IRMACON2024 will be held June 12-15, 2024 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in downtown Charlotte, NC. This hotel is centrally located in Charlotte, within steps of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Illusions. Charlotte is known for its craft beer and southern-influenced food scene, parks and green space, and vibrant neighbourhoods. Weather in June will be humid and with daily highs of 32C/89F. Things to do in Charlotte.
- IRMACON Goals:
– Emphasis on member connection to strengthen relationships that we can count on year-round
– Intensive workshopping and dedicated roundtables in smaller groups around specific, urgent topics brought by our members. Focus on troubleshooting and creating actionable ideas to return home with for every member
– Conference favourites like ‘Hits and Misses’
Day 1 WEDNESDAY June 12, 2024
6:00-8:30 PM
WELCOME RECEPTION
Welcome to Charlotte: The Queen City
Hosts: Kelly Mero (Publisher, Arizona Highways, President IRMA) and Joyce Byrne (Executive Director, IRMA)
Please join us for a “Welcome to Charlotte” reception to celebrate the kick-off of IRMACON2024. Have a drink, grab a bite, and say hello to meet up with your colleagues from across Canada, Bermuda, and the United States.
Location: Salon D
Day 2 THURSDAY June 13, 2024
8:00 – 9:00 AM Breakfast
A made-to-order breakfast is served for all guests of the Embassy Suites from 6:30-9:00 AM daily in the QC Lounge. This is free time, feel free to head there any time you like.
9:00 AM Welcome to IRMACON2024
Speakers: Kelly Mero (Arizona Highways, President, IRMA) and Michelle Kelly (Cottage Life, Conference Programming Chair)
Location: Salon A
Thursday morning IRMACON sessions are presented by SFG in Salon A
9:15 AM Hits and Misses
Host: Lauren McKenney, Associate Publisher, Saltscapes
A representative of each member magazine presents specific examples, big or small, on any topic, to show what has gone well in the past year–and what hasn’t. You’ll learn a lot and take away some great ideas. Take good notes and plan to follow-up after the session.
10:15 AM SFG Coffee Break
10:30 AM What Ails You and How to Cure It
Host: TBA
Speaker: John Wilpers, Katahdin Media Management
John Wilpers has consulted for the last 14 years with media companies around the world helping them transform into profitable, energized, multimedia operations. From 2010-2021, John was the author of the annual Innovations in Media World Report published by the world association of magazines (FIPP).
In this keynote, John presents a 30,000-foot overview of the biggest challenges facing publishers today — focusing primarily on Revenue, Talent, and Audience — followed by a selection of practical, achievable, proven solutions.
11:45 AM IRMA Luncheon
Relax and get some food! Catch up with colleagues and reflect on the morning sessions.
Location: QC Lounge
1:00 PM One-on-one meetings with John Wilpers begin
Members who signed up for a micro-consultation with John Wilpers will begin meetings after lunch and continue through Friday.
Afternoon IRMACON sessions are presented by Cummings Printing in Salon A
1:00 PM The Food Section with Hannah Raskin
Host: Andrea Etzel, Publications Manager and Editor, KANSAS! Magazine
Speaker: Hanna Raskin, Editor and Publisher, The Food Section (Charleston, SC)
The Food Section’s mission is to serve eaters across the American South by providing them with the news they need to make their meals more meaningful. It is the home of original, inclusive, and independent reporting about everything that influences how and what we eat and drink in the region today. The Food Section has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation, Online News Association, New York University’s Arthur. L. Carter Journalism Institute, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals as one of the best newsletters—about food or otherwise—in the country.
Hanna Raskin joins us to share the story of The Food Section, and to provoke conversation about culinary coverage, ethics and food journalism, and more.
2:00 PM The Road to Reinvention: Redesigning Texas Highways
Host: TBA
Speakers: Andrea Lin (Publisher), Mark Mahorsky (Creative Director) and Emily Stone (Editor-in-Chief), Texas Highways
Texas Highways is debuting its first redesign in a decade, and this time everything is on the table. From logo to paper stock to frequency, the brand is being completely reinvented. Join Andrea Lin, Mark Mahorsky, and Emily Stone for this inspiring and informative hour walking us through the audience research, design and editorial ideas that will bring Texas Highways to life for a new generation of motorists and visitors to Texas.
3:00 PM Cummings Printing Coffee Break
3:15 PM Great PR for Magazine Teams: Earning Media on a Shoestring
Host: Errol Laborde (Louisiana Life, Acadiana Profile)
Panelists: Michelle Kelly, Cottage Life; Robert Stieve, Arizona Highways; Peggy Laborde, Producer and Host, WYES-TV
Does your small team struggle with promoting your brand outside of your four walls? Do you wonder how to build relationships that get your special issues and events on the radar in local media? Wonder what makes the ideal person on your team for the job of promoting your brand?
This expert panel have spent years leading regional brands and covering regional stories, and know a thing or who about convincing media that a story is worth covering, and about how to make it a great segment.
This will be an informative panel for editors, publishers, and marketing teams handling their own PR.
4:15 PM Member-led Roundtable Discussions
Join IRMA colleagues to share your experience and learn from others in this member-led conversation.
5:15 PM Unplugged Time – Do your own thing, or join a group in the lounge
7:00 PM Unplugged Dinners in the Downtown Charlotte area
Join a group and give one of Charlotte’s many exciting restaurants a try.
9:00 PM Jazz Club Adventure
Host: John Wilpers
Catch a show and then a green-room interview with the musician at a local jazz venue. Sign up to join this unique small group experience!
Day 3 Friday June 14, 2024
6:30 – 9:00 AM Breakfast
Location: QC Lounge
Friday morning IRMACON sessions are presented by SFS in Salon A
9:00 AM Welcome to Day Two of IRMACON!
9:15 AM SO, I BOUGHT A (SIXTY-YEAR OLD, BELOVED, OUTDOOR) MAGAZINE
Mike Rogge has been in the outdoor media business for years, as a journalist (Powder Magazine, Vice Sports, ESPN) and film producer (appearing on PBS and in the Banff Mountain International Film Fest Festival).
In 2020 Mike’s company Verb Cabin purchased Mountain Gazette, a much-loved outdoor magazine that writer Dick Doworth described as “a free-form, free-spirited favourite” of western mountain lifestyle enthusiasts in the 1960s and 1970s, that had lived many lives in print and then online.
Key to the return of Mountain Gazette has been its commitment to building subscribers, expanding the brand into merch and multi-media, and eschewing click-baity gear reviews for stories about the joy of going outside. All this in a delightful design capturing the enthusiasm of the team that makes it.
In this conversation with Annie Stoltie of Adirondack Life, Mike will share the story of bringing back a 60-year-old publication, leaning into the heritage and ethos of those original issues and building a subscriber base using all the tools of the digital age.
Please note this session will be pre-recorded.
9:45 AM Keeping Up With Editorial Design Trends – Inspo for Everyone
Host: TBD
Speaker: Sara DEugenio, Art Director, Texas Highways, and curator, @arteditdesign
What’s the secret to keeping your editorial brand fresh and connecting with readers? Sara D’Eugenio wants to share her favourite trends, spreads, and treatments from around the world of print design. When she isn’t focussed on layouts for Texas Highways, Sara is busy curating and sharing inspirational images at @arteditdesign. Identifying what’s on trend and what’s cutting edge keeps your pages relevant, and Sara will share which magazines and design/edit teams are creating looks to lead print design into the second half of the decade.
10:15 AM Break
10:30 AM TBD
11:30 AM IRMA Luncheon and AGM
1:15 PM TBD
2:15 PM The Secrets of Successful Annniversary Packages
Host and Panelist: Ed Graves, Publisher, New Mexico Magazine
Speakers: Will Grunewald, Editor in Chief, Down East; Alysha Vandertogt Senior Editor, Cottage Life
We’ve all got them: Anniversaries. But what’s the secret to keeping anniversary packages and celebrations fresh and engaging for our audience? (Not to mention intellectually stimulating for the editors and designers.) And what about brand extensions, digital programs, events and partnerships? How to know what it is, when it should happen, and how to sell it to advertisers.
This panel will look at what it takes to deliver lively and original content in Anniversary Issues, and how to generate new packaging ideas that will generate revenue and buzz for your brand.
3:15 PM Break
3:30 PM 4:30 PM Member-led Roundtable Discussions
Join IRMA colleagues to share your experience and learn from others in this member-led conversation.
430 PM Close of IRMACON2024 and Unplugged Time
7:00 PM IRMA Awards Dinner and Presentation
SATURDAY 6/15
CHECK OUT / NO FURTHER PROGRAMMING
