The Heart & Soul of IRMA

IRMA began in a fishing boat when two circulation people from separate magazines, Gus Weiner of Down East and Peter Sykas of Vermont Life, decided in 1960 to spend a day trading ideas that would improve growth of their magazines while enjoying their favorite pastime. Magazine secrets flowed between the two all day so freely that they decided to do it again the following year, then the next. Other magazine people heard about the annual get-together and began to join them. Soon, the boat was overloaded, so they began meeting on land.

A few years later, the growing group wanted to hear from the publisher of the granddaddy of regional magazines, Arizona Highways. Peter Sykas contacted him and was told that he needed a formal invitation to get approval from state officials to make the trip. A quick conversation with the owner of a local stationery shop produced a letterhead to use for the invitation. Over the counter that day, the organization was named the North American Association of Regional Publishers.

At the annual conference in Nevada, in 1968, the name was changed to Regional Publishers Association. After many years under that name, the organization was renamed the International Regional Magazine Association in 1995 to reflect a growing number of member magazines outside the United States.

Regardless of its name, the original intent of those first two members has remained the same for more than 40 years. Free and open communication among members is the heart and soul of the organization.

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