Diane Cremin
World Magazine Congress
Her Big Event: Independent planner Cremin spent two years putting together the International Federation of the Periodical Press’ World Magazine Congress, which is hosted in key publishing cities around the globe and came to New York for the first time this past May. Drawing 1,000 attendees from 50 countries—predominantly owners, presidents, and chairs of magazine companies, as well as chief editors—the three-day conference at the Waldorf-Astoria also incorporated two large evening events. How She Planned It: Formerly vice president of professional development and events for Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), Cremin, 38, had plenty of experience working for a publishing crowd. She had put together MPA’s annual conference—which attracts close to 600 U.S. magazine executives—as well as the Publisher of the Year event and the National Magazine awards, and developed content and handled logistics for smaller workshops and seminars. For the World Magazine Congress, she worked with Thomas Ryder, the chairman of Reader’s Digest Association (and at that time the chairman of MPA), George Green, who heads up national publishing for Hearst Magazines, and four full-time MPA staffers.
Her Challenge: With the event in New York, Cremin had to take into consideration that the French—who hosted the congress in Paris in 2003—used impressive spaces such as the Louvre. So she went looking for large, extraordinary venues for the conference’s two parties. For the opening night party, she secured Ellis Island, which prompted Ryder to come up with the idea of a barbecue. “We all looked at him like he was crazy. But once we started planning things we realized this barbecue was going to be spectacular. People kept [asking], ‘Is it going to be better than Paris?’ My attitude was, this is New York—we don’t have to compare ourselves to anyone.”
Behind the Scenes: Due to a high chance of rain and cold weather, Cremin decided at noon on the day of the party to move it indoors from the lawn at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, so the barbecue had to be completely reconfigured. “I was on the floor with the floor plan out and we were trying to figure out how we were going to get seating for 800 people in a space that really holds only 500.” She eliminated two of the three performance stages, and took on another space in the museum. And it worked.
—Mark Mavrigian
Posted 12.14.05
Photo: Doug Goodman Photography (Ellis Island)
World Magazine Congress
Her Big Event: Independent planner Cremin spent two years putting together the International Federation of the Periodical Press’ World Magazine Congress, which is hosted in key publishing cities around the globe and came to New York for the first time this past May. Drawing 1,000 attendees from 50 countries—predominantly owners, presidents, and chairs of magazine companies, as well as chief editors—the three-day conference at the Waldorf-Astoria also incorporated two large evening events. How She Planned It: Formerly vice president of professional development and events for Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), Cremin, 38, had plenty of experience working for a publishing crowd. She had put together MPA’s annual conference—which attracts close to 600 U.S. magazine executives—as well as the Publisher of the Year event and the National Magazine awards, and developed content and handled logistics for smaller workshops and seminars. For the World Magazine Congress, she worked with Thomas Ryder, the chairman of Reader’s Digest Association (and at that time the chairman of MPA), George Green, who heads up national publishing for Hearst Magazines, and four full-time MPA staffers.
Her Challenge: With the event in New York, Cremin had to take into consideration that the French—who hosted the congress in Paris in 2003—used impressive spaces such as the Louvre. So she went looking for large, extraordinary venues for the conference’s two parties. For the opening night party, she secured Ellis Island, which prompted Ryder to come up with the idea of a barbecue. “We all looked at him like he was crazy. But once we started planning things we realized this barbecue was going to be spectacular. People kept [asking], ‘Is it going to be better than Paris?’ My attitude was, this is New York—we don’t have to compare ourselves to anyone.”
Behind the Scenes: Due to a high chance of rain and cold weather, Cremin decided at noon on the day of the party to move it indoors from the lawn at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, so the barbecue had to be completely reconfigured. “I was on the floor with the floor plan out and we were trying to figure out how we were going to get seating for 800 people in a space that really holds only 500.” She eliminated two of the three performance stages, and took on another space in the museum. And it worked.
—Mark Mavrigian
Posted 12.14.05
Photo: Doug Goodman Photography (Ellis Island)
