Is our children learning?

In the immortal words of W. I’m going to ask the question of where I am now at the end of this course on Online Magazine Publishing. At this point, I’ve been immersed in twelve weeks of two hour lectures on this topic, and I thought my final blog posting should be a recap of what I’ve learned and accomplished.

The Almighty Yellow Lozenge

Recently, in our Magazines Marketing class with Peter Willson, we discussed whether price changes in a print magazine should be advertised, when the price change is going up rather than down. Hello! Canada magazine recently upped its cover price from $3.49 to $3.99, and the issue for discussion was whether the price should still be displayed in a yellow “lozenge” or bubble on the cover, or if the new, higher price should be tucked away somewhere out of sight.

Harper’s “The Last Book Party”

I recently read a feature story in Harper’s for March 2009 discussing the Frankfurt Book Fair. Titled “The Last Book Party” and written by Gideon Lewis-Kraus, it discusses the state of the book publishing industry’s biggest professional gathering, and how the current economic slowdown and the perennial death knells for books have affected it. The tone of the article seems to encapsulate an industry, an event and a city shrouded in gloom and ennui.

Online Web Feature Assignment

The Brew You Thought You’d Find…

Toronto is a city of habits, among which beer and hockey go hand in hand. A Saturday afternoon trip to the Beer Store in anticipation of a night with friends sitting around watching the Hockey Night in Canada double header is not just way to spend an evening, it’s one of our most cherished traditions. But there has been a change on the rise in Toronto in recent years. Not so much in where but in what. Both in retailers and local taverns we all want more selection and choice in our malted obsessions. Dare I say even more quality? People are switching to the microbrews in droves.

Mags Canada Affects CPF Funding

This is an assignment written for my PB 252 Magazine Marketing course. It’s an article analysis from a piece on Masthead Online dealing with the changes in Canadian Periodical Fund allocation, as affected by pressure from Magazines Canada.

A little bit of housekeeping.

Spending a little time today updating the interface for my blog. I’ve added search and archive functions, as well as a couple other little tidbits on the left-hand sidebar. This is going to focus mainly on internal functions of the blog, allowing one to roam within chrisCullen’s Mag Blog. On the opposite side of the site, I’m going to add my Del.ici.ous links site with the most recent bookmarks, as well as some RSS feeds for some of my preferred sites. The right-hand side is going to aim itself outward into the great digital yonder, bringing external content to the blogsite, and allowing users to wander away down the digital trail. Stay tuned for some more updates (hopefully).

Online Magazine Website Analysis Assignment

Online Magazine Website Analysis Assignment

January 27, 2009

The New Yorker

The New Yorker online edition features of a number of Web 2.0 features, including blogs by a number of their regular contributors. This is a useful feature because it helps to promote the individual reputation of the well-known writers who often contribute to the magazine, both in print and online.

My First Post

Hi, this is the first post. Just testing the waters.

- Chris