New York, NY (July 20, 2004)— Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) will bring together top-level executives from the magazine publishing community for the American Magazine Conference (AMC) 2004, to be held October 24-27 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida. The purpose of this gathering, themed “Mastering New Realities,” is to celebrate the continuing vitality of magazines and to discuss and debate pertinent issues of the day, from advertising and editorial to circulation and legislation. The conference features prominent speakers including Jeff Bezos, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Amazon.com; Donny Deutsch, Chairman and CEO, Deutsch, Inc.; and Russell Simmons, Chairman, President and CEO, Rush Communications Inc. This year’s magazine executive panel, moderated by Stephen Shepard, Editor-in-Chief, BusinessWeek, features Stephen Lacy, President and COO, Meredith Corporation; Ann Moore, Chairman and CEO, Time Inc., Thomas Ryder, Chairman and CEO, The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.; and Charles Townsend, President & CEO, The Condé Nast Publications Inc. Joining them are: Douglas Arthur, Print Analyst, Morgan Stanley; Richard Bilotti, Media Analyst; Morgan Stanley; Bill Bishop, President, Willard Bishop Consulting, Inc.; Kathleen Brookbanks, Managing Director, OMD Midwest; Michael Clinton, EVP, CMO, Group Publishing Director, Hearst Magazines; Gregory Coleman, EVP, North American Operations, Yahoo Inc.; Scott Donaton, Editor, The Ad Age Group; Edward Erhardt, President, ESPN ABC Sports Customer Marketing and Sales; J. Alec Gerster, CEO, Initiative Media Worldwide; John Griffin, President, Magazine Group, National Geographic Society; Ed Kelly, President and CEO, American Express Publishing Corporation; Jack Kliger, President and CEO, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.; Peter Kreisky, Chairman, Kreisky Media Consultancy LLC; John Loughlin, President, TV Guide Publishing Group; Rebecca McPheters, President and CEO, McPheters & Company, Inc.; Donald Miceli, VP of Media Services, Kraft Foods, Inc.; Rick Sirvaitis, President and COO, GM Mediaworks New York; and J. Walker Smith, Ph.D., President, Yankelovich Partners, Inc. MPA President & CEO Nina Link stated, “The primary focus of this year’s AMC is to better prepare publishers to ‘master new realities’ – by overcoming obstacles collectively and innovatively, and most importantly, by reconfirming and strengthening our connection to those who matter most – the magazine reader.” “We look to this year’s noteworthy speakers to provide perspective on this vibrant, yet often tumultuous, business,” added Conference Chair Eileen Naughton, President, TIME. “We will learn from them, and celebrate the vitality of this industry we’ve chosen to work in.” The conference agenda will focus on pertinent magazine industry issues such as audience measurement versus rate base – the pros and cons of dual magazine measurement; driving magazine sales at retail; generating new audiences; increasing magazines’ share of ad dollars; legislative affairs that affect the magazine business; navigating the international publishing frontier; and supporting the growth of independent magazines. “We also look forward to providing attendees with program elements that showcase this unique and entertaining medium, through magazine-sponsored presentations and awards at the opening night celebration, and through sessions featuring our brightest editorial stars today,” said Marlene Kahan, Executive Director, ASME. Suzanne Boyd, Editor-in-Chief, Suede; Howard Fineman, Senior Editor, Newsweek; Roy S. Johnson, Assistant Managing Editor, Sports Illustrated; Joe Klein, Political Columnist, TIME, and author of “Primary Colors”; Andrew Serwer, Editor-at-Large, Fortune; and David Zinczenko, Editor-in-Chief, Men’s Health, are among the editors and writers scheduled to round out the conference program. For up-to-the-minute information on the AMC program, visit www.magazine.org.