Folio:'s travel and leisure - magazine staff attends trade conferences - Editorial

A few months ago, I used this space to deliver a sermon about how important it is for magazine editors to circulate, get out of the office, reconnect with readers. The column attracted some strong, positive responses, and even a few challenges (readers extending lunch invitations, for example). Taking our own advice, Folio:'s editorial staff has been out of the office quite a bit lately, most notably at the City & Regional Magazine Association's annual conference in Texas, and the American Business Press' 34th annual Spring Meeting in California.

Our efforts to boost circulation have already yielded some interesting results. When editorial assistant Jo Bennett traveled to San Antonio for this year's CRMA conference, she was welcomed like the proverbial prodigal son. (Note: No fatted calves were injured in this homecoming.)

"The association's director specifically thanked me for attending, but regular attendees also spotted the Folio: logo on my name badge and came up to thank me for being there," Jo told me after the trip. "The conference was packed with interesting and intense discussions about competition from newspapers, special advertiser sections that alienate readers, and a new promotional campaign the CRMA has launched to sell its readership to the advertising community."

Think about it: Is there a segment of your readership you've been neglecting? Attending a conference or trade show might be just the ticket to reconnecting.

Because Folio: is a member of the American Business Press and active within the association, we rarely run the risk of neglecting this crowd. So, traveling to beautiful La Quinta, California (which is just outside of Palm Springs), for the ABP's Spring Meeting was a no-brainer. Surrounded by luscious golf courses and California's spectacular desert landscape, about 360 ABP members visited the La Quinta Resort & Club (a resort so popular among Hollywood celebrities that the town was named after the resort) to discuss, among other topics, postal reform initiatives, state taxation battles, extension of ABP membership to non-magazine business information providers, and a new ABP advertising campaign. In addition, conference speaker Robert Herbold, executive vice president and COO of Microsoft Corp., gave publishers the welcome news that 90 percent of Microsoft's ad spending is dedicated to business publications--a statement that drew lively applause from the crowd.

These are the good old days, ABP president Gordon Hughes reminds us. Now, at the risk of repeating myself, let's get out there and make our connections.

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