Say Hello to Our Webzine
Quinn Halford -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 3/1/2001
We, too, at Gifts & Dec have suffered the pangs of trying to establish a Web presence. While we thought our first Web site, which debuted just over a year ago, was a noble effort, the changing dynamics in the way people use the Internet forced us to rethink our strategy. Therefore, we now announce the launch of the new Gifts & Dec Webzine, which resides at the same URL as our old site: www.GiftsandDec.com. As you know, Gifts & Dec provides the most comprehensive coverage of any trade publication in the gift and decorative accessories industries. Much of this material is now available in our Webzine. Here's what you'll find on the home page: Industry News (which is posted as it is announced), feature articles from the current issue, and the monthly column "Manufacturers and Reps Corner" (both of which are posted on the first day of the month).
There is also a handy listing of three current trade show events with a click-through to our comprehensive trade show calendar. On the right-hand side is our "Weekly Pick," which features, on a rotating basis, the "Editor's Letter," "E-Tailer's Digest," "Celebrate," and "We Asked.You Answered." And, with a quick scroll down the page, you can take part in our "Question of the Week" surveys on a wide range of topics.
There are buttons that take you to our regular columns on financial and store management, executive changes, show previews, staffing solutions, visual merchandising, and other issues. We will be building our archive files so that you'll be able to use the site to research past articles. And, for the first time, retailers will be able to register online for our 2001 Merchandising Achievement Awards competition (the honor for the first store to register online goes to July Home of Portland, Oregon).
The site also features "Spotlight," paid advertising pages detailing new product introductions. Of course, there is information on how to subscribe to the magazine, how to advertise in it (and in the Webzine), and how to contact our editors. And, coming soon to the site: the complete Gifts & Dec Buyers Directory!
What you won't find in our Webzine are the editorial "On Trend" pages of new product trends and introductions. We save those for the magazine for a couple of reasons. First, the photographic quality on the printed page is far superior to anything the Internet can provide. Second, having to scroll through as many as 300 images can make navigating the Web too time-consuming. Also, the magazine format is more portable, allowing you to peruse the pages wherever and whenever you want.
Among the many things we have aimed for in creating the new Gifts & Dec Webzine is to provide you with a new business tool that you can use to keep up with what's happening in our industry, to research a wide range of material, and to refer to the experts about how to run your business better.
A Reader Worries
A reader recently e-mailed us regarding our January story "Consolidation and Its Aftereffects," which detailed the recent rash of mergers, buyouts, and alliances in the gift show industry. He asked why we hadn't gotten exhibitors' reactions concerning the effect these consolidations would have on them, since "monopolies" tend to increase prices and ill serve their customers' best interests.
Those concerns did cross our mind when we were working on the story, but we felt that it was too early to ask exhibitors, since their reactions would be mere speculation at this point. We did put the question to a couple of the principals interviewed in the story, and they felt, for various reasons, that the gift industry wouldn't be prone to the evils of a monopoly. However, as I pointed out in my editor's letter that month, the proof will be in the pudding. The reader may not be reassured to learn that, since that story came out, DMG World Media bought an interest in Western Exhibitors. That story is in "Up Front" on page 14.
A final word: That URL is www.GiftsandDec.com.
