Magazines West and the Western Magazine Awards

I've been attending Magazines West for the last two days as a reporter for Masthead Magazine. Despite seminars like Surviving the Great Publishing Meltdown of 2009 this year's conference seems less gloomy than last year's with more emphasis on the role magazines will play in the new media landscape.

Unfortunately, people are still pretty confused about the role of social networking. "Go be a video blogger" has been the sarcastic punchline of the day" as editors, writers and publishers talk fearfully about the fast pace of online evolution.

I'm actually going to do this though. Watch out for my new video blog launching sometime next month. I'm going to leave the conference's highlights for the articles I'm writing which will appear on Mastheadonline.com. Now I have to get ready for the Western Magazine Awards gala taking place in an hour or so. Being in central Africa all this year means I haven't read a single article or magazine nominated.

Burning questions: Can Tyee Bridge pull of a hat-trick again? Will Goats Across Canada win Best New Magazine?

Here's last year's coverage.

October Links

So yeah, I read Stephanie Nolan's blog. She's the Globe and Mail's Africa correspondent.

The mainstream press considers this guy a nut for his claim that 50,000 native children were murdered under the residential school system. IMHO that makes him worth checking out. With all the news about mass graves and church complicity lately Hidden From History is a pretty good starting point for information about the Canadian genocide.

Masthead Magazine, the magazine about magazines is folding. Sorry Marco! There's a decent blog post about the implications for the Canadian Magazine industry on the Canadian Magazines blog.

Better Business Practices for Freelancers

The second article I wrote from the conference was about better business practices for freelancers. I'm pretty sure I'm hopeless as a freelancer. Doing my taxes is painful enough without having to figure out GST or saving receipts.

Photos From the Western Magazine Awards

Apparently I'm also a freelance photographer. See my photos from the Western Magazine Awards reception on the Masthead Magazine site.