For magazine publishing ninjas
Distripress: Despite everything, still a happening place
The annual conference of magazine publishers, distributors, and wholesalers convened last week in Phoenix, Arizona. Attendance appeared to be at an all-time low, but meetings continued as usual, new titles were presented, business was transacted.
Spotted: Samir Husni, AKA “Mr Magazine” giving his message of hope to publishers eager to receive it.
With the sobering news from Conde Nast kicking off the week of meetings, a pall settled over the proceedings. Have we gathered together to preside over our industry’s demise? Samir insists that those rumors are exaggerated and that for those publishers willing to take their own franchise seriously, serious results are still to be had.
Spotted: Irwin Billman, first male member of Women in Periodical Publishing and supporter of many other worthy causes providing, as always, a sane and humorous perspective.
We’ve had our Anderson bankruptcy, and Thailand had an uprising of activists sympathetic to an ousted prime minister (they closed the airport for 10 days); Spain had their own bankruptcy with the remaining distributor picking up the pieces; and lots of countries had business as usual. I am fascinated to note that the end result appears to be about the same. The fall off in sale ranges from a low of about 8% to a high of about 25% but overall it seems to average about 15%--the same as ours. Really maybe this global village thing has some truth to it.
Spotted: Al Cook, marketing maven extraordinaire, managing our business down under.
Why, Al wonders, has Distripress brought members from all over the world to Phoenix? Let’s not get him wrong, it’s nice to be able to cross the street without having to look out for traffic. At least Al and his lovely wife Mandy are taking a few days to sightsee—but many members are not doing even that. It’s that pesky recession again…
Spotted: the Richards, newsstand reps for an important American publishing company, musing aloud about the impact of working small changes sequentially day after day, market after market, country after country throughout the entire world.
Nowhere more than at Distripress does it become apparent that this is still in many ways a grassroots business, despite the computer systems and retailer clusters and category assortments.
Spotted: Lal Uttam, with Durga Edson of Amcorp, distributors to the less-voguish (than 10 years ago) but still-important, even crucial, Pacific Rim. Lal tells me he never misses one of my posts, but points out that my perspective is very publisher-oriented, not always taking into account the challenges distributors face domestically and abroad.
Another observation that seems to be almost universal is the September uptick. Sales appear to be rallying—the abysmal performance of the first three quarters begins to see some relief. As is the case with some other market indicators, it’s early to tell—is it a mere blip on the radar or a beacon of hope?
Spotted: Samir Husni, AKA “Mr Magazine” giving his message of hope to publishers eager to receive it.
With the sobering news from Conde Nast kicking off the week of meetings, a pall settled over the proceedings. Have we gathered together to preside over our industry’s demise? Samir insists that those rumors are exaggerated and that for those publishers willing to take their own franchise seriously, serious results are still to be had.
Spotted: Irwin Billman, first male member of Women in Periodical Publishing and supporter of many other worthy causes providing, as always, a sane and humorous perspective.
We’ve had our Anderson bankruptcy, and Thailand had an uprising of activists sympathetic to an ousted prime minister (they closed the airport for 10 days); Spain had their own bankruptcy with the remaining distributor picking up the pieces; and lots of countries had business as usual. I am fascinated to note that the end result appears to be about the same. The fall off in sale ranges from a low of about 8% to a high of about 25% but overall it seems to average about 15%--the same as ours. Really maybe this global village thing has some truth to it.
Spotted: Al Cook, marketing maven extraordinaire, managing our business down under.
Why, Al wonders, has Distripress brought members from all over the world to Phoenix? Let’s not get him wrong, it’s nice to be able to cross the street without having to look out for traffic. At least Al and his lovely wife Mandy are taking a few days to sightsee—but many members are not doing even that. It’s that pesky recession again…
Spotted: the Richards, newsstand reps for an important American publishing company, musing aloud about the impact of working small changes sequentially day after day, market after market, country after country throughout the entire world.
Nowhere more than at Distripress does it become apparent that this is still in many ways a grassroots business, despite the computer systems and retailer clusters and category assortments.
Spotted: Lal Uttam, with Durga Edson of Amcorp, distributors to the less-voguish (than 10 years ago) but still-important, even crucial, Pacific Rim. Lal tells me he never misses one of my posts, but points out that my perspective is very publisher-oriented, not always taking into account the challenges distributors face domestically and abroad.
Another observation that seems to be almost universal is the September uptick. Sales appear to be rallying—the abysmal performance of the first three quarters begins to see some relief. As is the case with some other market indicators, it’s early to tell—is it a mere blip on the radar or a beacon of hope?
Tags: Distripress, distribution, international, magazine, publishing, sales
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