Revitalizing your magazine.

Here's how the American School Food Service Association transformed an adequate magazine into an exceptional vehicle for providing information to members and communicating professionalism to the outside world.

Appearance isn't everything, but it does count for a lot, as the American School Food Service Association knew full well when it embarked on a major image-enhancement effort in the early 1990s. Facing a significant increase in the number and seriousness of issues affecting the school food service industry, ASFSA decided that its response must be rooted in professionalism. The association not only had to strengthen members' knowledge of legislative issues affecting their industry, it also had to channel that knowledge into a stronger voice on Capitol Hill. And to be seen as the more powerful and professional association it intended to become, ASFSA had to look the part.

Key in these efforts was the transformation of School Food Service Journal into School Foodservice & Nutrition. As ASFSA positioned itself better for lobbying efforts by changing its address in 1990 from Denver to Alexandria, Virginia, just outside of the nation's capital, it decided to revamp its magazine to mirror the more issues-conscious association.

As the magazine evolved, it made impressive strides in editorial and design and was honored with numerous publishing awards. While it's too soon since the last touches of the redesign to specify results in numerical terms, the immensely more professional magazine appears poised to strengthen ASFSA's ability to pull in more and higher-level members and to gain greater recognition for ASFSA on the Hill. Linked to these results should be an increase in advertising revenue and, ultimately, an increase in pages. (The magazine has retained the frequency and average number of pages it had before the makeover: 11 issues per year, each with an average of 80 pages.)

Here are the highlights from ASFSA's experience.

Having a vision

At the origins of a successful redesign is the association's vision of how its publication can advance the overall organizational goals. When I joined the staff of the relocated ASFSA in 1990 as editor of the School Food Service Journal, I easily pinpointed the publication's potential for enhancing the association's professionalism. I could see not only what the magazine had to do, but what it could be.

It was apparent that neither the publication's full-color format nor its dynamic subject matter was being used to its full advantage. The publication was relying on member submissions for most of the editorial and photographic content. This member involvement, good in its intent, was not being channeled wisely. The result was a relatively unattractive publication lacking editorial flow and content depth.

Assessing the work ahead

The challenges ASFSA faced that may be similar to those at your association included immersing the editorial staff in industry issues. More sophisticated magazine content required more advanced knowledge on the part of our editorial staff.

But that was a minor technicality compared to the other obstacles: an inefficiency organized communication department, lack of human and financial resources, technological missteps, and leadership reluctance to change. We'd have to deal with all of these before we could substantially revise the magazine.

Staffing considerations

At the very least, changes in an association magazine result in some different editorial or design assignments for the staff. In other cases, alterations in the entire makeup of the department are in order. The latter case, which was true in our situation, requires answers to some difficult questions.

* Who's in charge? When ASFSA moved to the East Coast, it beefed up its communications department by replacing two editorial staff with two and a half and by moving design services in-house. The additional bodies were great, but problems arose because there was no real department head. The senior designer and I were hired at the same level, both of us reporting to the executive director. The lack of leadership in the department resulted in some tasks being done twice, some not being done at all, a great deal of confusion, and tremendous inefficiencies. To address these problems, I was promoted to director of communications.

* Who's best at doing what? And how many are needed on board? In addition to the magazine, our department also produces all other print materials that come out of the association. Because it was clear that the junior designer had terrific magazine design skills and the senior designer had a great flair for marketing-oriented projects, I realigned their positions to be more equal and to focus on the kind of work to which each was best suited. In addition, we added a production manager, which freed both designers from the administrative details that interfered with the creative tasks they were really hired for. Eventually we also hired a much-needed full-time editorial assistant.

Embracing technology . . . sort of

Desktop publishing has made it possible for even the smallest associations to enhance the appearance of their publications. But as beneficial as this technology has been, it's hard to find an association that has made a painless switch from traditional typesetting anti layout.

ASFSA's decision to add an in-house design staff upon its relocation went hand in hand with its desire to move to desktop publishing. We learned some important lessons during the transition.

* Have reasonable expectations. Savings in time and money after the initial purchase of hardware and software and more control over the finished product are common motivators for moving to desktop. But while control is usually achievable. the time and cost savings are less certain, especially in the early years of moving to desktop.

* Buy the right equipment - and enough of it - up front. On the recommendation of salespeople and before hiring the Washington communication staff, who would be using the equipment, ASFSA budgeted only for a design workstation. No funds were designated for editorial workstations: it was realized later that four would be needed to glean the efficiencies promised by desktop technology. Thus, we had to initially purchase less powerful machines than we needed.

* Don't overlook training. Staff expertise with software was not up to speed with the results ASFSA expected. Layout, illustration, and photo manipulation software programs for four-color desktop publishing operations are complex. Until our staff became experienced with the layout program, we often had additional fees of $2,000 or more on prepress bills. Fortunately (or unfortunately), because of these cost overruns, we received funding for some intensive training. Our bills are back in line, and training will continue.

* Upgrade continually. We still aren't quite where we want to be technologically, but the association now realizes that continual upgrading is just part of the package when you commit to an in-house desktop publishing operation.

Knowing your audience

Before staff can begin working toward goals, the audience they're addressing and the needs of the audience must be clear. Two pieces of advice from our experience:

* If readership needs are diverse, target those of the main group. ASFSA members range from rural schoolhouse cooks to food service directors in the country's largest districts and from those who haven't graduated from high school to those with doctorates. Member feedback indicated that the magazine was meeting the needs of the lower-level staff and, occasionally, some managers. Our competitors in the field, on the other hand - commercially published trade magazines that serve the entire noncommercial food service field - were consistently interesting the upper-level managers and directors, the decision makers in the industry.

There was a good reason why our magazine had targeted the needs of the front-line staff and managers: This segment, which we call "single-trait" personnel, makes up 83 percent of our 65,000 members. By their sheer numbers, these members' needs have traditionally driven many of ASFSA's programs and services, including the content of the magazine. But along with a new executive director in 1993 came the idea that by catering more to the manager-and director-level member, the association would not only gain members in those categories, hut those individuals would likely recruit more of their employees (the single-unit staff segment) as well. Coupled with the director-level member criticisms of the magazine that we had been hearing, this new strategic focus for member recruitment shaped the vision for the magazine.

* Establish clear direction for the publication. The upper-level members we decided to focus on wanted more issues-oriented material, less association news, and a generally more sophisticated treatment of content. With this input and direction the magazine staff could dive into its revitalization efforts.

Allotting resources

Even the right people, the right equipment, and a clear vision sometimes are not enough. A heavy work flow and tight deadlines can make it nearly impossible for a progressive-minded staff to innovate. Addressing a couple of questions is critical:

* How does staff size stack up against project demands? Shortly after we began gathering member input through informal discussions, surveys, and focus groups, we made a few editorial changes. We replaced feature article topics that had lost their appeal to readers with more timely subjects that we knew we could handle easily. But to make the kind of sweeping editorial changes we had begun to plan, we needed more help than we had on staff. And as the association pushed forward with new plans and strategies tinder the new executive director, we found ourselves pulled increasingly between the magazine and other projects. Typos and minor editorial inaccuracies started creeping into articles. Editorial staff couldn't get articles edited or written on deadline, which led to rushed designing, which resulted in some costly mistakes.

* Are you willing to put your money where your expectations are? We gradually added to our per-issue design budget. It started out at $700, barely enough to cover the cost of a decent cover photo or illustration. This year we're up to $2,500.

We had more difficulty convincing our leadership that freelance editorial help was necessary given the number of member-submitted articles readily available. But once they saw the quality of the few staff-written articles we produced (with member input, of course), they began to expect work at that level. Using the argument that more high-quality pieces would require additional writing assistance, we were given a freelance editorial budget: $2,000 per issue.

Appearances matter

It's critically important to recognize the importance of design to a publication's overall effectiveness. Once you do, you can support these principles:

* Design Band-Aids fall off fast. Across the years, our magazine's layout had become less and less structured, resulting in a somewhat haphazard look. Not only was the School Food Service Journal unattractive and difficult to read, it was also time consuming to design because of the lack of standard parameters.

In making the switch to desktop publishing five years ago, the last thing the designers wanted to deal with was a redesign. Becoming familiar with the subject matter and the new technology were their first priorities, but they did take advantage of the situation to make a fairly subtle typeface change and to incorporate more white space. Readers loved what they considered a new look, but we knew we could do better. The subtle changes we were making really amounted to a Band-Aid approach to solving problems in a design that needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. In 1993 the new executive director and the executive board approved a complete redesign of the magazine.

* Overhauls require a significant amount of time and money and must be seen as investments. We paid $10,000 to contract with an outside design studio to help us put our project in motion. To be executed well, a redesign takes a lot of time - more time than our in-house designers had to spend. But by working closely with our staff to understand our goals, the outside firm became an extension of staff. Our launch 10 months after we began the revitalization project in earnest wouldn't have been possible without this additional help.

Going more than skin deep

As important as a good design is, unless an association magazine has solid content, members will catch on quickly that "there's no 'there' there" and will move on to another publication. Following are some of the ways in which we put in the "there."

* Combine reader input and publication vision to create compelling content. We began developing a new editorial framework based on reader input and grounded in the vision we had developed - that of a vibrant, relevant magazine that educated and informed members, had its finger on the pulse of the industry, served as a top-notch public relations tool, and provided enhanced revenue potential. Readers had been asking for more on safety, sanitation, management, marketing, and catering, so we developed new departments for each of these topics. We also began to cover more of the kinds of industry news that members wanted to read about.

Feature articles received a major overhaul. Since we were instituting more departments, we cut back the number of features from five or more to four or fewer and expanded their length and depth, keeping in mind that this was the area in which director-level members felt we needed the most work. Recognizing, however, that many of the readers who wanted more in-depth articles also needed to be able to scan articles quickly for major points and then read them fully later, we developed "Snapshots" boxes presenting highlights at the beginning of each article. We also began regularly profiling school food service professionals at the district-director level or above.

* Don't be afraid to cut. The sections of the magazine that we eliminated were our "Single Unit Suggestions" and "Trendsetters" columns. The former was a kind of "Hints From Heloise" submitted by members. While popular with single-unit staff, it went by the wayside because we found out that many of the tips were useless at best and unsafe at worst. "Trendsetters" relied on member-submitted news blurbs and photographs, few of which drew national interest. Both sections also lent a rather unprofessional look to the magazine. We decided to use the best of the member-submitted items as boxes in the new marketing department, the expanded news section, and main articles when appropriate.

* Consider elements to keep but revise. Our single-unit members' favorite articles, the food features, needed a facelift. By writing shorter editorial and providing more recipes, we would give these readers more of what they enjoyed and could use in their day-to-day work. And because we were gearing most of the rest of the magazine toward the director-level members, we planned a special two-page section for the single-unit readers so that they would still find the magazine personally valuable. The first page is the column by their membership section chair, which we have always run, and the second page is something new: a profile of a notable single-unit member.

How did members react to their new magazine? Response has been overwhelmingly positive. We launched the revamped publication, School Foodservice & Nutrition, as the June/July 1994 preconference issue, and the timing couldn't have been better. The new magazine was a major topic of discussion at the conference, and a year later, letters and calls are still coming in from all member segments thanking us for doing a superb job.

A word about buy-in 

Sweeping changes in any association magazine are impossible without the input and backing of the elected leadership and the chief staff executive. By soliciting and listening to member requests and by working with an editorial advisory board, ASFSA's magazine staff gradually gained recognition from leadership that the staff was committed to the school food service industry.

With this recognition came trust. The early work of the magazine staff paid off when it was time for us to do our major redesign and editorial restructuring. Because the executive board knew we had done our homework with the members, we were able to get approval on dramatic changes to the magazine.

Getting membership support has resulted in an additional benefit. Members often remark to companies that don't advertise with us that the best way to get the attention of school food service professionals and expand their sales in this market niche is to advertise in School Foodservice & Nutrition, because it's the one magazine that everyone reads. How's that for a ringing endorsement?

RELATED ARTICLE: How Much Mileage Do You Get From Your Publication?

A well-done association magazine creates tremendous goodwill among members. Because members tend to identify with their magazine, one that is professional looking and editorially substantive makes members proud of their industry, their association, and themselves. Members who are happy with their magazine are more likely to view the association in general as responsive, growing and vital.

Top-notch association publications pay dividends in several other areas as well, all of which benefit the association and members in subtle but no less important ways. If you're not getting maximum mileage from your publication, it probably could stand an overhaul.

Advancing public relations goals. Professionally produced association magazines earn the respect of critical outside audiences. These magazines not only help educate the public about industry issues but also solidify the association's position as the recognized authority in a specific subject matter area.

The growing public interest in health and nutrition issues has translated into a growing scrutiny of school food service programs. The members of the American School Food Service Association often are asked to speak at school board and civic group functions, to write articles for local allied organizations' newsletters, and to be interviewed for television and radio reports on school nutrition. ASFSA's magazine, School Foodservice & Nutrition, serves as a valuable reference to members in all these situations.

ASFSA sends the magazine to members of congressional committees that legislate child nutrition issues and to reporters of the major wire services and news organizations that regularly cover school food service issues. All these local and national efforts are helping to gain recognition for ASFSA as the authority on child nutrition issues.

Attracting advertisers. School Foodservice & Nutrition's annual advertising revenue is $1.3 million - about 25 percent of ASFSA's total annual revenue. Increasingly, our magazine must battle head-to-head for advertising dollars against other food service and hospitality publications. A professional appearance and solid editorial, some of which is directed specifically at companies serving our members, are helping us compete in this climate. Since launching our new publication, several new advertisers have come on board, a number of current advertisers have stepped up their advertising schedules, and many other companies that ignored our advances in the past are finally showing some interest in starting with a modest schedule.

Supporting member recruitment. This fiscal year, we plan to obtain a targeted list of potential members, send them the publication for three months, and then encourage them to become members or subscribers.

Adding nonmember subscribers. Many organizations have an untapped universe of readers who aren't eligible for membership in the organization but still have an interest in the subject matter. Why not satisfy their craving for information? We're going to begin exploring this possibility with members of several of our health and education allies in the coming year.

Boosting staff morale. Don't underestimate the power that working on a terrific magazine has on your communication staff. In the association environment, where the work load is often heavy and salaries and other perks often aren't as attractive as in the private sector, recruiting and retaining top communication professionals can be difficult. Allowing them the latitude to create a publication that they enjoy working on shows them you care about their professional development, respect and admire their abilities, and see them as an important part of the association team.

RELATED ARTICLE: Revitalizing, Then Renaming

Sometimes a restructured editorial framework and a new look combine to create a very different publication. And sometimes that new publication doesn't fit the old name. The American School Food Service Association faced just such a situation in revamping the School Food Service Journal. It was clear to ASFSA that the word journal would have to go. The magazine never had been - and never would be - the hard-edged research or technical publication that journal implies.

We also felt strongly that the term food service, although two words in the name of the association, should change to a single word in the title of the publication (and in all other usage in ASFSA), as this was the currently accepted spelling of the term in the industry.

Many members and leaders also believed it was important to include the word nutrition in the title of the publication, because child nutrition is at the core of what these professionals stand for. Staff agreed on one hand, but we also didn't want to lose the idea that this magazine deals with business issues - in other words, food service. We knew it would be difficult to attract new advertisers in equipment and other nonfood categories if the magazine sounded like it was geared strictly toward health issues.

Keeping all that in mind, we came up with a name we thought fit all requirements. At its fall 1993 meeting, the ASFSA executive board approved the proposed name change, and School Foodservice & Nutrition was officially on its way to becoming a reality.

Adrienne Gall Tufts is editor of School Foodservice & Nutrition and director of communications for the American School Food Service Association, Alexandria, Virginia.