Web Weaving

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May, 2000 by Bob Moseley

How are publishers distinguishing their Web sites from the print counterparts? User customization, continuous updates, exclusive content, e-commerce and in-depth coverage are just a few examples.

Bob Carney

Executive editor, special projects Golf Digest

The difference at golfdigest.com is the reader himself, who plays an active role in the Web site. The reader customizes the site to get the kinds of tips, features or columnists he or she wants--from this month's issue or the archives. Readers search Places to Play for a great course (as rated by our readers) and add their rating when they're done. The reader asks and answers questions--about his game, his equipment or the rules. And Web visitors can buy equipment on the spot. They also get the latest news because golfdigest.com includes our sister weekly, Golf World, the Associated Press and live reports from major tournaments. As the reader, it's your site. You're the editor. You're the difference.

Ron Richardson

Director of new media Vibe

Vibe Online lives as a daily interactive complement to Vibe. Where the magazine works on a monthly schedule, Vibe Online delivers news on a three-times daily schedule, giving urban music fans the latest updates on artists they care about. We supplement that with a weekly newsletter that points users to the important news and features that appeared on the site.

Additionally, users can access exclusive online content that includes record reviews and artist features on a weekly basis, many with streaming media components. For example, when we received confirmation that D'Angelo had gotten the cover of the magazine, Vibe Online secured an online listening party where users were able to access a streamed 30-second taste of each song a day before the album was released.

An additional interactive element for our audience is our live chats with artists like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Sisqo and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The Snoop chat was the fourth most-trafficked chat in the month of February and was enhanced on the site after the event with a transcript that included video clips taken at the time of the chat, giving fans the full Snoop Dogg experience.

Alex Mironovich

President, publishing group, Playboy Enterprises

We're not just magazine content online. We have a completely different staff, and the Web site is updated daily. Our 20 themed content areas include Love & Sex, offering commentary from noted sexperts Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Susie Bright.

Another online feature is Playboy Live, with live Webcasts and photo galleries of Playboy Mansion parties. For fans of the Playmates, there are photos, chats and links to personal pages. The Cyber Club offers access to behind-the-scenes footage and past portfolios dating back to 1953.

Live Chats on playboy.com allow consumers all over the globe to chat one-on-one with some of their favorite personalities, including Hef [on April 6].

From our homepage, you can buy branded merchandise such as T-shirts, lingerie and glassware at the Playboy Store. Playboy Auctions are also extremely popular as open bidding markets where we've sold unusual items such as Hef's slippers. Our biggest auction was for a 2000 New Year's Eve party at the Playboy Mansion. Tickets went for $10,000 apiece.

When we built the site in 1994 our motto was, "If you build it, they will come." That's proved true. Playboy.com received nearly 86,000 page views for the month of February.

Diane Hall

President and publisher Weddingbells Inc.

In 1996 Weddingbells was the first bridal title to launch its Web site and become accessible to our readers around the clock. Weddingbells.com is a comprehensive interactive wedding planning resource that works in tandem with our magazine and offers the same entertainment value and extraordinary visuals. Our Web site allows us to reach the broader wedding audience of guests, relatives and friends. Weddingbells.com boasts more than 600 pages and provides far more in-depth subject coverage than the magazine permits, so we direct readers to weddingbells.com for additional information.

Visitors to weddingbells.com benefit by accessing our Q&A database to search for answers to more than 1,000 specific questions such as: "How to deliver a wedding toast" or "How to word a wedding invitation if your parents are divorced."