So here's a bit of members-only news. I guess it's not entirely confidential per se, but we're not ready to make any announcements - so those of you who are members of the press: what you read here is all that we have to say in the near term. ;)
OK, a bit of background: our management team has a long history in the games business. As many of your know, we ran the IEMA for the previous nine years before launching the ECA. Prior to (and over-lapping some) that, we ran a business-to-business publishing company which produced trade-specific magazines ([I]GameWeek[/I], later called [I]IE[/I] as well as the [I]Official E3 Show Daily[/I] and a very short run of [I]GW Kids[/I]), websites (GameJobs, Video Game Yellow Pages, Video Games On-Line), books ([U]Game Over: Press Start to Continue[/U]) and a newsletter (GameDaily). We also founded and ran the IEMA Executive Summit, a retail purchasing event where we would buy-out a whole resort (Ritz, Hyatt) and re-sell the meeting rooms, suites and sponsorships. I mention all of this just to say that we have knowledge in the publishing and event marketing spaces.
Fast-forward to present day. The ECA has three publications: GamePolitics, GameCulture and ECA Today. We've partnered with most of the endemic media in the games space as well as the trade and consumer shows, and remain agnostic - largely because we believe that by partnering with all of them, we can pass along benefits to all of our members and build long-term relationships that will be mutually-beneficial. We are very careful not to step on the toes of our partners. Our products don't compete directly with them and the events we support, we support fully.
OK, with all of that said, we're looking into the possibility of launching an association magazine. We're unsure of the frequency, the format (print/digital) or any of the other specifics for that matter. We have retained a few amazingly talented folks with expertise in the area.
The reason for the post is simple: we like to keep you in the loop on what we're up to, and frankly, my once or twice annual letters (updates) aren't enough. We need a vehicle that can keep the lines of communication open even more broadly; and having an association magazine is pretty standard practice.
What we could use from you is feedback, ideas, suggestions, concerns... anything that you'd like to add to these initial discussions. Speak now or hold your peace for a while, anyway. ;) Please use this thread to let us know what you think, what you'd like to see and how frequently you'd like to see it. Ads, no ads? Digital or print? Members-only, or free to the world.
This would be your magazine - designed, written and produced for you - so your feedback is critical... and appreciated. Thanks!
-Hal.
