New FMA Board Member Spotlight: Jamie Rich
New FMA Board Member: Jamie Rich
Title and Company: Founder, Flamingo
FMA Member Since: 2016
Magazine: Flamingo
Circulation: 20K print, throughout the southeast
Target Audience: Readers who love to live in or travel to Florida
Frequency: Online every day! In print with two collector’s editions a year: Spring/Summer Icons Issue & Fall/Winter Explore Issue
Website: Flamingomag.com
Tell us about your publishing background.
Before I started Flamingo, I worked as a writer and journalist, freelancing for national and international publications and working in newsrooms from The Moscow Times to The Times of London. Before launching Flamingo in the summer of 2015, I spent a year “reporting” or researching the business of publishing and creating a business plan by interviewing and gleaning knowledge from some of the top professionals in the industry. So, I would say my publishing background consists of seven years of on-the-job training. It’s been a wild ride with lots of lessons (both good and bad) learned along the way.
Tell us about Flamingo magazine. What is your vision for the magazine over the next five years?
The vision for Flamingo is to be “Florida’s Magazine” online and in print—to UNIFY the state through storytelling, to be THE DESTINATION for Florida’s greatest stories, and to INSPIRE readers to go out and do the things they read on Flamingomag.com and in our pages.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Florida’s magazine publishers?
The biggest challenges are how to grow print readers in a society becoming more digitized by the day, as well as the ever-increasing cost of printing and distributing paper magazines. How can we translate the print experience, while still honoring it, into a seamless digital interface, and how can we continue to grow the brand and revenue opportunities beyond the pages of a print magazine?
What are the biggest opportunities for the magazine industry?
The biggest opportunity we have as magazine professionals is to rethink the word “magazine” and open our minds to what a magazine can be in today’s digitally-obsessed world. How do we turn traditional print stories into living, breathing experiences, through all the mediums available: website, social media, video, audio and events (virtual and in person).
Why did you decide to join the FMA Board?
I joined the FMA board for the opportunity to collaborate with some of the brightest publishing minds in the state, to share ideas among our members, and to hopefully contribute to growing Florida’s magazine community from the Panhandle to the Keys and all points in between.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the FMA?
The biggest opportunity I see for the FMA is to grow our membership and think of unconventional and creative ways we might be able to open our arms to more magazines and engage with more media brands throughout the state. Together we are stronger.
Tell us a little about what you like to do in your free time.
In my free time, you can find me on a spin bike hoping for sweat-induced inspiration for my next editor’s note, hanging out on the beach watching my daughters surf, or planning my next chance to break out my passport and get off the grid with my family.