Magazine Academy and PPA professional qualifications graduation

Tuesday night was the annual graduation ceremony and Magazine Academy awards held by the Periodical Training Council at The Lansdowne Club in the heart of Mayfair. Not one to turn down the offer of canapés and wine in a central London location, I jumped at the chance to have a look at the work of magazine students from around the country. 

This was a swish affair, with the covers from the student magazine entries rotating on an LCD display, as well as colour print outs for the guests to leaf through. I spoke with Sara Cremer, Editorial Director at Redwood Publishing and Chair of the Editorial Training Consultants Committee who helped judge the Magazine Academy and present the awards. She was particularly impressed with the level this year. There were several stand-out titles that demonstrated a strong, well researched editorial concept, consistent tone and high visual and design standards. 

There are two categories – New Magazine Concept and New Student Magazine – with the winner of the latter seeing their magazine in print. I have to confess that it brought a tear to my eye seeing the excitement of the overall winners when announced.  Developed by a team of students from Cardiff University, Tracks is ‘the no-frills travel magazine’ with the irresistible strapline: ‘Tracks: let’s make some.’ The judges felt that the strong concept combined with a multi-media platform gave Tracks the edge over the competition. See for yourself at http://journalism.cf.ac.uk/tracks/ (includes links to the MySpace page, blog and forum). 

As I write copies of the printed product are being sent to key industry figures. What a great way to ensure that the students understand what it takes to produce a magazine and what a fantastic introduction to the industry and unique chance to get feedback from senior industry figures. Further information on the Magazine Academy is available on the Periodical Publishers Association / PTC website.