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Editorial Conferences -- Part III

Posted on Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 10:45 PM

The final wrap-up.

By William Dunkerley

In this last installment in our series about editorial conferences, we present our digest of comments received from a cross section of editors:

Dave Fusaro, editor-in-chief, Food Processing magazine: Dave's print publication is monthly, but he says "something goes up daily" in the online edition. Instead of an editorial conference, Dave conducts a monthly cover meeting that includes the only other editor on staff and the art director. Long-range planning goes into an extensive editorial calendar. It dictates every page they write, reports Dave.

Gary Crowdus, editor-in-chief, Cineaste magazine: Cineaste is a quarterly, both print and online. Gary's editorial conferences include all senior editors, some assistant editors, and proofreaders. Ninety percent of the meetings are devoted to planning the next issue; ten percent goes to discussing plans for subsequent issues.

Dave Zoia, editorial director, WardsAuto: Dave reports, "Mostly we don't do print anymore." What's left is one quarterly and one print annual. Online publishing is daily, though. Dave says editorial conferences are typically held twice weekly to discuss coverage and staffing. They're attended by the associate, senior, and managing editors, plus analysts and editorial directors. They cover mostly daily and weekly planning.

Joe Phillips, senior director of multimedia communications, National Automobile Dealers Association: Joe says that although their monthly magazine "was shuttered in 2008," they continue with an annual magazine. "It has remained profitable and is distributed at our major trade show and mailed to all members," he says. It also appears as a PDF posted online. "Articles also appear as separate blog posts," he adds. There are no editorial conferences. Joe says, "I create the editorial lineup and run it by a few staff and my supervisor."

Deborah Lockridge, editor-in-chief, Heavy Duty Trucking and truckinginfo.com: "Our print publication is monthly, but we are posting new content on our website every weekday -- news stories, articles, interviews, videos, photo galleries, blogs. We have weekly editorial conference calls with our entire staff. Some weeks we keep them short and they're simply a rundown of where everyone is with their print and web assignments and a look at the digital analytics from the previous week, which also helps inform both short- and long-term planning for content. Other weeks they are longer and may look a few months ahead of time. We're trying to do monthly calls with top editors of some of our sister books to try to coordinate some content; that's pretty new. Also we've started using Asana to try to keep track of all the various assignments and projects."

David Bolling, editor and publisher, Valley of the Moon magazine: "Seven weeks before each issue and at least once per week we have editorial planning conferences," says David. His print publication is bimonthly. Online presence is both bimonthly and weekly. For the editorial conferences David brings in the operations director, design director, sales manager, photo editors, and sometimes writers. Meeting time is allocated "about 40 percent to editorial content; 10 percent to sales, 25 percent to graphic design, cover, features photography; and 25 percent to long-term planning." He comments, "We always try to work one solid issue ahead. And we always fail. That remains our most important objective. Being an issue ahead (except for late-breaking stories) would make everyone's life easier and raise the overall quality of the magazine. Making content and design the product of true collaborative discussion invests the entire team with ownership of the finished product. No one person drives this bus. Everyone has a hand on the wheel."

Jayne Haugen Olson, editor-in-chief, Mpls St Paul magazine: Jayne's magazine appears monthly in print. Daily online content is separate from print. "To protect newsstands and respect subscribers, we wait two to four weeks before posting online from the print edition," she says. However, Jayne adds, "We make some exceptions." Her editorial conferences follow a "30/60/90 approach. Quarterly on long range. Annual on big picture." She explains, "We are a city magazine located in the north. We need to think seasonally so we can get strong photos to run in the following season. We were planning summer 2019 and shooting at the same time to run in summer 2020, for instance. Prior to that dedicated effort, our photos were not as good and our package was not as strong. Immersive experiences resonate with Instagram-happy, Millennial audiences. Photos are critical."

Jef White, executive editor, The Shop magazine: Jef's magazine publishes in print monthly. Editorial conferences include the editor, online editor, publisher, sales reps, and support personnel. He reports that 95 percent of meeting time deals with the next issue, 5 percent with longer-range planning. Jef says, "Publisher and sales team appreciate tips on opportunities to contact their clients regarding upcoming articles. Editors can help by anticipating tie-ins and giving lead time regarding clients that are somehow involved in the articles. Our sales team also likes to solicit high-res images from clients for use in articles about markets they are connected to."

Jarrett Lobell, editor-in-chief, Archaeology magazine: Jarrett publishes in print six times per year, every day online with news. His editorial conferences include all editorial staffers: associate, senior, and deputy editors. They devote 70 percent of the meeting time to the current issue and 30 percent to long-range planning.

Trey Barrineau, managing editor, NAIOP's Development magazine: "We push out our magazine quarterly, but NAIOP publishes material on other platforms every week," reports Trey. Editorial conferences include the managing editor and editor-in-chief, who also serves as the association's vice president for knowledge and research. A project manager sometimes attends too. Meetings are devoted mostly (85 percent) to the next issue and 15 percent to longer-range planning. Trey advises, "Once you get a plan for your next issue, stick with it. Substantial changes to the story lineup should only be driven by breaking news or production-related problems, such as a freelancer not delivering a promised article."

This concludes our treatment of the editorial conference. Perhaps you've picked up some useful tips or background for comparison along the way. Happy planning!

William Dunkerley is principal of William Dunkerley Publishing Consultants, www.publishinghelp.com.

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