Mr. Magazine

If the phrase “energetic enthusiasm” was defined in the dictionary, you’d find Liz Vaccariello’s name written categorically beside it. The editor in chief of the Meredith Parents Network has an exuberance for her brand and the industry in general that is contagious.

Liz was our opening keynote speaker for the first full day of the ACT 8 Experience on Wednesday morning, April 18. While the air in the room was expectant when she took the stage to give her presentation, by the time she accepted the resounding applause and descended the stairs to once again take her seat, it was electric.

Several beautiful covers of Parents magazine began the story she told showing mothers and their real-life children together in varying poses, and progressing into the stories within the magazine’s pages that brings the lives of different people, such as celebrities, Jenny Mollen and Jason Biggs, along with their two sons, onto a level that we all understand, that of simply being parents. Liz’s belief is that Parents magazine, and ALL magazines, can have an emotional connection with readers, and that the cover is the best and most important place to start.

But the meat of Liz’s talk was about her 11 New Rules for Making Magazines, which you will find below. And along with each one she presented, we were as engaged as new students on the first day of class, learning these rules as though they were the difference between an A and an F in the class, and for all intents and purposes, when it comes to a successful magazine, they are.

1. Understand your audience
2. Diversity matters
3. Don’t be too cool for school
4. Go for “Wow” instead of “Ugh”
5. Know that digital natives skim print differently
6. Let your audiences tell stories too
7. Welcome advertisers as partners and collaborators
8. Art is your story’s best friend
9. Display copy is crucial for voice
10. More is not necessarily better
11. Use humor to break through

And to see these rules presented as only Liz can click on the video below.

To watch the entire ACT 8 Experience presentations please go to mr.magazine.me and search for ACT 8 Experience.