International Regional Magazine Association - IRMA

Thursday October 15

All Day

Board of Directors/Presidents Council Arrivals and Check-in at the Hotel Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM

7:15 p.m.

Board of Directors/President’s Council (and spouses) Dinner Restaurant Martín
Meet in the lobby and we’ll walk about 2 blocks to the restaurant.

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Friday October 16

7:30 to 10:00 a.m.

Breakfast 
Hotel Santa Fe Dining Room
(Bring your breakfast coupon; order off the menu.)

10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m

Board of Directors Meeting (Buffet lunch, noon)
Canyon

2:00 to 6:00 p.m.

General Arrivals, Check-in, and Conference Registration
Hotel Santa Fe, (Each day hereafter, 10 am–4pm)

6:00 p.m. to 10:00 pm

Welcome Reception Dinner, Salsa Dancing with NM Magazine staffer Wendy Ortega and the music of Nacha Mendez
Kiva C
Welcome from Mike Cerletti, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Tourism Department.
Get into the swing of Santa Fe with some Salsa to spice up your taste buds and your dancing feet.

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Saturday, October 17

7:30 to 8:30 am

Breakfast Buffet
Kiva C

9:00 to 10:15 am

Keynote:  The Future of Magazines Presented by Bob Sacks, Precision Media Group
Kiva A/B
We’re moving faster than we ever imagined.  Where are we going? Bob Sacks of the Precision Media Group on the limitless possibilities of the digital frontier. He has made a name for himself speaking on such topics as “Steering Your Company Through the Transformative Shift in the Media Industry” and “The Future of Digital Publishing.”

10:15 to10:30 am

Break

10:30 to 11:45 am

The Future of Magazines, contd.

11:45 to 1:15 pm

Lunch Buffet
Kiva C

1:30 to 3:00 pm

Breakout Sessions

1. Grow more business with Reader Service! Presented by Michelle Bennett
Kiva A
Generate more revenue by creating and/or leveraging your lead generation system. Best practices and innovative ways to generate a comprehensive reader service program. This session will show how to run an effective program utilizing print, web access and now new technology to receive leads through text messaging! Learn how to create a great ad index both online and in print to generate as many leads as possible. Track leads, trends, create graphs/charts that you can e-mail clients to show their ad effectiveness. Top ways to send a successful e-mail blast to subscribers driving them to the lead generation site.

2. Can This Story Be Saved? Roundtable
Kiva B
It’s happened to all of us: What began as a great story assignment has just been turned in—and it stinks. Now what? And whose job is it to fix it? At this roundtable about both creative solutions and art-edit relationships, art/edit teams share what they conjured up when things didn’t go as planned. (Maybe this session should be called “Can this relationship be saved?”) Bring a final result from your own magazine and be prepared for some show-and-tell. New Mexico Magazine art director Fabian West and editor in chief Tricia Ware will open the discussion.

3:00 to 3:15 pm

Break
Kiva C

3:15 to 4:30 pm

Breakout Sessions

1. That Special Something Roundtable
Kiva B
What constitutes a special issue? Who is doing them? How often and how many? How are they working for your organization financially? Are they linked to promotions or events? Irmites and experts—from publishers, to ad execs, to editors, to art directors— share strategies. Bring your organization’s best special issue to the session. Oklahoma Today publisher Joan Henderson and Maryland Life editor/publisher Dan Patrell will open the discussion.

2. Savvy List Acquisition and Management Presented by Jane McCoy and Matt Chilcutt
Kiva A
The effectiveness of your direct mail (new subscriber acquisition) depends on the lists you use . . . given the expense of renting names, a “limited universe” of best names, the tendency of lists to fatigue, what do you do?  New ways to analyze your campaign and plan for the future, where to look for new lists.  Plus:  some clever ideas about segmenting/selects.  Hotlines, expires and more.

6:00 to 10:00 pm

Dinner on your own

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Sunday October 18

7:30 to 8:30 am

Breakfast Buffet
Kiva C

9:00 to 10:15 am

General Session: Chosing the Right Platform Presented by Mark Pratt and Peter Howley
Kiva A/B
Given the welter of new media platforms available to publishers – websites, email newsletters, digital and mobile editions – how do you go about selecting the right content to feature in each platform? How can you best harness each platform’s potential to expand your brand and build readership loyalty?

10:15 to10:30 am

Break
Kiva C

10:30 to 11:45 am

Breakout Sessions

1. Resources for Revenues Presented by Christine Salem
Kiva A
With technology growing, changing, and advancing every day there is the challenge to keep up and learn how to fully utilize your resources for developing revenue for your magazine. Cross-platform selling offers challenges incorporating advertising on your website, fully utilizing the power of digital advertising and creating enticing packages the balance this with print sales. Get ideas on how to create sales packages. Keep your sales staff up-to-date and motivated. Advertorials are another avenue to pursue when looking for revenue boosts. Design and sell creative, enticing advertorials that grab the attention of your readers and get results for your advertisers.

2. Newsstand Roundtable Presented by Joe Luca
Kiva B
Be part of a lively roundtable discussion focusing on the upheavals and challenges of newsstand in 2009. How are you-and/or your distributor—handling single-copy sales now? Have changes in the industry made you reexamine the value of newsstand in your sales mix? Joe Luca, an independent newsstand rep, moderates.

3. Peer Critique
Library
Teams of editors and art directors review each other’s magazines and offer constructive feedback in this popular session.

11:45 am to 1:15 pm

Lunch Buffet and
When Growth Stalls: How It Happens, Why You’re Stuck
& What To Do About It Presented by Steve McKee
Kiva C
At some point in a company’s life cycle, stalled growth is the rule, not the exception. Steve McKee’s firm has conducted significant research among 700 corporations, yielding hard-won perspectives from executives who have lived on the front lines of real-life growth crises. McKee demonstrates that sluggish growth is generally produced not by mismanagement or strategic blundering, but by natural market forces and internal management dynamics that often go unrecognized. He has identified the characteristics that commonly correlate with stalled growth and makes the case that regardless of what’s going on outside of an enterprise, it’s what’s inside that counts.

1:30 to 3:00 pm

Breakout Sessions

1. Magazine Marketing—Looking Within Roundtable
Kiva B
How do you market your magazine in the pages of the book itself? IRMites take a look at best uses of covers, coverlines, letters to the editor, tables of contents, and contributor sections.

2. Ad Management in the 21st Century Presented by Diana Barbieri
Kiva A
Hear about the latest software packages to better manage, track and build your ad sales, as well as achieve efficiencies and enhance communication during the ad production cycle. Join our IRMA sponsor Diana Barbieri and publishers/ad directors offering tips and testimonials on new systems they have put into place.

3:00 to 5:30 pm

Free Afternoon

5:30 to 6:00 pm

Group Photo Gather on the patio.

6:00 to 7:00 pm

Reception
Patio, Canyon

7:00 to 10:00 pm

Awards Dinner
Kiva C

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Monday October 19

7:30 to 8:30 am

Breakfast Buffet
Kiva C

9:00 to 10:15 am

Social Networking Presented by Sophie Martin and Katie Charland
Kiva A/B
Do your print and online readers feel a genuine connection to your magazine? Find out how optimizing Facebook and Twitter can help you develop brand loyalty, while also helping sell subscriptions and products. Learn just how Tweet it is. Our panel will show you sites that are optimizing these trends.

10:15 to10:30 am

Break
Kiva C

10:30 to 11:45 am

Breakout Sessions

1. Image Management Presented by George McCaul
Kiva B
George McCaul, former senior director of digital image operations for Jupiter-images stock photo company, offers tips for creating a searchable database of digital images on a tight budget. He’ll briefly cover archiving and retrieving files, inexpen-sive applications, image submission procedures for photographers, keywording and usage history.

2. Ancillary Products – What, Why, How? Presented by Jon Bowman
Kiva A
Online sales offer the biggest growth area for magazines. What types of products are selling the best?  How can you be the leader for sales in your region?  Associate publisher Jon Bowman will talk about using Google Analytics and keywords to boost your sales. He’ll be joined by other IRMA panelists…And NEW this year: Bring a product for a fun gift exchange.

11:45 to 1:15 pm

Lunch and The Magic of Disney Presented by Michael Kaye
Kiva C
Think it has to do with Tinkerbell’s fairy dust or pumpkins that transform into coaches under the light of the moon? Think again. The true magic of Disney lies in the company’s abilities to reap the benefits from “creative synergies,” from finding innovative ways to market the same content across multiple media platforms, whether films, TV shows, books, magazines, audio, and now the Internet. Learn how the same lessons can apply to traditional magazines, hearing from Michael Kaye, longtime media advisor to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.

1:30 to 3:00 pm

Breakout Sessions

1. Reader Generated Content Presented by Sophie Martin
Kiva A
Join Sophie Martin of the Duke City Fix, Albuquerque’s dynamic online community. Most of their success has come from the input of their online readers. Craig Varjabedian will talk about how he re-energized New Mexico Magazine’s photo contest, which keeps folks buzzing on the online message board. Charles J. Lohrmann of Texas Highways shares how the magazine generates lively reader feedback online.

2. Workflow Production Roundtable
Kiva B
A team of experts—including industry professionals, consultants, and IRMites—will brainstorm on InCopy, preflighting, color management, preparing PDFs, virtual proofing, automated workflow, online ad submissions/ad portals, strategies for creating digital editions. Bring questions and your own tips for what works. Participants: Steve Zdanowicz, Brown Printing; George McCaul, consultant; Michael Sherwood, consultant; Colleen McIntyre, production manager, Oklahoma Today.

3:00 to 3:15 pm

Break
Kiva C

3:15 to 4:30 pm

Breakout Sessions

1. Web Show and Tell Roundtable
Kiva A/B
What’s your organization’s web strategy? How is it working, and what opportunities does the World Wide Web hold for regional magazines? In a lively series of presentations, IRMites answer these questions and invite yours. This session may be a precursor to website peer critiques and/or website IRMA awards at future conferences.

4:30 to 7:00 pm

Free time

7:15 pm

Meet in the lobby to walk to dinner

7:30 to 10:00 pm

Dinner
Cowgirl Hall of Fame
Get your Karaoke voice in gear for an evening of good eats and lots of fun.

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Tuesday October 20

7:30 to 8:30 am

Breakfast on Your Own –

Step right across the street to the Famous Santa Fe Farmers’ Market, or the Flying Star in the Railyard

9:00 to 10:15 am

Breakout Sessions

1. I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours Presented by Patrick Lopez
Kiva B
What’s in your contributor’s contract? How are you addressing web rights and fair use? What professional standards go without saying, and what needs to be spelled out?  How does your organization make story, photo, or illustration assignments? Is there a better way? Bring a copy of your contributor’s contract, (and an assigning letter if you wish), and learn how you might alter your approach. Patrick Lopez, general counsel for the New Mexico Tourism Department and New Mexico Magazine will open the discussion.

2. Email Newsletters Presented by Jon Bowman
Kiva A
New Mexico Magazine Associate Publisher Jon Bowman moderates an IRMA panel examining the benefit of e-mail newsletters. The contributors will offer practical tips and suggest best e-mail newsletter practices. Also, hear how to effectively market your publications, products, and services, using e-mail newsletters. Among the panelists: Kathy Murphy, publisher of Texas Highways, which gives readers a variation of the e-mail newsletter—free e-mail postcards they can send to their families and friends.

10:15 to10:30 am

Break
Kiva C

10:30 to 11:45 am

Hits & Misses
Kiva A/B
It’s a good time to sit back and review our hits and misses of the last year. Specifically, what worked—I mean really clicked—for you in the past 12 months?  A spectacular photograph? A hard-hitting article? An engaging layout? A dynamite ad or circulation campaign? Conversely, not everything goes according to plan, as we are all very aware. So, in the same context, what in your pages went kaput, hit the skids, or totally bombed?

11:45 to 1:15 pm

Buffet Lunch & Annual Meeting
Patio

Immediately following lunch

Awards Committee Meeting
Hospitality Suite

1:30 to 6:00 pm

Free Afternoon

6:00 to 10:00 pm

Farewell Dinner
Kiva C

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Wednesday October 21

Departure day