AAA Living Digital Magazine Wins Gold Excel Award

Congratulations to our client AAA Living magazine for winning the top prize in this year’s Excel Award in the Media Innovation – Digital Magazine category!

More than 900 entries were submitted to be considered for the 2013 awards. Last year, in the digital magazine category, neither a gold nor silver was awarded to any entry. This year, however, the judges evaluated three issues of AAA Living and gave them the top honors.

The EXCEL Awards recognize exceptional work done in the association industry, in categories ranging from web publishing to magazines, newsletters, journals and more. This prestigious award is reason to celebrate, and AAA Living earned it well with their innovative use of the digital platform and their beautiful design. 

GRAND Magazine Receives Recognition from Al Gore’s Team

GRAND Magazine, a favorite among the Creative Services team here at Nxtbook, is receiving new honors for their March/April issue from Al Gore’s team at Climate Reality. The magazine will be distributed to Climate Reality’s two million members this month.

In addition, The Children’s Movement of Florida, a group which was featured within the magazine, will deliver this issue to their large membership.

We are ecstatic for GRAND Magazine for all of their hard work in creating great content in this family resource targeted for grandparents. GRAND has been working with our Creative Services team to produce a digital-only magazine designed for interactive screen-reading. Our designers work closely with the GRAND team to create animations, layouts and custom navigation to make this monthly magazine a valued resource for their audience. Flip through the pages to see some of the great animations the team added to the pages. Or, click here to read the feature article on Al Gore, or here for the Children’s Movement of Florida article.

Last Chance to Sign Up fo EXCEL Awards

Every year in the recent past we have been proud to announce that at least one of our clients were recipients of an EXCEL Award through the Association and Media Publishing. This year could be your year.

The EXCEL Awards honor those who are the innovative and impressive media features and publications in the association industry. The judges will evaluate everything from design to content to individual elements in your digital publication. Click here to be one of this year’s entrants, and show off your publication! Entries due by this Friday, March 1.

Video: HTML5 and the Future of Digital Publishing

An interesting video is making the circuit, featuring a close up on Jason Pontin, Editor and Publisher of MIT’s Technology Review. Given his position and the publication’s industry, I’d hazard this man has a good grasp on technology’s affect on digital publishing. He speaks for about three minutes on HTML5 being the future for digital publishing, as well as the effect of fragmentation of media due to technology and content proliferation:

"Oh the fragmentation of media consumption… it’s certainly true people don’t subscribe to publications with the same emotional intensity as they once did – they tend to graze around the internet. But I don’t think that means that brands have less value in the media space. In fact, the contrary."

Find out why brands are actually more important, starting at 1:50. Or watch from the beginning to hear about HTML5. Click here to view the video.

This video struck me as worth sharing not only because Pontin is a great voice of authority on this subject, but also because even given Pontin’s position, he still speaks of HTML5 as applying to websites. Publishers don’t have to limit their HTML5 and responsive design use to website content.

Keep delivering your content in the well-loved magazine style with Ubiquity. Click here to see this February issue of Connections made in HTML5.

3 Dates, 3 Chances to View Our Newest Product Before Your Competitors

Ok, we can’t promise your competitors won’t tune in as well; but, if you want to learn all about Responsive Design, what it means in your industry, and what we have developed so YOU can be responsive with your digital content, you have three opportunities to do so.

Next week, Marcus Grimm will be presenting 3 days in a row on Responsive Design, especially in reference to the publishing landscape. He’ll not only explain what you need to know about this new platform and what new opportunities come out of it, but he’ll also let you see responsive design in publishing in action!

If you’re in the U.S., you’ll want to tune in on November 13, 2:00 pm EST or November 15, 2:00 pm EST to catch the live show. (Click the respective dates to register.)

If you’re in the UK or EU, register for the November 14 event at 2:00 pm GMT for the same live presentation. (That’s 9:00 am EST).

Don’t miss out on your chance to see how Responsive Design completely changes the online reading experience. Even more than that, see how we’ve figured out how to monetize it like no one else.

White Paper: Responsive Design

"Responsive design" is not a buzzword. It’s not just about websites. And it’s not going away any time soon.

Nxtbook Media’s new breakthrough product is built using responsive design, and it’s so brand spanking new many people are asking, "What does that term mean? How does it differ from existing platforms? And what are the implications for content publishers?"

To answer these and other questions, we’ve prepared this list of the top ten things to know about responsive design and digital editions. Click here to download the white paper on responsive design and to learn what you need to know about how this technology will directly affect you.

3 Reasons to do a Snappy Post-Event Brochure

It’s the end of an event. The panelists have spoken, the attendees have mingled, the exhibitors handed out all of their tchotchkes, and the event planners have heaved huge sighs of relief. Now, however, is when your marketing team can really shine, and I don’t mean by mass emailing a "Thank You" to your sponsors.

Instead, anyone holding an event should be ready to send out a digital post-event brochure. Digital allows for a quick-turn, delivering your brochure to inboxes while the event is still fresh in everyone’s mind. (Click here for an example)

3 Reasons you need to have a post-event brochure include:

1. Everyone has just left, hopefully feeling good about their experience. Returning to their home offices and finding a post-event brochure will not only impress them, but it will help cement the good feeling as they flip through the pages remembering the event.

2. It’s one more way to promote your sponsors. It’s a great added value for your sponsors as they will not only reach attendees while at the event, but also when they are at their own desks. Consider the value of each sponsor having a full page ad in the brochure which a reader will see after the hubbub of the event has passed, and they can focus on the copy of one brochure page at a time.

3. People love seeing themselves in action! You can use that to help promote your next event. If you include pictures from the event – of speakers, panelists, attendees, and people enjoying themselves at your event – attendees and exhibitors alike might share your brochure, and therefore spread the word about your event.

For an example of a great post-event brochure, click here to view Green Retail Decision’s brochure. They skillfully include shout-outs to sponsors, pictures from the event, and information about their next Innovation Summit. The format is screen-friendly and easy to flip through.

For your next event, talk to us about how to plan a quick-turn publication promoting your business function.

Weekly Reading List Round-Up

Naturally, keeping on top of publishing trends requires a lot of reading. This week, I either got on a particular content path or this is the talking point of the day, but most of the reading seemed to be filled with exploring the effects of technology in media. I gathered a few of the interesting articles together so you can follow the path, too.

This AdExchanger article, for example, is speaking mostly to media companies, though the discussion is about technology’s disruption of the "usual" distribution channels and platforms. Technology has completely changed how we think about distribution of content altogether. Like publishers, media companies of old had to figure out "Why and What" of their products/content they wanted to push, then "Where" to push it, then "How and When". Technologies, however, "break down the walls between "Why, What, How, When and Where." Companies which start by understanding the technology of today and its future can fully use it as a tool for their content. This article points to Google as an example, pointing to the company’s shift into media through the foundation of technology, as well as Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. It’s worth a read as, "Technology can and has profoundly changed the way content is distributed, and will continue to do so."

The UK may be known for its superior adoption of mobile technology, but in eReaders, they might’ve been at a slight disadvantage with no Barnes & Noble’s in country to sell Nook eReaders. Not anymore. In this article by TechCrunch it’s revealed that the Nook and Amazon’s Kindle Fire are soon to be released in the UK. What’s interesting is the behemoth bookstore isn’t selling its eReaders in UK bookstores. Instead, they are partnered with a popular retail chain, John Lewis, to sell the devices. Maybe it means nothing, or maybe it’s another hit to brick-and-mortar bookstores: both Amazon and B&N are selling books and eReaders outside bookstores, shaking the old-way of distribution.

And this one about AdAge’s print redesign is a little less about the direct connection between specific technology and print, but it does speak to the embrace of digital technologies having a forcible impact in the print realm. For decades AdAge had a split-article print layout, appearing more like a newspaper than the trade publications we usually see. Now, as reader behavior changes with digital reading, AdAge has to adapt: different page sizes, a magazine-esque cover, and avoiding jumping articles which start near the front of the publication and jump to the end for the conclusion. "The changes are emblematic of how print media are reconsidering their missions as fundamental business tenets are turned topsy-turvy by digital media." While AdAge is not eliminated their print edition, they are recognizing that technology’s proliferation changes everything.

This article, "10 digital thoughts for ‘old’ media" is perhaps my favorite, though I do not know when it was written. It is a well thought out list of elements "digital immigrants" need to consider when catering to a "digital native" audience. Existing somewhere in that divide myself, I found them very insightful and relatable. In particular, numbers one, three and nine.

An Event Brochure That’s Actually Attractive For Vendors

File this one under "Events," subtitle: "How To Stand Out To Vendors."

Also known as Trade Show Collateral That Actually Attracts.

When faced with drumming up sponsors and exhibitors for their annual show, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) faces the same challenges as any other event coordinator: how to convince people your show is worth it.

You can get your vendors and prospects information by the typical means: some printed promotional items and a PDF emailed to prospects. Or you could do what SME did and produce an engaging, exciting brochure.

Among the many things they did right, SMEadded a hint of animation to the graphs and statistics they provided exhibitor prospects. The animation is light, but it makes the information more entertaining to view. For examples, vendors want to know what types of people will be attending the event: what’s their industry, job function, buying power, etc. SME could have presented this information in a chart, and the facts would be sufficiently communicated. Instead, they create a full page, beautifully designed, lightly animated presentation to wow potential vendors: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sme/westec2012_postshow/#/5

Want to show off your attendees’ buying power? Flash your impressive stats across the page, one at a time, for impact.

Set your show apart in your vendors’ minds from the very beginning: present them with collateral that wows and inspires.

Now Delivering Magazines To Outer Space

It isn’t often you have a thank you letter from NASA sitting on your desk. But Jeff "TJ" Martin, a Project Manager here at Nxtbook Media, received one such letter. Why? Because he helped NASA make sure American Astronaut Don Pettit could get his favorite magazines, even when his "residence" was in orbit.

Pettit launched to join the crew on the International Space Station on December 21, 2011. He completed his mission as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 30 and 31, returning to Earth on July 1st, 2012. For over seven months Pettit worked and lived in space, well over two hundred miles from the nearest restaurant, coffee shop, or newsstand. While shuttling amenities like magazines to Pettit’s temporary address would be rather difficult, our platform made it so he could continue to enjoy reading new issues while in space. Jeff was integral to the process, showing NASA how to use the offline version of the digital magazine as the Internet is surprisingly slow in the Space Station.

In the letter to Jeff, Expedition 31 Crew Support Astronaut Jack Fischer wrote:
"On behalf of Don Pettit, thank you for your support during this mission. Access to their favorite media helps to keep them connected with their interests and hobbies, and helps them to stay current with what is important to them. The effort you have put forth and your assistance with the magazine were greatly appreciated!"

As a thank you, the support crew at the Johnson Space Center also sent Jeff a few Expedition posters and an official Expedition 31 pin, with graphics designed by Don Pettit.

Good work Jeff!

 

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