April 2008
Rotary Norwest wins Magazine of the Year award
Rotary Norwest, the district magazine for Rotary members in Cumbria and Lancashire, has been named District Magazine of the Year at the 2008 Annual Conference of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI). President of RIBI Allan Jagger presented the award on April 13 at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, in front of 2500 conference delegates, in the presence of Rotary International President Wilf Wilkinson.
The judging panel said Rotary Norwest was ‘in a class of its own’ for design, editorial content and quality of print. The magazine was described as a superb means of communicating the work and fellowship of Rotary and an essential aid to revitalizing club membership within the Cumbria and Lancashire area.
Editor Ron Bailey has been in charge of the magazine for two years, and has overseen a steady improvement in the quality of writing and pictorial content. But finding a partner in print was the hardest task that he and his team had to face. ‘We eventually were introduced to Pagefast Print & Publishing of Lancaster, and were immediately impressed with their enthusiasm for our project,’ he said. ‘From editorial support, advertising and design, right through to print and packaging, the level of service and support has been first class throughout. Their contribution has been paramount to the success and affirmation we are enjoying.’
In the last 12 months Rotary District 1190 – the 74 clubs of Cumbria and Lancashire – has raised more than three quarters of a million pounds for charity.
Part of Ron’s vision in developing the magazine has been to turn it into a more effective means of raising the profile of Rotary within the community at large, and while nominally a membership publication Rotary Norwest is now starting to reach a broader public. A read-and-reuse scheme pioneered by the Lancaster club in particular has been successful in putting the publication in libraries, doctors’ and dentists’ offices and reception areas throughout the region.
This redistribution scheme not only is important in informing non-Rotarians of the work that the organization does, but also is proving invaluable in encouraging sponsorship. Rotary Norwest is heavily supported by advertising, and the magazine’s placement in public areas is hugely increasing its effectiveness as an advertising medium. The fact that it has now been judged the best magazine of its type in Britain and Ireland can only be a bonus!