The Magazine Innovation Center is holding its seventh annual ACT Magazine convention Tuesday through Thursday. Samir Husni, also known as “Mr. Magazine,” created the convention.
ACT stands for amplify, clarify and testify and is a convention that brings together countless CEOs and magazine editors to discuss aspects of today’s magazine industry. This year’s theme is “Magazines Matter, Print Matters.”
“This began in 2010 and while it was very awesome then, it has grown exponentially over the years,” Husni’s administrative assistant Angela Rogalski said. “You can look at the 2010 agenda and we have gone from that, to like three pages. To people in the industry it has become the place to be to discuss magazines.”
Husni came to the university in 1984 to start the magazine program, which was the first magazine service journalism program of its kind in the nation. Husni said he felt the best way to educate future industry leaders was by putting them in touch with current industry leaders.
“From the very first year I came to Ole Miss I started doing ‘Magazine Day,’ Husni said. “When I became chair of the department, it became ‘Magazine Week,’ so I was always inviting current industry leaders to come and meet with the future industry leaders.”
Husni said he stepped down as chair in 2009, when the Meek School of Journalism and New Media was created, and started the Magazine Innovation Center at the school of journalism.
“The goal is to help amplify print in a digital age. It’s not that I’m anti-digital, but that does not mean print is going anywhere,” Husni said. “Television did not kill radio, just as radio did not kill newspaper.”
Rogalski said this experience is beneficial to all students, and provides an opportunity for them to talk with and get to know a leader in the magazine industry.
“Where else could you honestly sit down as a freshman, with the CEO of a large publishing company, or a large printing company or a large marketing company,” Rogalski said. “It’s where as a student you can sit face-to-face without making an appointment and exchange ideas.”
Graduate assistant Anna Grace Usery said the event is a prime opportunity for students to learn about the industry.
“I mean for me it’s a great networking event, you know all your professors preach networking and you can apply that here,” Usery said.
Usery said a variety of professionals from print to editorial design will be at the convention.
All lectures are free and open to the public, except for a few events such as Tuesday night’s Gala at the Ole Miss Inn, which is an opening ceremony that will serve as a welcoming event for convention speakers.
Husni said he hopes all students will attend the public lectures and events and encourages attendees to stay the whole time instead of leaving early.
“You learn much more having fun, than sitting down taking notes and shaking your head,” Husni said.
A full list of events can be found at The ACT Experience website.
