The 2012 Alberta Magazines Conference marked the first time I got to attend the event and actually sit in a session and learn something, instead of being the organizer. I gotta say, being an attendee is much more enjoyable!
So I was happy to take in Gary Ross's keynote luncheon
address, "Style Needs Substance: In Defence of Content." Here's a
recap of his talk.
- Editors will never be obsolete (phew!). They are needed to sort through the growing amount of crap that is posted everywhere--separating "the pepper from the flyshit."
- Editorial budgets are on the way down, and editors are repeatedly asked to do more with less.
- The preoccupation with SEO and how content will be delivered has taken away from the content itself.
- What gets delivered is more important than how it's delivered. (Hear, hear!)
- We're getting confused about what is excellent writing vs. what gets the highest Google ranking.
- The tricky part is that editorial excellence costs $.
- New York Times is an example of a publication that went big on content and won. Went from near bankruptcy to success.
- If your mag's business plan includes excellent content, you will see it in brand revenues.
So what should
publishers/editors do?
- Define what excellent content is for your magazine. You need to know what's great to recreate it over and over again.
- Identify the best mags and figure out what is good about them. Then, copy them. Examples: GQ, New Yorker, Wired. Create your own iterations of old ideas.
- Bring the world into your office. Invite anyone you want to chat with to lunch at your office--mayor, business leaders, important people in your magazine community. They'll usually say yes. It's amazing return for the cost of a few sandwiches.
- Get out of your office. Go to events, lunches, conferences. You'll be surprised who you might meet.
-- Colleen Seto
