
Industry Voices


Christine Hayes | Food Group Editor-in-Chief | BBC Good Food, olive, Immediate Media

Grace Balfour-Harle | Content Producer | Beano, DC Thomson
We spoke with Content Producer at the Beano comic, about what they have done for children over lockdown, why their subscriptions strategy has been so successful and the importance of innovation within magazine businesses to keep in line with consumer trends.

Emily Hallie | Communications Director | Condé Nast Britain
We spoke with Vogue's Communications Director about the recent Billie Eilish cover that went viral, the highlight of her career and the importance of measuring the impact of a campaign.

Dan Reeves | Co Founder | TRUE 212 & LOYAL AI
As editorial teams become more remote, we inevitably are looking to technology to solve the challenges that this brings. We spoke with Dan Reeves, Co Founder of the TRUE 212 platform which has recently launched LOYAL AI, an AI-driven journalism tool to help solve this problem and assist journalists in their workflow. Read the full interview to hear about how you effectively use LOYAL as both a journalist and publisher and the power of technology and digital transformation to deliver publishers the ability to do what they do best: create fantastic content and editorial.

Katie Bloor | Head of Optimisation | Daydot
We spoke with Head of Optimisation at Daydot about her career, the benefits of being subscription-first and how Artificial Intelligence is the next big thing on her radar.

Lauren Holleyoake | Publisher | Grazia, Bauer Media
"At Grazia we've always started with the reader. We consistently look to the audience insight and we've always aimed to be "inside her head." Lauren Holleyoake, publisher of Grazia, has worked on the magazine for the nearly a decade and has invaluable insight into what makes one of the UK's most famous women's magazine brands tick.

Monique van Dusseldorp | Author & Event Creator
Monique charts us through the lifecycle of her events portfolio over the last year, how hybrid events have evolved and what we should expect from the new hybrid format. Through a number of case studies Monique highlights a key realisation event organisers have had: "that there is a far bigger audience out there than they had imagined." As a result, "a whole new space has opened up for online meetings and events" and the potential to reach new communities, build on these relationships and keep the energy going all year round, not just at a physical event once a year.

Nikki Clare | Head of Events & Client Service | Hearst Live, Hearst
Nikki Clare describes the rollercoaster of change the Hearst events portfolio has gone through over the last year and how audience expectations have now changed to become more accepting of flexible formats such as speakers dialling in. What is important to remember however is that one shouldn't host hybrid for the sake of it. "There must be a clear purpose and benefit to it."

Jackie Scully | Executive Director | Think Publishing
"When nobody minds that you are getting it wrong, you end up innovating and doing a shed load right." This is how Jackie Scully, Executive Director of Think Publishing and B2B lead in their recent Re:member report, summarised the positive outcomes of the pandemic. "In the last year... we didn't have the time to waste and we moved into a world where agility and lack of perfectionism was celebrated." Jackie spoke to us following the release of the Re:member report about the main findings, what surprised her most and the importance of focusing on the members of the future.

Edie Jefferys | Video Lead | Cosmopolitan, Hearst UK
Working as the Video Lead for Cosmopolitan, Edie Jefferys believes that the sky is the limit having managed to get through this tumultuous year which forced production teams to carry out their work entirely at home. From launching video series for ELLE and producing content watched by millions across all platforms, no wonder Edie was named one of our 30 Under 30 winners. "Be adaptable and learn as much as you can," she says when asked to give advice on getting into the industry. "Video production requires an incredibly wide skill set, so make sure you try a bit of everything. Practice practice practice."

Laura Kelly | Digital Producer | The Big Issue
Former PPA Scotland Director and current Digital Producer at The Big Issue, Laura Kelly has always been enraptured by magazines and the power they have in building communities. This is exactly what The Big Issue are achieving with their recent LinkedIn partnership, which Laura explains more about while also highlighting how important magazine's have been at a time when we are all craving connection.