Keeping up With Changes

 HELLO ALL! I've been a very bad, bad blogger again. Not trying to blame it on school....but I whole-heartedly blame it on school. However, I am back- better late than never! And as I am writing this post as Hurricane Sandy is doing her last rounds, I hope everyone is safe, warm, and dry! This storm did not hit my area too badly, but Sandy definitely left her mark on other places. My prayers go out to anyone affected!
Alright, enough about Sandy. Let's talk technology. A few weeks ago I was doing a project for a class that involved looking at a variety of magazines for a particular type of article. I have ALWAYS been a paper magazine girl- I love cutting things out, folding pages, just having the tangible magazine with me. As I was getting my November copies (check out Vogue this month- Rihanna on the cover is giving me savage and I love it) i thought about getting the iPad versions, but I just could not do it. I thought it would just take up space, and again, I'm a paper magazine girl. However, I did need an old issue of Cosmo, so I did buy that.

I might be a little Plato-in-the-cave right now, but I was AMAZED. The graphics were so clear and easy to read, but what floored me most of all was the ability to navigate to different areas with just a click. If they featured clothing, you could click the item and you were suddenly on the store website, ready to purchase. Little tabs like "Click for recipe ideas" led you to that section of the magazine. This surprisingly did not strike me as the lazy reader approach, but instead like the magazine had been jazzed up and was now an interactive experience. I know I'm probably the last person in the world to discover this but...WOW.

My point in this story is that technology is ever-changing. I had been so against iPad magazines that I never even bothered to try it, and now that I have it truly is an awakening. Sometimes, we can get so comfortable with what we are doing that we turn a blind eye to new things. As publicists, it is our job to keep an eye out for these new things! Whether it is a new idea for a client (or a new client altogether!) people in PR need to be the ones who are the guinea pigs and the ones who are trying these new things. This helps with broadening our perspectives and knowing what is out there so we can work with it.
I'm not going to lie, I still am a paper magazine girl. I just love getting all of my issues in the mail every month- I'm like a kid on Christmas. However, I love knowing the option is out there, and I strongly recommend iPad subscriptions to anyone I talk to. It's inspired me to look into other new things out there and not be so closed-minded!

:/

I hope this inspires some of you to check these magazines out (this post, not Bad Luck Brian!) I've never had so much fun reading a magazine in my life. Download something while you're inside today taking shelter from Sandy baby!

xxx