More Than 400 Magazine Industry Senior Executives Convene at 2008 American Magazine Conference in San Francisco

October 5, 2008

San Francisco, CA (October 5, 2008)—More than 400 top-level magazine executives and their guests have gathered at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco to attend the 2008 American Magazine Conference (AMC): “Unleash the Power,” hosted by Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME).  AMC 2008, which runs October 5-7, is chaired by Michela O’Connor Abrams, President and Publisher of Dwell.

Keynotes of this year’s confab include: Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger interviewed by TIME’s Rick Stengel; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg interviewed by BusinessWeek’s Stephen Adler; Jeffrey Katzenberg interviewed by Fortune’s Andy Serwer; Matthew C. Blank, Chairman and CEO of Showtime, interviewed by Drew Schutte of The New Yorker; Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo; and Paul Saffo, Futurist and Stanford University professor.

Session Highlights include:

Reshaping the Model For Magazines

In a panel moderated by Jack Myers, President, Myers Publishing LLC, some of the leading players in magazine publishing discuss how they are reshaping their businesses to adapt and prosper in a marketplace deeply affected by dramatic changes in technology.  Panelists include Bob Carrigan, CEO of IDG Communications, Andy Sareyan, Executive Vice President, Meredith Publishing Group, and Ed Kelly, President and CEO of American Express Publishing Corporation.

Getting to Green
A panel of the industry’s leading experts on environmental sustainability address what magazine publishers and advertisers are currently doing to reduce their impact on the environment, and how to meet the challenges of publishing in an environmentally responsible way in the future. Moderated by John Q. Griffin, President, Magazine Group, National Geographic Society, the panel includes David Refkin, Director of Sustainable Development, Time Inc.; Bryan Welch, Publisher and Editorial Director at Ogden Publications; Kim Rendleman, CEO, Metafore, Inc.; and Avrim Lazar, President and CEO, Forest Products Association of Canada.

What Makes Great Magazine Ads

Award winning advertising creative leader John Butler, Executive Creative Director, Butler, Shine, Stern, and Partners, and Jeff Goodby, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, talk about how they sell magazine ads to their clients and provide tips on what differentiates outstanding magazine creative from the merely good. 

Retail 2013
Some of the industry's most influential leaders share their vision of the distribution channel’s future. Panelists include John Loughlin, EVP and General Manager of Hearst Magazines; Michael Duloc, President & CEO, Kable Media Services, Inc.; and Glen Clark, President of the News Group.  Moderated by Peter Kreisky, Founder and President, The Kreisky Media Consultancy.

Cause Marketing/Edit in Magazines: What’s Good For Your Readers…And Your Brand?
Rodale’s Dave Zinczenko moderates a discussion of cause-related marketing and editorial initiatives.

This panel will examine how these causes have served readers, brands, advertisers and many worthy non-profit organizations.  Panelists include Stacy Morrison, Editor-in-Chief, Redbook; Colin Kearns, Senior Editor, Field & Stream; and Linda Fears, Editor-in-Chief, Family Circle. 

Monetizing Beyond the Ad Page
Panelists Jeff Price of SI Digital, Robert Ames of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.' Digital Automotive Group, and Jennifer Andre of Yoga Journal discuss how publishers are looking beyond the ad page to drive revenue. Includes tips and strategies for monetizing events, digital platforms and your content library. Parents.tv's Rene Syler will moderate.

The conference program begins the afternoon of October 4 with the sixth annual “Independents’ Day” sessions developed by, and for, independent magazine publishers.

For up-to-the-minute information on the AMC, visit www.magazine.org.   

Premium sponsors of AMC 2008 include: AdvertisingAge; Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc.; Primiro NxtText; Quad Graphics; Quebecor Inc.; SalesForce, Inc.; and Zinio, LLC.

Additional sponsors of AMC include: Adweek Media/SRDS; Audit Bureau of Circulations; Berkery, Noyes & Co., LLC; Clickability, Inc.; Foster Printing Services; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips; Media Industry Newsletter; Mediamark Research Intelligence, LLC; and Voxant.

Supporting Member companies include: BBC Magazines; BurrellesLuce; Food & Wine; and Sunset.

Associate Member support includes: The Magazine Manager; Travelscream Technologies; and SalesForce, Inc.  

Magazine Publishers of America is the industry association for the consumer magazine business.  Established in 1919, the MPA represents more than 240 domestic publishing companies with approximately 1,400 titles, more than 80 international companies and more than 100 associate members.  Staffed by magazine industry specialists, the MPA is headquartered in New York City, with an office of government affairs in Washington, D.C.

The American Society of Magazine Editors is a non-profit professional organization for editors of print and online magazines edited, published and distributed in the U.S.  Established in 1963, ASME currently has about 900 members nationwide.  Among other things, ASME provides an opportunity for magazine editors to network with their peers.  ASME works to preserve editorial independence and speaks out on public policy issues, particularly those pertaining to the First Amendment.