#mickeyboardman

Remind me why the devil I agreed to go to a west village gaythering w/ Zara sporting/haircut clone basics?

Early Wednesday morning at St.Brigid’s church in San Francisco, hundreds of impeccably dressed students showed up to hear the fashion sermon. This was however not a religious event in the traditional sense but rather a panel hosted by The Academy of Art University where its grad and undergrad students got to learn from the publishing business elites. Walking through the pews were those who worshiped at the altar of fashion and wanted to know the tricks of the trade from Paper’s Mickey Boardman and Visionaire’s Lars Petersen. The panel was conducted by the Director of Fashion Journalism and Social Media, Stephan Rabimov and lasted approximately an hour during which Mickey Boardman instilled some priceless lessons on the attendees. Boardman, the Editorial Director of Paper Magazine has been with the publication for 23 years during which he’s seen it go through a large shift with the rise of social media and the internet. Here are the 5 key takeaways from Boardman’s experience at the top of the game:

Miley Cyrus on the cover of Paper Magazine. Image courtesy of Paper Magazine

1.      Do things that will get attention

First and foremost, the most important thing Boardman noted was that print wasn’t dead. It won’t die because people will always love holding a magazine and enjoy seeing beautiful images although that doesn’t mean Paper won’t continue expanding through the online platform either. He knows the importance of shock value and pushing boundaries no matter how big or small. Paper infamously did an issue trying to “break the Internet” that provided scandalous images which caught the world’s attention. The content you create has to be a combination of “memorable plus something that creates hysteria” which is bound to attract website clicks. When it comes to size or volume, it’s more about the quality as Boardman stated that “it has to be something that’s fabulous you can see, digest and share. A picture with a caption is plenty.”

The old versus the new Paper Magazine covers

2.      Be willing to change

When everybody is doing what’s always been done and not getting the necessary results that’s when you know you need to change. Figure out new strategies to get the attention of the reader whether it’s risqué editorials hoping to “break the internet” or branded content with Grindr which will be happening in an upcoming issue. “We’re in a landscape where we have some wonderful opportunities to embrace change and do things that are really different that will get attention, set you apart from other people” said Boardman. He recognizes the way that social media and the Internet drive content production so appealing to it will help you stay current. Be willing to innovate and you won’t be left behind.

Paper Magazine Instagram Account

3.      Customize per medium,

Know your consumer, what they want to see and how they want to see it. According to Boardman, “you have to approach print from a digital perspective. That works because most people see Paper magazine from the website.” Understanding the medium allows for you to tailor content to it and knowing your audience lets you know how to cater to them as well. “We don’t think of ourselves as a magazine, we’re content producers. We think about something differently when producing for Instagram and we do the same when we think about doing the magazine and the way we think about the website.” Although it’s a lot of work, it’s necessary to be aware that not all platforms are the same so don’t treat them that way.

A video posted by Vogue (@voguemagazine) on May 3, 2016 at 12:37am PDT

The Olsen twins by Gordon Von Steiner. Image courtesy Vogue Magazine

4.      Fabulous + Shareable = Success

A word that Boardman used generously was “fabulous” and he made sure you knew that it’s what you have to always strive for no matter the cost, “you have to go there and try to do something fabulous.” New content that’s done in a quick, accessible way is a winning combination. For Boardman, it’s important to show something that you’ve never seen before and won’t get anywhere else. “I don’t care about seeing something Behind the Scenes, I could care less about it. I want to see the Olsen twins dancing with neon tubes. I could watch that all day,” in reference to Gordon Von Steiner’s video portraits of celebrities at the Met Gala this year. When content is inherently fabulous and easy to share, then it’s success.

A retweet from Mickey Boardman’s Twitter account

5.      Raccoon videos are good for the soul