breakout sessions in progress when this session ends. | |||||
| 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. | Lunch | ||||
| 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions 1, 2, or 3 | ||||
| 1 Intermediate and Advanced Web Strategy | |||||
| Is your Web site established? Do you have a shopping cart, dynamic content, online ads? Do you want to expand your site and even generate more revenue? This session is for you. | |||||
| TO DO: Make sure you attend Bob Melk's general session. | |||||
| 2 Shrink to Grow | |||||
| One sure way to help GROW your business is to cut unnecessary costs. Find out how to test your workflow for weak points, keep your printing agreements in sync with what you promise your advertisers, and avoid the pitfalls that can add up to big money at the end of the year. Production and workflow guru Dedra Smith will provide a primer on how to look at your print order, your invoices, and your contract in a new way. | |||||
| 3 Pick Me! Editorial Hits and Misses | |||||
| How can you distinguish your magazine in an overwhelming media marketplace? Cone share your editorial Hits & Misses with this focused group of editors. | |||||
| 2:45 - 3:30 p.m. | Power Sessions 1, 2 or 3 | ||||
| 1 Oklahoma Today Online Archive | |||||
| The Oklahoma Today Digitization Project - start to finish. This session will be presented by David Maxwell of the Oklahoma State University Library Electronic Publishing Center. | |||||
| 2 How to Keep From Going Postal | |||||
| Don't pull your hair out yet—well, maybe just a little at the back…The latest postal rate case was not just an increase, but a complex series of new rules that make many old assumptions moot. Hear the latest on how these conditions are affecting regional publishers, some possible strategies to lower your postal costs, and how these strategies may require some adjustments on your part, and what's on the near horizon from the USPS. | |||||
| 3 Winning Editorial Systems | |||||
| Did interns really build the pyramids? Delivering an error-free publication improves reader satisfaction, which ultimately will help you grow your circulation. A panel of experts will share their knowledge and provide lots of valuable handouts. | |||||
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5:00 - 6:00 p.m. |
Awards Reception | ||||
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5:30 p.m. |
Group Photo | ||||
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6:00 p.m. |
Gala Awards Dinner | ||||
Monday, October 8 |
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7:30 - 8:30 a.m. |
Breakfast at hotel | ||||
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8:30 - 9:00 a.m. |
General Session: IRMA Awards Overview | ||||
| We'll take a few minutes the morning after the gala awards dinner to hear from the winners of our IRMAs. | |||||
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9:00 - 10:45 a.m. |
General Session: Hits & Misses | ||||
| This perennial favorite is guaranteed to provide winning ideas. Magazine representatives detail the best (and worse) ideas of the year. Your takeaway? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! | |||||
| TO DO: Please send digital photos of your recent hits and misses to joan@oklahomatoday.com by September 1. We want to hear about your successful direct mail campaign, your postal disaster, a product that sold thousands (or one that you were sure would sell thousands, but failed). Please identify your images as a hit or a miss in your e-mail. | |||||
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11:15 a.m. |
Buses leave for Route 66 excursion (Box Lunch) | ||||
| Oklahoma boasts more miles of Route 66 (400!) than any other state. The highway was the brainchild of Cyrus Avery from Tulsa, who is known as the "Father of the Mother Road." We'll visit the Sand Hills Curiosity Shop, the Roger Miller Museum, and the National Route 66 Museum. | |||||
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6:00 p.m. |
Cookout at the lodge | ||||
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Tuesday, October 9 |
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7:00 - 8:30 a.m. |
Breakfast at hotel | ||||
| 8:30 - 9:45 a.m. | General Session: Beyond the Printed Page | ||||
| Several of the many successful IRMA publishers will explain how they have extended their brand via the Web, events, partnerships, and franchises. | |||||
| 9:45 - 10:00 a.m. | Morning Break | ||||
| 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Breakout and Power Sessions | ||||
| Attend one of the Breakout sessions ending at 12:00 p.m.—OR a Breakout session that ends at 11:15 a.m. and move to a Power session or join another Breakout session in progress. | |||||
| 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Breakout Sessions 1, 2, or 3 | ||||
| 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | 1 Editorial Peer Critique | ||||
| Matt Holliday of Pennsylvania Magazine has conducted this popular session at the Arizona, Virginia and Texas conferences. Prior to the conference, participants will review each participating publication. The group will gather at the conference behind closed doors to share honest opinions about the design and editorial content. | |||||
| TO DO: E-mail Matt (pamag@aol.com) and tell him you want to participate. Do this quickly since it requires providing (and receiving) magazines to be critiqued. | |||||
| 2 Winning Franchises | |||||
| Come hear some serious success stories and take away a white paper that will help you create your own winning franchise inn the near future. | |||||
| 3 He Said/She Said: Ad Sales | |||||
| Alison Dickie from Albemarle: Living in Jefferson's Virginia and Brian Brown from Oklahoma Today share their energy and enthusiasm about ad sales. You'll hear how each publication has grown (or not) over the past few years, and you'll take away some excellent ideas you can immediately implement. | |||||
| 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | Breakout Sessions 1 or 2 | ||||
| 1 The Paper Chase | |||||
| One way or the other, publishers buy paper, and many of them do so without the knowledge to keep the deal fair. Don't ever spend more than you have on this huge budget item! Find out what's negotiable and when/how to negotiate waste, where to find hidden markups, and how to calculate a waste ratio that's reasonable. | |||||
| TO DO: Bring your contracts and paper tables so we can look at some real life models. | |||||
| 2 Direct Mail Testing Techniques | |||||
| Designed for circulation staff, this session will drill down to unveil the very best traditional and online testing. Nicole Brown will guide you through the planning and layout of tests to the back-end evaluation of the results. | |||||
| 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Power Sessions 1 or 2 | ||||
| 1 Arizona Highways Online | |||||
| Arizona Highways Publisher Win Holden will discuss the magazine's Web strategy. | |||||
| 2 Events | |||||
| Events are becoming a major force for these IRMA publishers. Come hear how they do it, how much they spend, and take away a white paper from each. | |||||
| 12:00 - 1:15 p.m. | Lunch and Business Meeting | ||||
| 1:15 - 2:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions 1, 2 or 3 | ||||
| 1 Shark Infested Waters | |||||
| Pay to play, ad agencies, controlled circulation publications that break all the rules…Does local competition hurt you or help you? A panel of publishers will share their experiences and philosophies. | |||||
| 2 Media Kits: Advertising Peer Critique | |||||
| Participants will review each other's sales materials prior to the conference and share honest opinions behind closed doors. | |||||
| TO DO: If you would like to participate in this session, please send an e-mail to joan@oklahomatoday.com. Further instructions will follow. | |||||
| 3 Circulation Source Evaluation | |||||
| Do you know your "bogey?" Find out how to determine the maximum allowable cost of acquisition for new subscribers. Nicole Bowman presents her holistic approach to finding new subscribers. | |||||
| 2:30 - 2:45 p.m. | Afternoon Break | ||||
| 2:45 - 4:00 p.m. | Breakout Sessions 1 or 2 | ||||
| 1 Texas Two-Step: Government Magazines | |||||
| This panel, hosted by Kathy Murphy of Texas Highways, will explore the unique challenges of publishing a government-owned magazine. Come share your experiences and your expertise in this lively session. | |||||
| 2 Maximize Profits | |||||
| Do you know how to maximize your subscription profitability? Budgets are tight and good names are tough to find. Nicole Bowman will show you how to spend the money you have more wisely. | |||||
| 7:00 p.m. | Farewell Dinner at lodge | ||||
Wednesday, October 10 |
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7:00 a.m. |
Bus departs for Oklahoma City Airport (Box Breakfast on the Bus) | ||||
| Expected arrival at the airport is 10:00 a.m. We recommend that you set the flight home after 12:00 noon. | |||||
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Things You Need to Know |
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Registration Deadlines |
September 5, 2007 (to get early bird discount) September 20, 2007 (absolute registration deadline) |
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| Special Hotel Rates | To get the special conference hotel rates, please use the codes and procedures provided by the two hotels. These are available from the Members-Only area of this Web site. If you need a password to access the Members-Only area, please e-mail Herman (us002848@earthlink.net). If you prefer, he will e-mail the codes to you. | ||||
| Hotel Reservation Deadlines | |||||
| Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City: Book your rooms by September 13, 2007. | |||||
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| Quartz Mountain Resort Arts & Conference Center in Lone Wolf: Book your rooms by September 15, 2007. | |||||
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| Conference Dates |
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| Time | Oklahoma is located in the Central Time Zone. | ||||
| Getting Here | Please fly in and out of Will Rogers World Airport (OKC), located in Oklahoma City. | ||||
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| International Travelers: You may find it more convenient to fly in and out of Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW). If so, you will need to rent a car and drive approximately 3.5 hours north on I-35 to Oklahoma City. On October 10, you will depart directly from Quartz Mountain Resort. Your drive from Quartz back to DFW will take a bit longer. Plan for 4.5 hours for this leg. | |||||
| Airport Transportation |
The Skirvin Hilton is located a short 15 minute
taxi ride from the airport. Expect to spend about $20. We'll drop you at the
airport on the return trip, so this will be your only transportation expense,
unless you choose to rent a car. If you are unable to join us for the entire conference, we ask that you rent a car so you can get to and from the airport at your convenience. You'll find Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty counters in the Will Rogers World Airport. |
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| IRMA Transportation | Once you arrive at the hotel, we'll handle transportation by bus to Lone Wolf and back (unless you are unable to join us for the entire conference). If you have a specific need for local transportation during the conference, Oklahoma Today staff will be happy to assist you. | ||||
| Weather and Clothing |
Wear comfortable clothing. In Oklahoma City, you'll find you're equally at home in
jeans or business casual. Quartz Mountain is a state park, so you may want
to wear hiking clothes. Our awards dinner is the only event where folks have
traditionally dressed up. That's when we line up for a group photograph each
year (so you won't want to look like the group clown). That said, we won't
kick you out if you wear shorts! "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, wait a minute and it'll change." –Will Rogers You'll want to bring a variety of clothing options, including shorts and sweatshirts. Average October temperatures in Oklahoma are 78°F days and 54°F nights. That said, it is not unusual to see 90+ degree F days and freezing nights. October is historically a fairly dry month, but Oklahoma is known for its bizarre weather. You are encouraged to check the state's travel Web site before you pack: http://www.travelok.com/vacationideas/weather.asp. |
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| Shipping Materials |
As always, we want to see samples of your
magazines, calendars, promotional materials, media kits, and anything else
you want to share with members. We'll wait to display these until we get to
Quartz Resort, so send your materials directly there. TO DO: Schedule your materials to arrive beginning October 3, 2007. Ship them to: Quartz Mountain Resort
Arts & Conference Center |
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| Questions? | If you have questions about the conference, please call Joan Henderson or Kathy Hehnly at (405) 230-8450 or (800) 777-1793 anytime—well, maybe just during business hours! E-mail your questions anytime to joan@oklahomatoday.com or kathy@oklahomatoday.com. | ||||
| Registration |
Registration forms; including fees, signup, and
individual preferences; are available in the Members-Only area of this Web
site. Completed signup and personal preferences forms must be received for
your conference registration to be complete. Be sure to select the right
form for your situation. Separate forms should be used for:
Forms for others are available from us002848@earthlink.net. |
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Thank You, Major Sponsors for 2007 |
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| Chilcutt Direct Marketing | |||||
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9301 Cedar Lake Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73114 Phone: (405) 478-7245. Fax: (405) 478-2984. Web site: www.cdmlist.com |
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| Communications Data Services, Inc. | |||||
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1901 Bell Avenue Des Moines, IA 50315-1099 Phone: (515) 246-6920. Fax: (515) 246-6882. Web site: www.cdsfulfillment.com |
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| Magazine Manager | |||||
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800 East Broward Boulevard, Ste 506 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 Phone: (954) 462-4579. Fax: (954) 462-5588. Web site: www.magazinemanager.com |
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Guest Speakers |
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Bob Melk |
Bob Melk brings 20 years of experience in the media industry. His expertise
began with Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising after which he began his career in
publishing management and media sales with varied consumer and B2B titles,
including Boston magazine and Folio: magazine. In 1992, Bob
became a publisher with CMP Media, where he held the position of Publisher
for Web Techniques magazine, WebReview.com and Group
Director/Publisher for New Architect magazine. Today, as a Vice President with IDG's CXO Media, Bob works with senior executives to develop long-term business strategy for IDG's C-level as well as his day-to-day role overseeing the Sales, Marketing & Business Development teams for the CIO brand. He possesses in-depth and intimate knowledge of media strategies and sales techniques and the opportunities facing today's publishers. |
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Nicole Bowman, President of Bowman Circulation Marketing, a consumer marketing company, is the Co-Chair of The DMA Circulation Council and the Chairman of the Fulfillment Management Association. With over 15 years of experience in consumer marketing, Nicole has been the Circulation Director for over 20 consumer titles and has successfully launched 11 consumer magazines. |
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Dedra is President of Printmark West, Inc. She has been providing manufacturing, scheduling and workflow expertise to publishers of large and small enterprises since 1990. She has worked in the publishing arena since 1970, and prior to establishing her consulting firm directed manufacturing for Pactel, Murdoch Magazines and Reed Elsevier. She writes and teaches regularly for the publishing industry in order to keep the energy of ideas flowing. |
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Samir Husni, aka "Mr. Magazine"™, is the Chair of the Journalism Department at the University of Mississippi. He is also Professor and Hederman Lecturer of Journalism. Dr. Husni is the author of the annual Samir Husni's Guide to New Magazines, which is now in its 22nd year. He is also author of Launch Your Own Magazine: A Guide for Succeeding in Today's Marketplace, published by Kendall Hunt. He is the editor of The Future of Magazines. He is "the country's leading magazine expert," according to Forbes ASAP magazine; "the nation's leading authority on new magazines," according to min:media industry newsletter; "a world renowned expert on print journalism," according to CBS News Sunday Morning; and The Chicago Tribune dubbed him "the planet's leading expert on new magazines." He has been a judge of The National Magazines Awards, The Evangelical Magazines Association, The City and Regional Magazine Association, and The Florida and Georgia Magazine Association Awards. Dr. Husni is the President and CEO of Magazine Consulting & Research, a firm specializing in new magazine launches, repositioning of established magazines, and packaging publications for better sales and presentations. When he is not in his office reading magazines, Dr. Husni is at the newsstands buying magazines. |
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