• June 23, 2003

Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) have announced the date and theme for their jointly coordinated annual American Magazine Conference. The event, scheduled for Palm Springs, Calif. between October 19 and 22, has been dubbed "Magazines Make a Difference." As always, the two organizations will explore the role magazines play in the lives of their readers, as well as the industry's value to advertisers. Among the items and activities on the agenda are the unveiling of a Northwestern University study on consumer attitudes towards magazines and speeches from publishers, agency prexies and big-name advertisers. The speaker list already boasts mass-media players (Tina Brown, Barry Diller, Arianna Huffington) as well as highly respected execs from companies that every publisher wants on his or her pages (Johnson & Johnson's corporate vice president, advertising Andrea Alstrup; General Motors' vice chairman of product development and chairman, GM North America Bob Lutz).

"This year's conference will examine the continued vitality of titles that have successfully reinvented themselves from generation to generation, as well as look at new titles that are capturing the imaginations of readers for the first time," said MPA president and chief executive officer Nina Link in a press release. Added ASME executive director Marlene Kahan: "This conference will give attendees actionable tools to keep the connection with the reader relevant and timely." To celebrate the reorganization of the MPA's Independent Magazine Advisory Group (formerly known as the Smaller Magazine Advisory Council), the conference will devote its first day to discussion of the challenges confronting independent publishers.