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IRMACON 2020 Event Ticket Sales are Closed. Contact diannedavis@tulnet.com for questions and information.
IRMACON 2020
Annual conference of International Regional Magazine Association. IRM'ites will be meeting virtually for the first time. The show goes on!
Date and time
Location
Online
Refund Policy
About this event
IRMACON2020 Agenda, Tu - Th, Oct 20 - 22
NOTE - Each day begins at 10.45am in Gatherly. We kick off officially in Zoom at 1100am. And we end no later than 4.00pm. Rooms open and close :30 prior to listed start/end times. Time has been allocated for AM/PM Breaks and Lunch! All times EASTERN.
TUESDAY 10/20 (ALL TIMES LISTED ARE EST)
EARLY BIRD GATHERING - 10.45am - 11.00am - Gatherly
WELCOME - 11.00am - 12.00pm
Come celebrate 60 Years of IRMA and reconnect with your fellow IRMA Members and Sponsors for the Opening of IRMACon2020. Shawn Dalton, Saltscapes, kicks off the day with the President’s welcome. Andrea Lin, Publisher Texas Highways, and your conference planning Chair will let us know what to expect over the next few days. We will also have a fun Meet and Greet activity!
HITS & MISSES -12.00pm-1.40pm
Introduced by IRMA Sponsor Michel Tessier of Solisco! One representative of each member magazine presents their successes and failures from the last year. You’ll learn a lot and take away some great ideas. Take copious notes and plan to follow-up after the session. Hosted by Todd Goodyear, President & Associate Publisher, Downhome Inc.
LUNCH BREAK - 1.40pm - 2.30pm
40TH ANNUAL AWARDS PRESENTATION: PART 1, 2.30pm - 2.50pm
Your Executive Director Tara Flint and Michel Tessier of Solisco present the First Session of our 2020 IRMA Award Winners! Come back each day to celebrate all of our winners!
CONCURRENT BREAKOUTS 2.50pm - 3.45PM
Breakout # 1 - ADVERTISING SALES IN THE TIMES OF COVID
Roundtable discussion of ad revenue generation tactics in the time of Covid. What are you continuing to sell? Have you come up with any unique ideas to sell in response to your client’s needs? Hosted by Alison Dickie, Publisher, albemarle Magazine.
Breakout # 2 - RUNNING SMALL EVENTS FOR YOUR BRAND
Kathe Lemon shares the strategies behind Avenue's three main events series, including an overview of the business models and how they've transitioned these events during the pandemic.
Breakout # 3 - SOCIAL MEDIA BIG THREE - WHAT WORKS ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND INSTAGRAM
Listen in on a moderated panel discussion as IRMA members New Mexico Magazine, Arizona Highways, and Cottage Life discuss their insights on each of the ‘big three’ social platforms: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Each presenter will reveal their platform-specific strategies and also touch on tactical advice on how to build content your audience will love, and deepen their engagement with your brand. Moderator: Michelle Kelly, Editor-in-Chief, Cottage Life. Panel participants: Robert Stieve, Editor, Arizona Highways, Steve Gleydura, New Mexico Magazine, Megan McPhaden, Managing Editor, Cottage Life
IRMACON 2020 - After Party in Gatherly - 3.45pm - 4.20pm
WEDNESDAY 10/21 (ALL TIMES LISTED ARE EST)
EARLY BIRD GATHERING - 10.45am - 11.00am - Gatherly
WELCOME BACK AND HOW TO CREATE A DIGITAL AUDIENCE MODEL 11.00am - 12.15pm
Andrea Lin welcomes you back for our Day 2. Sasha Emmons, Director of Lifestyle Publications at St. Josephs, talks about what an audience model is, how SEO, social, newsletters, and other tactics play a role in developing your audience digitally…..and how to get your editorial team on board. And we will hear from our IRMA Sponsors Nancy White and Ken Smith of SFG.
LUNCH BREAK - 12.20pm -1.15PM
GENERAL SESSION -1.20pm - 2.20pm
How to do Branded Content Right on all Platforms: While branded content isn’t new in publishing, the division of church and state remains a challenge for customers. With boundaries continually shifting and new platforms constantly appearing, how can editors and sales teams maintain trust with their readership while maintaining a potentially lucrative advertising product? Join Rosemary Munroe, director of brand partnerships at Blue Ant Media, to learn how to create branded content that your readers and your advertisers will love, on all platforms.
40TH ANNUAL AWARDS PRESENTATION: PART 2, 2.20pm -2.40pm
Your Executive Director Tara Flint and Nancy White of SFG present the Second Session of our 2020 IRMA Award Winners! Come back each day to celebrate all of our winners!
CONCURRENT BREAKOUTS - 2.40pm-3.45pm
Breakout # 1 - PUBLISHING AND MARKETING DURING A PANDEMIC
Roundtable discussion lead by Staci Miller Franklin, Creative Services Director, Arkansas Life. How has the pandemic changed your editorial, marketing, and/or audience development strategies? How have you established your publication’s value to your audience during this time? Have you tried any new programs or tactics during this time? What has been successful, what hasn’t? What’s happening with your circulation? Have you tried virtual reader events?
Breakout # 2 - FOCUS ON FONTS
Roundtable discussion on designers’ philosophy concerning cover, feature, and branding related type design. How do you use special fonts? How many can you mix in? What about fonts on covers? How much do you pay for fonts? Free vs. paid and licensing. Mark, Creative Director, Texas Highways and Shelly Bryant, Graphic Designer, Sunflower Publishing.
Breakout # 3 - SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP - A CASE STUDY
Down East & Outside Partnership: Brian Kevin, Editor, Down East, shares the idea and process for successfully executing their partnership with Outside Magazine, and what the results were.
IRMACON 2020 - After Party in Gatherly - 3.45pm - 4.20pm
THURSDAY 10/22 (ALL TIMES LISTED ARE EST)
EARLY BIRD GATHERING - 10.45am - 11.00am - Gatherly
WELCOME BACK AND TRENDS IN COVER DESIGN - 11.00am -12.20 pm
Andrea Lin welcomes you back for our Day 3 Keynote Speaker. With challenges on the newsstand and intense competition for reader’s attention everywhere else, it’s more important than ever to create eye-catching and engaging covers that will entice readers to spend their precious time with your publication. Join John Montgomery, art director at Reader’s Digest Canada, as he reveals the top trends that work for covers today. And Renato Casello of IRMA Sponsor Transcontinental shares with us.
BREAK - 12.20pm -1.15pm
CONCURRENT BREAKOUTS - 1.15pm - 2.20pm
Breakout # 1 - WEBSITE: PRACTICAL, TACTICAL TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS.
Tyson Bird and Natalie Moore of Texas Highways present how they’ve been moving sections/pages away from an auto-feed into curated collections and the social/audience implications that go along with that. Examples on how pubs can use 90% existing content and repurpose it in a way that drives huge engagement.
Breakout # 2 - DIVERSITY & INCLUSION #IRMASOWHITE
2020 has been a year of finally confronting a long-simmering problem in our industry: the lack of diversity in our ranks. This session is designed to be a temperature check on how each IRMA pub is facing that problem. How have you adjusted your hiring practices to combat unconscious bias? Have you made any changes in the way you research and report content specifically to be more inclusive of diverse voices? How does your organization act in a way that is anti-racist? Bring your problems to this roundtable, open discussion hosted by Lois Rodriguez of Texas Highways.
Breakout # 3 - THE STATE OF USPS:
Informal presentation by Carol Bald, SFG Postal Operations Manger. What is happening/ what are some potential risks to the USPS right now? What can publishers potentially expect, and what can we be doing to mitigate any potential instability in the postal system?
40TH ANNUAL AWARDS PRESENTATION: PART 3 - FINALE! 2.20pm - 3.20pm
Your Executive Director Tara Flint, SFG and Wiland present the Final Session of our 2020 IRMA Award Winners!
CLOSING REMARKS 3.20pm - 3.30pm
IRMACON 2020 - After Awards Celebration in Gatherly - 3.45pm - 4.20pm
See you in Ottawa October 15-19, 2021!
CONTENT BY IRMA - Where regional magazines thrive!