Google says that all print media will be digital. Mind you, I’m not sure I agree with them. There are still some very healthy print publications out there doing exciting and interesting things to reinvent their business models and give readers unique experiences that can’t be replicated online. If you don’t believe me, look at [...]

I’ve been working in the “free” media for a long time. I edited the alternative paper in Atlanta, Creative Loafing, one of those that turn up in boxes on street corners all over town and serve as either a great reference for what to do on Saturday night or to keep the rain off your [...]

I’ve been running from one association client meeting to another over the last few weeks. There’s the budget shortfall and the recession and the advertising downturn but, thankfully, they’re figuring it out and keeping their heads above water. One of the things they’re figuring out is how to sell ads in this environment. The decision [...]

“They have to advertise with us. We’re the association magazine.” An association executive actually said that to me once. That was before the recession but it was shocking even at the time. As I said in my book , “they” don’t have to do anything. They can take their ad dollars and their membership dues [...]

Full disclosure to start: I print every one of these links out and read them on paper as I prepare a blog post. I just don’t like reading on the screen. The screen is for work; paper is for reading. As we continue in the inexorable march toward e-readers rather than print, I will be [...]

I’ve been thinking a lot about business models—not in concrete terms but as they play into what organizations in general are struggling with. We can’t reinvent healthcare because it would cost businesses more money. We can’t reinvent climate legislation because it would put a lot of companies out of business. In other words, the business [...]

 I’m getting ready to speak at the Rotary International conference next week in Montreal. The audience will be the editors and publishers of Rotary’s magazines from around the world. Rotary headquarters in Evanston, Ill., publishes the Rotarian, the flagship magazine, but, with 32,000 clubs in 200 countries, no one publication can serve all readers. Rotary [...]

We do a publication for the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Its aim is to demonstrate that reforming healthcare isn’t a big mystery. There are many smart people in the industry with excellent ideas who see the problems and know what to do about them, but they aren’t talking to each other. Insurance companies, doctors, nurses, [...]

The March/April 2009 issue of Forward magazine hits mailboxes next week. Forward is a trade association magazine from Association Growth Partners that provides a global perspective on the metals industry for members of MSCI. The March/April issue focuses on confidence and the economy.

Hachette Filipacchi Media, one of the world’s largest publishers, dropped its membership in the Magazine Publishers Association. Six months after Jack Kliger, one of the best chairmen MPA ever had, retired as CEO of Hachette, the company left the association. For those of you not in the magazine industry, the MPA is not a small [...]