Fourth Estate Creative
Freelance Fellowship
Content With Substance
International Magazine Centre going strong
Travelling to FIPP World late last year, Paul Thomas Evans, Managing Director of our parent Fourth Estate Creative (4EC) had the pleasure of meeting Nikki Simpson and hearing her plans for an International Magazine Centre in Scotland. For many in the 4EC team (and no doubt for many of you) magazines have a special connection (you can read a short blog piece on the ‘magazine model’ we employ here) and we knew we wanted to play some part in the project.
The concept is simple enough – a centre dedicated to excellence in magazines and magazine publishing, complete with what they promise will be “the world’s most incredible magazine shop”, hot-desk space for publishers, start-ups and visitors passing through, a research hub, a training centre and an exhibition showing the best of the industry from past and present.
It sounds like an outrageously good place for a true magazine lover. So what’s the catch? Well, there’s no catch for those looking forward to a visit, but this project is not fully funded, so to make it a reality will take the support of the industry.
Industry support
The project already has support from some major players – FIPP, the PPA, DC Thomson, Edinburgh Napier University – and from some of our favourite brands like Media Voices, What’s New in Publishing, the Drum and magCulture, but it will take a lot to make this ambitious project every bit as good as it sounds – the Freelance Fellowship and 4EC intend to do our part by becoming a sponsor and you can support the project by helping to spread the word.
We spoke to Nikki, who said: “We’re really looking forward to working with Fourth Estate Creative and the Freelance Fellowship”, adding that our freelancers should feel free to get in touch, “if you’d like to know more we’d be delighted to speak to you – get in touch or check out ideas for ways you can get involved. We look forward to connecting with you!”
The Centre states its aim as “connecting international publishers, sharing expertise, creating jobs, supporting internationalisation, driving investment, attracting and nurturing talent, promoting magazine innovation, inspiring consumers and celebrating the wonderful world of magazines.” We think those are goals worth supporting.