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Record awards entries augur well for mag publishers

If the increased numbers of entries for the 2010 Magazine Awards are anything to go by, the fog appears to be lifting and local magazine publishers are keen to back themselves in an increasingly confident publishing environment.

32 organisations entered the awards this year, up from 22 in 2009, a 45 percent increase, and 248 entries were received, up from 188 in 2009, an increase of almost 32 percent (the Qantas media awards finalists have also been announced).

Judging, by 36 media experts from around New Zealand and across the Tasman, is now in full swing and finalists will be announced in early June. Marketing and communications manager Kath Hurley says the MPA was especially pleased to see freelance journalists and contributing writers entering themselves as this year is the first time this has been introduced in the Awards. Previously only publishers could enter their writers.

“The winners’ presentation dinner is keenly anticipated by publishers and their advertisers. It is an opportunity to talent spot, and to celebrate the best and brightest across all disciplines of magazine publishing,” she says.

This year’s event is at the Grand Ballroom of Rendezvous Hotel, Auckland on Thursday 24 June, with MC Raybon Kan and other entertainers. Tickets (single $ 155, double $ 300, table of Ten $1,400) are selling fast.

It’s not just about grand ballrooms, however. The MPA is also expanding minds and bringing knowledge with next week’s ‘Show me the (Digital) Money’ seminar by Michael Carney.

Is now the time to plunge into digital? Is it likely to generate sufficient incremental subscribers and/or advertising revenues to make such a migration worthwhile? Michael Carney explores the possibilities of e-Magazines/e-Readers, considering questions such as:

  • Will the iPad prove the lifeline that some publishers hope?
  • What sort of numbers can we expect in the short term?
  • Will New Zealand add digital device readership and engagement measurements any time soon?
  • Where’s the money?
  • How long until advertisers come on board?
  • If we build it, will they (the readers) come?

Unlike publishers in other markets New Zealand magazine publishers have largely devoted only limited resources to the worldwide web,
figuring (and rightly so) that giving content away online was a poor business model. As a result, the New Zealand magazine market
has been largely unaffected by the woes plaguing newspapers – and is relatively well-placed to extract revenues from content repurposed
for digital devices such as the iPad and other tablets and e-readers.

So what are you doing about this opportunity?  And what should you be doing (or not)?

The seminar is from 8am – 9.30am on Wed 26 May. Early bookings are essential as space is limited. BOOK NOW at https://icexchange.wufoo.com/forms/registration-show-me-the-digital-money/

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