1. Aim to delight your readers One of the things I love about great magazines is that they think broadly about what is possible, given their mission and niche. Take, for example the front and back covers of AirBnB Magazine: Edward Hopper gets an update. The brand-published magazine doesn’t publish many ads. In a way, […]
We’re less than 60 days away from the 2020s! And what better way to focus on what’s ahead than making some predictions? I’ve been reading the alumni magazine tea leaves over the past several months, and here are some of the big shifts and changes that I think we’ll be seeing in alumni magazines coast […]
Maybe you need a photographer for the story of an amazing alum who lives halfway across the country — or halfway around the world. Maybe you’re just looking to shake things up and get a different perspective on your own campus. How do you find a photographer who’s going to get your school and your […]
When I started out in alumni magazines, I learned lots of smart things about writing good profiles, creating packaged features, and making a magazine that was beautiful and compelling. But I also internalized a few truly terrible ideas that it took me years to unlearn. I was not smart. In fairness, one of the big […]
Every month, I pick up a few new magazines from the newsstand to see what kind of stories they’re doing, what unique approaches they’re taking, and what I can learn from them. But when I picked up a copy of REI’s Uncommon Path magazine — a beautiful and engaging magazine in almost every respect — […]
Today I’m excited to explore one piece of “common knowledge” about profile writing that is 100 percent wrong for higher ed communicators. I’ll start the story in one of my favorite places: writers and editors conferences. When I was younger, my favorite part of these conferences were the keynote talks. Amazing writers — Susan Orlean, Jacqui Banaszynski, Malcolm […]
Recently, I’ve been reading a *lot* of profiles about incoming college presidents, chancellors, and heads of schools. I have plenty of opinions on these profiles, but they could generally be summed up this way. These new leaders are clear-eyed about the challenges their schools face! They’re ready to listen to their constituents! They’re excited to […]
When I was an editor at an alumni magazine, one of the most frustrating experiences I dealt with was never knowing whether or not the brilliant story idea I had was going to resonate with readers. Would a story generate lots of congratulations, letters, and other feedback? Or would it barely create a ripple? The […]
Today, I want to focus on the tools I use to help track everything from emails to story ideas to my to-do list. If you’ve been struggling with any of these challenges, these are my best recommendations. Track daily to-dos and deeeeep thoughts with these notebooks and pens. I’m picky about my notebooks […]
The school year is just starting to ramp up for many of us, and the slower pace of summer is all but done. I know you’re busy! So let’s get straight to it. Here’s what my team and I have been up to: Schools love to perform well on all of those high stakes rankings, […]