The Dates/ Mail

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, August 1, 2004

AUGUST

4-7: AEJMC CONVENTION. Presented by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, Toronto. For more information, visit http://www.aejmc.org/convention/.

4-8: UNITY 2004. Presented by the National Association of Black Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Native American Journalists Association. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.unityjournalists.org.

16: HAROLD W. MCGRAW, JR. INVITATIONAL. Presented by American Business Media and sponsored by The Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. Country Club of New Canaan, New Canaan, Conn. Contact John Holden at 212-661-6360 ext. 3325.

16: WILLIAM D. LITTLEFORD AWARDS. Presented by American Business Media and sponsored by The Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. NYC. Call Debbie Humphreys at 212-661-6360, ext. 3318.

18: MAGAZINE DAY. Presented by the Advertising Club of Fort Worth. Ridglea Country Club, Ft. Worth, Texas. For more information, call 817-9AD-CLUB.

SEPTEMBER

9-11: SPJ 2004 NATIONAL CONVENTION: RAISING THE TORCH. Presented by the Society of Professional Journalists. Grand Hyatt New York, NYC. For info, visit http://www.spj.org/convention.asp.

12-15: WEST COAST WINNERS: HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON THE INTERNET. Presented by The Media Center at the American Press Institute, Reston, Va. Visit www.mediacenter.org/04/WestCoastWinners or e-mail gpan@mediacenter.org.

26-28: INFOCOMMERCE 2004, the conference for directory and database publishers. Presented by the InfoCommerce Group. The Westin Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.infocommercereport.com/conference/.

OCTOBER

13 MIAMI HISPANIC AD SUMMIT. Presented by the National Association of Hispanic Publications, Inc. Omni Colonnade Hotel, Coral Gables, Fla. For more information, call Alec Andrade at 202-662-7250 or e-mail marketing@nahp.org.

19-22: CONVERGENCE: THE TOUR: HOW TO BUILD A MULTIMEDIA NEWS COMPANY. Presented by the Media Center at the American Press Institute, Reston, Va. Visit www.mediacenter.org/04/Convergence or call 703-715-3301.

21: NINTH ANNUAL CEBA AWARDS RECEPTION & SHOW. Presented by American Business Media. Eleven Madison Park, NYC. Contact Debbie Humphreys at 212-661-6360 ext. 3318.

24-27: AMERICAN MAGAZINE CONFERENCE. Sponsored by Magazine Publishers of America and American Society of Magazine Editors. The Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, Fla. For more information, call MPA Events at 212-872-3755.

NOVEMBER

5: THE 2004 FRONT PAGE AWARDS DINNER. Presented by the Newswomen's Club of New York. Copacabana, NYC. For more information, e-mail staff@newswomenclubnewyork.com.

15-16: THE 4TH FIPP WORLDWIDE MAGAZINE MARKETPLACE. Sponsored by International Federation of the Periodical Press. Hilton Metropole Hotel, London, UK. For more information, visit www.magazinemarketplace.com.

15-17: FOLIO: SHOW. Presented by Folio:, American Business Media, Magazine Publishers of America and FIPP. NYC. Visit www.folioshow.com.

15-17: TOP MANAGEMENT MEETING. Presented by American Business Media. Westin Chicago River North, Chicago. Call Renee Santana at 212-661-6230, ext. 3320.

A HEX ON OFFSHORING

I was intrigued by your article in the June issue of Folio:, "Offshoring Magazine Jobs." I am one of the publishers targeted by Boma's incessant marketing. In spite of sending nasty e-mails and even phoning the company, Boma has spammed and junk-mailed me numerous times even since I told them I was not interested in their services. At $50 a page (the price they describe as being "half as much"), I can't possibly afford their services anyway.

What's even more amusing is the concept of Boma's bemused employees in the Phillipines making head or tails of my editorial, which is dedicated to the lifestyle and practices of Pagans, Witches and Goddess-worshippers in North America and beyond. Somehow, I don't think my content is generic enough for anyone outside our community to service our advertisers, or, more importantly, our readers.

Offshoring magazine editorial and design simply contributes to the generic blandness and commodification of our industry. If our content is generic enough to be created anywhere, why will anyone want to read it? What's more, with all the jobs gone, who will have the money to subscribe anyway? Most sincerely, Anne Newkirk Niven Editor -in-Chief newWitch, PanGaia, SageWoman

P.S. I design all the pages for my three titles, totalling over 1,000 pages a year. At Boma's rates, that would cost me $50,000 a year. Funny thing, I don't pay myself anything like $50K - and I do all the editorial and ad sales, too. With a 25 percent unemployment rate in my city (Point Arena, California) maybe Boma should consider outsourcing here. Oops, I'm sorry, he isn't paying his workers $50,000 a year, he's paying them $12,000 a year - and pocketing the difference. Looks like that pretty much sums up the whole "outsourcing" phenomenon; U.S. workers get the shaft, off-shore workers get exploited and the middleman - gets rich.