filling station's Flywheel, Dandelion Magazine, and Single Onion present POETRY OCEAN at Sled Island, July 1st 2010 at the Arrata Opera Centre (1315 7 Street SW, Calgary). Doors open at 8:30, music starts at 9:30, poetry at 10:30

Poetry by Natalie Simpson & Rael Bischoff (filling Station's Flywheel), Claire Lacey & ryan fitzpatrick (Dandelion), Francis Willey & Tiana Hunter (Single Onion)

Music by Woodpigeon, Christine Owman, and Savk

Poetry Ocean is presented as part of the Sled Island Music Festival. Sled Island wristbands are available at www.sledisland.com. Tickets will also be available at the door for $15.

Magazines and CDs will be available for purchase.

Proceeds from bar sales raise funds for these 3 wonderful non-profit literary organizations.

*Please note that there is no cash machine on site. Machines are nearby on 17th Avenue.*

Don't miss the Poetry Ocean teaser TONIGHT - Tuesday, June 29th 8-9pm, part of

*Writer's Block*, CJSW's weekly foray into literature. Join radio hosts Paul Kennett
and Stephanie Weidmann for a special preview of some of our Sled Island
readers.

For media inquiries or to speak to someone about this exciting event, please contact Laurie Fuhr, Event Manager
403-999-2566 mgmt@fillingstation.ca

Magazines lose a dear friend in Cynthia Brouse

Cynthia at the 2009 NMAs

Sadly, we lost a great writer, editor and fact-checker this past Saturday, when Cynthia Brouse passed away in Toronto, after a long battle with cancer. Cynthia contributed to AMPA's Tiny Template resources as well as taught fact-checking sessions for AMPA. She was a thoughtful and spirited person and will be greatly missed. I'm glad I got to see her at last year's NMAs where she was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award. Deepest condolences to her friends and family.

Here's part of her obit from the Globe and Mail:

CYNTHIA BROUSE 1957 - 2010 Canadian magazine readers who value the beauty and strength of accurate facts, immaculate punctuation and elegant, precise prose have lost a best friend. Cynthia Brouse, the country's finest fact-checker, copy editor and teacher of those same skills died on June 19, 2010 at age 52. For 30 years, Cynthia's diligent and spirited behind-the-scenes labour has burnished articles and news features in all of Canada's top-rung publications. She worked as a copy editor, researcher and writer for Maclean's, Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Saturday Night (where she was also managing editor for two years), Report on Business Magazine, Canadian Business, and the Globe and Mail. A natural teacher, she trained scores of current magazine editorial staff in the best procedures for fact-checking contentious quotes, assessing the credibility of sources and avoiding lawsuits they could ill afford. Her book, After the Fact, A Guide to Fact-Checking for Magazines and Other Media, is the go-to manual for both magazine interns and corporate communicators nationally. In 2009, she received the National Magazine Awards' most prestigious individual honour, its Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement. [The rest can be found here.]

Cynthia also chronicled part of her struggle with cancer on her blog, The Clothesline Saga.

MagaScene 72 (June) is now online!

The June issue of Magascene (AMPA's monthly newsletter) is here! Read all about:

• Fly Fusion's award-winning circulation model
• the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement and why Alberta magazines should care
• highlights of this season's awards for AMPA member magazines and other news
  
• events and contests such as the Alberta Views short story contest and the AIRdirondack project and auction
• job postings galore!

Visit http://www.albertamagazines.com/newsletter/issue72/issue72.html

HST and You: Understanding the Harmonized Sales Tax

In his special report for Masthead "The HST in Ontario and British Columbia: What it means for magazines," David Perri answers the questions that will likely arise with the implementation of the harmonized sales tax (HST) in Ontario and British Columbia on July 1, 2010. Included below are a few highlights from these useful FAQs:

What is the HST?
The HST will replace the government sales tax (GST) and provincial sales tax (PST) in both Ontario and British Columbia on July 1, 2010. Previously, the two taxes were administered separately by the federal and provincial governments. After July 1, the taxes will be blended and the Canada Revenue Agency will administer the HST for both provinces, along with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, which have already implemented the combined tax. Québec also has a blended sales tax, but it is administered by Revenu Québec.

How will the HST affect magazines’ newsstand prices in Ontario and B.C.?
In Ontario there will be no price change for single-copy magazine sales, which are already taxed by both the GST and PST. However, magazines on B.C. newsstands have a PST exemption, but will be hit with the full HST after July 1, adding seven percent to their price for consumers.

How will the HST affect magazine subscription prices in Ontario and B.C.?
Magazine subscriptions are currently exempt from PST in both provinces. However, starting July 1 the HST will be applied to subscriptions, raising their cost by eight percent in Ontario and seven percent in B.C.

Learn more about HST online

Canadian Publications Readership Data

In response to an AMPA member inquiry about readership stats, I thought I'd post some info for anyone else who's also curious about the latest numbers.

The Print Measurement Bureau (PMB) released their Spring 2010 Topline Report "based on a national stratified sample of approximately 25,000 Canadians measuring over 113 publications, consumer exposure to other forms of media, and consumer usage of over 2,500 products, services and brands."

If you click on the link to the PMB site above, and scroll down the PMB Spring 2010 tab at the top, you'll find the pdf for Topline Readership.

AMPA members Western Living and Westworld were among the publications polled.

Alberta Views 2010 Short Story Competition

Enter Alberta Views annual short story contest! Win $1,000 and get published in Alberta Views!

• The contest is open to all residents of Alberta except employees of Alberta Views.
• An entry fee of $30 includes a year's subscription to Alberta Views and is non-refundable.
• The winner will be published in our December 2010 issue and will receive a prize of $1,000.
• Stories should be no longer than 3000 words! Entries exceeding 3000 words will be disqualified.
• Entries may not be previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere until the winning story is announced.
• Entrants anonymity will be carefully preserved throughout the judging process. Author's name must not appear on the story itself. Include a separate cover letter with story title, author's name, address, phone number and/or e-mail and word count
• There are no other limits! The contest is open to stories of any style and on any subject.
• Deadline for submissions is June 30, 2010

For more information, visit https://www.albertaviews.ab.ca/competitions.html

AIRdirondack Art Project Auction

AIRdirondack Art Project Auction

There’s a new chair in town. It’s called the AIRdirondack, a play on Airdrie and Adirondack, and to explain it simply, the AIRdirondack is what cows were to Calgary:

“Remember the cow promotion? Artists created amazing works of art using cow statues as their muse. Well, we had the idea that Airdrie needed its own fun identity project that gave us both a heightened awareness for the creative talent in the area and a tourism effort to draw visitors to town and give them a reason to explore,” says Sherry Shaw-Froggatt, owner of Frog Media Inc. (which publishes airdrielife).

So Shaw-Froggatt and Veronica Funk, one of Airdrie’s most prolific painters, decided the time had come to ‘chair’ the project.

The artists who have been selected to take part in addition to Funk are Cheryl Bakke Martin, Brenda Campbell, Glen Collin, Maureen Demanuele, Susan Harris, Lori Presiloski, Rhea Warholik, Joelle & Carol White, Michelle Wiebe and Jane Romanishko.

Eleven of the chairs were unveiled June 12 at the Empty Bowls Festival in Nose Creek Park. Tthe chairs are now on public display at 12 locations around the city, including City Hall, Genesis Place, Fulton’s Home Hardware, Airdrie Co-op, Airdrie Public Library, both TD Canada Trust locations and all four Ravenswood show homes.

The works of art will be auctioned off October 14, 2010 to raise funds to develop future space for the arts community.

Flying High: Fly Fusion Magazine Wins Circulation Award

Fly Fusion Magazine was recently honoured at the annual Circulation Management Association luncheon, held during Canada’s Magazine Conference MagNet, where they won the ACE AWARD (Award for Circulation Excellence) for Best Retail performance of a mid-size magazine.

According to Scott Bullock, owner of Circ3 Publishing Consultancy and circulation consultant of CoversSell.com, the judges were obviously influenced by the “incredible performance of the issue on newsstands.” Dealer coverage expanded from 1,278 to 2,953, an increase of 1,675 dealers or a 131% expansion, making Fly Fusion the market leader over all other fly-fishing titles, domestic, U.S. based, and foreign, in terms of product visibility. Single copy sales of Fly Fusion’s “Ultimate Trout” issue increased by 246% over the previous year.

Not to brag, but here at AMPA we like to think we tipped the scales for recognizing Fly Fusion’s circulation success story. Read all about Fly Fusion’s circulation model in “A Bird’s Eye (Over)view of Circulation,” former AMPA Communications Specialist Anh Chu’s contribution to the recently released Tiny Template: The Circulation Edition.

FAME, FORTUNE AND PRIZES . . .

Do you dream of attaining fame and fortune as a writer?

Looking for that big break to get your wise words out to the public?

Or maybe you just want to share a memory with a truly appreciative audience?

Has AMPA got the contest for you!

It’s easy:

First, jot down your best summer memory in Alberta

The more rah rah Alberta-rific, the better

Second, send your entry (max. 250 words) to

ampa@albertamagazines.com by July 31, 2010

Third, check your email obsessively,

awaiting those magical words: You’ve Won!

Won what, you ask? Your prize includes:

Publication of your story in our monthly newsletter MagaScene

AND

A one-year subscription to any one of our member magazines

Think about it—all you have to do is compose your brief gem of a story, and everyone will finally learn the true depths of your talent. Plus, free stuff!

Waves Of Change exhibit

AMPA friend and magazine contributor Melanie Jones has had a busy year. Now you can see the fruits of her labour at Calgary's City Hall. Join her this Thursday for the exhibit opening.

Following is Melanie's message:
Hi! After a year of work and travel, the photo-story documentary project that took me to Zambia and India is complete! I would love to have you there to celebrate the opening of the Waves Of Change exhibit this Thursday, June 10th at City Hall Atrium.

Here is the link to the e-vite for the event: http://www.strutcreative.com/newsletters/cawst_evite.html

Speeches will begin at 4 pm and go for about half an hour. Then, you're free to wander around the exhibit, look at the beautiful photos and read the brilliant stories (if I do say so myself).

If you can't make it Thursday, the exhibit will be up in city Hall through June 16th.

An Albertan View is Appreciated: Announcing the NMA Winners

The 33rd National Magazine Awards were handed out on June 4 in Toronto, with Gold, Silver and Honourable Mentions in 46 categories going to 84 magazines across the country. As always, Alberta magazines represented a strong contingent of the winners from out west.

Alberta Views was the big winner, with a whopping two medals and three Honourable Mentions. Jeremy Klaszus’ “Mr. Tree”, a three-part feature about his grandfather’s wartime memories, received Gold in the One of a Kind category. Silver, in the Society category, was awarded for “The Big Squeeze”, Karsten Heuer’s account of the threat of development to wildlife in the Bow Valley. Honourable Mentions went to Chris Turner’s “Prodigal Band” in Arts & Entertainment; Maurice Yacowar’s “Double Life” for Best Short Feature; and the Views team behind the July/August 2009 issue for Best Single Issue.

Alberta Venture received an Honourable Mention, in the category of Best Repurposed or Adapted Content, for “Alberta’s 10 Best Communities for Business”. (Sister magazine, Alberta Oil was recognized as Canada's 2010 Business Magazine of the Year a couple of days earlier by Canadian Business Press and Magazines Canada at the 56th annual Kenneth R. Wilson Awards).

Finally, esteemed Calgary-based photographer George Webber was the much-deserved winner of a Gold medal in the Photojournalism & Photo Essay category.

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!

For links to all of the Alberta Views winners, visit:
http://www.albertamagazines.com/news_and_events/news.php#NMAwinners

Tiny Template, the Circulation edition

A magazine's circ needs to work. Without a circulation or distribution plan, all the hours of editorial planning and toil are pointless because a magazine needs readers. Plain and simple.

AMPA is most often asked about circulation. For such an important aspect of a magazine's business plan, people sure know very little about what it entails. That's why we published Tiny Template: The Circulation Edition, a resource guide for all those questions about circulation that you never knew you had. It's the third magazine in our Template series (one being a broad how-to guide on publishing, another being an edition that focuses on law).

Tiny Template: The Circulation Edition is $6.95. Or, pay $20.00 for all three issues. Click here for details on how to purchase.

Here's what you can expect to find inside:

Tiny Template:The Circulation Edition - Table of Contents

• A Bird's Eye (Over)view of Circulation (overview)
• Party On! (planning)
• Crunching the Numbers (budgeting)
• Newsstand Demand (newsstand)
• Analyze This! (sources)
• Weaving the Perfect Web (online)
• Ready. Set. Renew (renewals)
• Go Direct (direct-mail campaigns)
• Terms of the Trade (glossary)
• 15 Ways to Circulation Success (summary)