“The team had to be nimble and committed. They had to move fast. We created all new content for upcoming issues of Madison Magazine—no easy matter in a business that works 4 months out. For example, our Road Trip Issue’s content had to be completely changed. One of the new features was Tune In to Take Out.”
That’s a quote from Andie Behling of Morgan Murphy Media in an interview with Bo Sacks. So many publishers have had to pivot not only on their events but on what they cover and their webinars. Here are five examples to be applauded from fellow SIPA members. I’ve added a little Beatles tint for the headings.
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I’ve Just Seen a Face – the Zoom window. In its May newsletter, Environment Hawaii ran an article titled Board Talk: COVID-19 Effects on Tenants, Legacy Lands. It was accompanied by a wonderful photo of the Zoom meeting they had—talk about powerful faces! “On April 9, via Zoom, heads of the department’s Land Division, Division of State Parks, and Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) briefed the Board of Land and Natural Resources on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting their permittees and lessees, as well as the divisions themselves.” By looking at the nine faces, you can see the seriousness and diversity of this subject.
The Long and Winding Road – firsthand accounts. Fantini Research Public Policy Review Editor Laura Briggs “reached out to Ronnie Jones of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board as part of a series seeking insight on issues regulators are facing due to COVID-19. This is his personal account of one of the nation’s hardest-hit areas.” Louisiana ranks third to New York and New Jersey in the number of infections and deaths. Fantini did not settle for any reports about Louisiana. They went to someone right in the middle of it all for this riveting account. “Historically it had not been unusual to shut down one or more casinos in the path of an approaching hurricane, but a total cessation of gaming activities in the state was unprecedented.” Jones is eloquent in his assessment and real in his reactions: “We are, all of us, waiting to exhale.”
Help! – gamification. I’ve written before about MedLearn Media’s popular Compliance Question of the Week. This week’s “Laboratory Question”: is: “I’ve heard there is a CPT® code for COVID-19, is this true?” After the answer is given, readers are told that “This question was answered in an edition of our Laboratory Compliance Manager. For more hot topics relating to laboratory services, please visit our store or call us at 1.800.252.1578, ext. 2. So it’s really serving many purposes: information, lead gen (they can sign up for the weekly questions), revenue driver and archives builder.
Do You Want to Know a Secret? – new content. Magna Publications’ Faculty Focus has, as one might think, executed a total shift to COVID-19 related articles. These include: Fourteen Simple Strategies to Reduce Cheating on Online Examinations; Offering Compassion and Care in Online Courses; and The Importance of Saying Goodbye to Your Students in Times of Uncertainty. They all were posted in the last few days. To promote their upcoming conference, they’ve also posted, Q&A: A Virtual Chat with a Few of Our Teaching Professor Conference Presenters. Virtual to promote virtual—makes sense.
Getting Better – it’s a “womanel”! Plain English Media’s HOAleader.com has a webinar on Thursday titled: COVID-19 and Your HOA, Version 4. (HOA is short for Homeowners Association.) “We at HOAleader.com have now hosted three free COVID-19 webinars for condo and HOA board members grappling with the many challenges triggered by the deadly virus—and the ground is still shifting under board members daily.” What’s my favorite element of this webinar? The panel consists of four woman lawyers—I guess that would be called a “womanel.” Let’s hope that there are enough of these panels that restrictions must eventually be made to include a man.
