As I walked around IMEX America in October showing off a sample of our new interactive magazine app for tablets—which will kick off in January—the feedback was incredible.
“It’s about time,” many people told me, recognizing the depth of coverage we can provide beyond print, such as video and Web links. My green meetings friends pointed out all the trees that will be saved—and that’s huge for me, too. While some people I talked to, a few, were sad to see the print go away, they agreed that it made a lot of sense.
Readers have always told me they love to read their meeting magazines when they fly. You can take the new app with you when you travel, too. Once you download it, all the back issues are available for as long as you want them.
There’s more. The photography is crisp and gorgeous. The design is just beautiful. The video, pop-ups, and “tap heres” create a rich, engaging reading experience.
As much as I’m enamored with the app itself, I’m excited about how easy it will become for people who want our content to get it.
Our app’s push notifications will let you know when it’s ready to download. There’s also a huge opportunity to reach an audience that spans the globe, and to broaden our breadth of connections and coverage.
I’m also excited about how valuable it will be to link you directly to our Web site and archives, something we can’t do in print. If you want to take a deep dive into a subject, it will be easy—just click. There will also be links to social media sites, so you can discuss what you read and share links, which helps the entire meetings community to learn and grow.
Magazine Industry Will Go Digital, Many Predict
In a recent survey by the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations), 63 percent of magazine and newspaper publishers said “tablets are the most important digital channel for their publications’ future.” Many industry observers predict that almost all magazines will eventually go purely electronic. Already, nearly 40 percent of tablet owners read digital newspapers or magazines. Change is coming, and it’s good to be out in front.
So as we “put to bed” the last issues of our print magazines, we look forward to wowing you with our new MeetingsNet interactive magazine app this January. Visit Apple’s iTunes App Store, Google Play, or the Amazon Marketplace to download the preview issue for iPad, Android tablets, and the Kindle Fire.