YOU DON'T HAVE to look far to see what's new with Special Events Magazine. With this issue we debut the new design created by our very talented art director, Shari J. Robinson.
Shari has won many awards for her design work on Special Events, including two awards just last month from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. And we already know how popular the magazine is; readers frequently tell me that they have saved every single issue since their subscription started. So when we already had a winner, why did we decide to change our look?
All magazines should undergo a redesign on a regular basis. Publishing pros say that scholarly journals should probably update their look every seven to ten years, while magazines aimed at teens can't let more than a couple of years go by without changing to something new.
With Special Events, Shari has to perform a balancing act. The design she creates must not only do justice to the stunning photos of our readers' outstanding events. It must also clearly present the copy that explains the whys and wherefores behind an event's good looks.
Also, our readers are more sophisticated about design than most magazine readers are. The event profession demands innovative visuals. And just as you don't create events the same way you did five years ago, we can't keep presenting the same product to you that we did five years ago.
Shari worked long hours and went through repeated evaluations with graphics experts to fine-tune our new design. We think it serves our profession well. Everyone on the Special Events staff is proud of the magazine's fresh face, and we hope you enjoy it, too.
And that's not all that's new with us.
Our publisher, Lisa Vested-Perrin, has just been promoted to publisher of one of our sister magazines, PROMO, which serves the promotion industry. Its readers are marketing professionals at consumer product and service companies, retailers and marketing agencies.
Lisa will keep all of her duties at Special Events — rest assured that I threatened plenty of tantrums if she didn't. So the event industry won't be losing her. Instead, this promotion is recognition by Primedia — our $1.7 billion parent company — that she is at the top of her game managing magazines that serve their readers well. Please join me in congratulating her.
In the face of these exciting changes, this issue of Special Events brings you a constant. It's time to kick off our annual Gala Awards competition. You will find an entry form on pages 64-65. Entries are due Sept. 13.
Here is your chance to show the world your exciting new work.
