Janty Nakhesh

 

 

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From: Everyone@itp.com [mailto:Everyone@itp.com] On Behalf Of Sue Walters
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 1:11 PM
To: everyone@itp.com
Cc: users@spectrumdubai.com
Subject: february Newsletter

 

February 2008

ITP Business Publishing

Rain, presidents and public holidays combined to make January a seemingly shorter working month than it should have been, but nevertheless the ITP Business team threw all that they had at the first month of what is set to be a very big year. The Healthcare Group and their cohorts in marketing employed a number of guerrilla tactics to make themselves known at Arab Health, while the Caterer Middle East and Retail News Middle East teams cashed in on the forthcoming Gulfood exhibition with bumper issues - both in terms of news, paginations and revenues. Well done to all involved. Elsewhere in the Hospitality & FMCG Group, Saudi Arabia's HRH Prince Bandar bin Khalid al Faisal came calling, requesting some time with Arabian Travel News to talk about the problems associated with setting up his low-cost airline, while both the sales and editorial teams on Hotelier picked up where they left off in 2007 by delivering yet another solid performance. The same can be said for Construction Week, which demonstrated its ongoing strength with four fine issues and another target hit. Talking of strength, the Energy Group showed its power and consistency throughout the first month of the year with sales and editorial combining to deliver two great products that hit target and read well. With a settled sales force and a new Editor due to arrive on Oil & Gas next month, 2008 could well be the year of the Energy Group. Unless they are trumped by the Broadcast & Communications team that is. A bumper issue of Digital Studio was accompanied by great forward bookings on the same title, an on target Sound & Stage – which has now hit eight months in a row since its launch – and advanced plans for a new launch in Q2. Again, well done to the team. While not quite tipping the target scales, things are also looking good in the Transport & Supply Chain Group. With a new Associate Publisher on board the sales team seems reenergized and ready to leverage the quality and reputation of the group's editorial products. And, despite the fact that the ceremony doesn't take place until November, the Aviation Business team has already taken its annual awards 80% of the way to target. Similar things can said about the Construction Design Group, where a tough January did little to disguise the potential housed in powerhouse titles such as Commercial Interior Design and sleeping giants such as Middle East Architect and Facilities Management. Over in the IT Group, the Windows Pocket Tips initiative came to fruition –adding value for readers and helping boost sales on the English Edition, while plans for the third edition of the Windows Gaming Championship started to come together. In addition, the ACN team hosted its first lunch of the year whereby stalwarts from the vendor community get to spend quality time with the editor. Away from the core print titles, ITP Business's other business units turned up the heat on their 2008 projects. After celebrating the arrival of its first multi-medium directory – the Construction Week Building Construction & Contractors Directory – the Business Information Systems Group started work on its two latest offerings – the Hotelier Middle East Hospitality & Catering Directory, and the Logistics Middle East Supply Chain & Transport Directory. If the reception for these two products is half as positive as that given to its first offering then the BIS Group is in for a big year. Elsewhere, the Events & Conferences division is gearing up for its first finance event – taking place in Bahrain in March – while the team is also preparing for its Saudi Cranes event, being held in association with oil giant Aramco. So, in short, January was tough but the team look poised to make February a good month.  Production A warm welcome goes out to Aamar Shawwa who joins the Business team from Lifestyle. We wish her the best of luck in her new role. A congratulatory shout out to the Award winners in ITP Business. Iain Seaton in his win for 'Special Project Achievement' for his work on the Jafza calendar for Air Cargo, and to Ellie Zwanepoel for her work on the Gitex Dailies.

ITP Consumer Publishing

Bush days, irate husbands and torrential rain didn't stop the VIVA team from putting the February issue together. And it's a corker. Loving your work people. Last month we lost Ms Jenny King to Madison so we thought it only fair we whip an Aussie back. The lovely Jemma Galvin is now here to whip the VIVA team into action. There has also been staff changes for Harper's Bazaar, as the team welcomes its fabulous new art director Claire Lambert, who has come to Dubai from sizzling UK magazine Heat. Sadly, this means bidding a fond farewell to Wakeel Khan, who has been doing a fantastic job as art director over the past two months, creating gorgeous covers (look out for the Oscar-nominated Cate Blanchett on the February cover) and beautiful issues with the help of ITP-Award-winning designer Iman Ben Ayed. After receiving nominations in many categories, the Harper's Bazaar team was delighted with its clutch of ITP Awards, including Best Single Issue, Best Information Page Design (Imen Ben Ayed), and Journalist of the Year (Gemma Champ) - all in recognition of a hugely successful launch and 12 months of total dedication to making Dubai and the Middle East an even more glamorous place. For more exclusive interviews (Cate Blanchett, make-up guru Bobbi Brown and more), expert shopping advice and catwalk analysis, don't miss the February issue. In February, L'Officiel Middle East takes you to the other side of the world, to explore the sizzling Brazilian fashion scene, shedding the light on the best collections shown during the Rio fashion week, in a country that boasts 5 editions of Vogue, one L'Officiel, and 14 other prestigious fashion magazines! We then go straight to Florence, to visit Frida Giannini of Gucci, where she lives with her husband in a very creatively decorated villa. In this edition as well, we shed the light on the lives of the "jeunes premiers", the young talents behind 'Proenza Schouler", and Valerie Gerbi, the creative mind at Gerard Darell. And if you're waiting for the part where we mention our fashion pages, you will get the chance to see a very feminine and beautiful Diane Kruger in a fashion shoot, in addition to our in - house very artistic cover shoot. Love prevails on the look & feel of the February issue of L'Officiel Hommes- in line with Valentine's Day that falls on the same month. The cover shines with romance and so do all the inside pages. The main, local fashion shoot, "Romantics of the Old, Beautiful days", is done in a fantastic, traditional setting among the ruins of a fisherman's cottage in Sharjah. And with "My Precious Love" as its headline, the product photo shoot features some extraordinary symbols of romantic love. The February issue of L'Officiel Hommes also boasts an exclusive interview with one of the most remarkable talents in the world of fashion: Ingo Wiltz, the creative director of Boss Selection & Boss Black at Hugo Boss. In addition to his great love of fashion, Wiltz is also in love of art & travel with which he recharges his battery of creativity. Emirates Home started the New Year with a special issue dedicated to the bachelors in our midst with James Dean, our point of inspiration. As an all girl team, we haven't so much tried to think like men, just give them a few pointers on how to sort out their homes, effortlessly…We also continued this theme in our February issue which has romance written all over it. If you don't know what to buy for the ladies or how to sort out your love nests, read on! It's a truth universally acknowledged that even though as an institution marriage is dated, discredited and deeply uncool, everyone secretly loves a wedding. (A possible exception may be the editor). This launch issue of Wedding is not just the triumph of hope over experience it is the triumph of time over resources. A big thank you to the combined talents of the Harper's Bazaar, VIVA, L'Officiel and Emirates Home teams for making this such a good read. Special thanks go to Stuart Robertson who went to Chanel in Paris for the cover shoot (we're hugely jealous) and even though we know of no-one who would honestly walk down the aisle in a couture feather cocoon, the images are stunning! In a fantastic month for Middle East Golfer, the team successfully launched their daily 'Golfer Gazette' newsletter at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship (which counted the Duke of York and Sheikh Sultan among its fanbase) not to mention their inaugural Awards. Well done to editor Robbie (who's welcome speech covered topics as wide ranging as the future of golf in the Middle East and his colleague Stuart's unfortunate lack of golfing ability), Nicky, and Sue for all their hard work in making this a very successful debut event. Production Massive congratulations our 2 Award Winners. Tyron Webster in his win for 'Special Project Achievement' for his production of the special ops associated with the Car Awards, and to Tianna Rounds for her win in the Best Monthly Magazine Production Category! Tyron gets his second mention with his phenomenal work in producing the first ever daily newspapers for the Abu Dhabi Golf Championships. His coordinating of the team and the printers was outstanding - considering he had to do it all from Abu Dhabi. Well done Tyron!

ITP Customer Publishing

January has been a bit of a whirl for the stalwarts of ITP Customer Publishing. An agreement with Reed Exhibitions Company kicked off the year, adding to the newly acquired contracts with CMPi, IIR and Deutche Messe, making a total of 7 major exhibition companies on the books of the region's most prolific catalogue publisher. Emma Milner, who reinforced her enormous value by evading world class security on the day George Bush came to town and finished the job of producing show dailies for the Intersec exhibition, will continue to assist the catalogues team through to the end of February, after which she takes her Maternity leave. ITP Customer welcomes Lena Fenton in early February as the new Catalogues Editor, and welcomed Tuanette Nel in January as Sales Executive, already getting her teeth into several shows as the exhibition season gathers momentum. The February dated issue of Etihad Inflight saw several firsts - Stephan Van Der Merwe hit the highest ever revenue figure (again), an auspicious start for the year, whilst the magazine itself increased its circulation by a further 20%. Kathryn Clark, Etihad's editor, triumphantly proclaimed the Feb issue to be the best ever, undoubtedly through the inclusion of an increasingly independent Arabic language content by globe-trotters Hala El Khoury and Zeina Eid and the usual peerless design from Tracey Markham, Jan Stoop and Fadi Al Shami. Fast Forward, the entertainment guide, is now in the hands of Charles Roets, who kick-started his career at ITP after a week with a US$96,000 order. With Rotana's exclusive hotel magazine closing its first issue, deftly written by Nora Elias and Fatima El Homsi, newly installed Commercial Director Suzanne Taylor is looking forward to new acquisitions and launches. Production It's been a cracking month for Gilbert Samra. Not only was he the winner of 2 ITP Awards for his outstanding work on the Gitex Catalogue, but he is also promoted to Deputy Production Manager of ITP Customer. He has already proven himself more than deserving after he and Ross Mackenzie still managed to produce the daily newspapers for the Intersec show despite the hurdles of little things like rain, floods and a certain visit by President Bush.

Time Out Group

If January is supposed to be a slow month for news and events, no one told Time Out Dubai. The magazine has been packed with features each week, while improved circulation tactics have led to a dramatic rise in sales –  a big thanks to marketing. Congratulations also to Chris Anderson and Anna Whitehouse, who produced an excellent DSF supplement. The Time Out team is fast developing, with Zoe Cooper-Clark (Publisher) and James Alexander (Group Editor) new on board for 2008. Meanwhile, we bid a fond farewell to Arsalan Mohammad, our extremely talented Art & Culture/Film Editor. We wish him the best in his next posting and hope to still see him on a regular basis at the Irish Village! Time Out Abu Dhabi continues to grow apace, with the last two issues being the biggest selling in its history. We landed another exclusive this month, with Scott Walker interviewing Kaka, the FIFA World Player of the Year.  The guides team has been hard at work too, with a new edition of the Health & Leisure guide – well done to all involved, including Holly White for another great job on design. Next on the cards is Muscat, Kids and the Eating Out guide, whose launch will coincide with the Time Out Restaurant Awards on 26 March. Hungry writers take note: if you've a way with words and you'd like to dine for free in some of the city's finest restaurants, please contact ananda.shakespeare@itp.com asap. The sales team is also due a big well done, with record figures in recent months (TOD, for instance, became the first ITP title to fly over the 400k mark). Special mention goes to Michael Smith for topping 300k already this year, and to Julian Manning and Elias Noufaily, who are welcome new additions to the team. 2008 looks set to be another bumper year for Time Out. Production Congratulations to Subramanian AC for his win for in the Best Weekly Magazine Production Category!

ITP Lifestyle Publishing

Ahlan! English Time does not stand still in celebville and 2008 has kicked off to an incredible start for the Ahlan English team. With the Hottest 100 Celebrities of 2007 being the most talked about list in town, the team also celebrated the news that Deputy Editor, Gemma White was formally appointed Editor of the Middle East's biggest selling celebrity weekly. We all wish her well in her new role. Ahlan! Masala It was highs and lows for the Masala team this month. Having won Magazine of the Year at the ITP Awards, they had to bid farewell to ITP's most colourful personality, Masala Deputy Editor Jawahar Chhoda, who has gone off to explore pastures new. Masala's dedicated editor, Faarah Mehta who played a crucial part in Masala's success story also moved off the magazine to concentrate on her new role as editor of ITP Lifestyle's new launch, Kohl. Ahlan! Arabic The Arabic team continued to go from strength to strength by taking over not only the magazine shelves but the television airwaves with Nojoom TV. And a special thanks to Dyana Farhat, who has done an incredible job with the magazine's new look Star Style section. Ahlan! Hot 100 As the most talked about publication of the year, the Hot 100 will be hitting the shelves on Feb 7th. Yet another incredible edition of the annual book, we'd like to pay special thanks to Sevag Davidian and his team - especially Alan, who braved floods and George Bush to get our hundred photographed. And if you're wondering where Katie Heskett is in the next few weeks, she's had to leave the country rather than suffer the wrath of those who didn't make the list... Ahlan! Team We'd like to welcome Ahlan English's new picture researcher Emma Davis to the team and Sian Thorp who joins us from the UK as Advertising Sales Manager on Ahlan! Grazia Grazia aimed to alleviate the January blues with two Middle Eastern photo exclusives: a behind the scenes shoot on David Beckham's Armani ad campaign and Dolce & Gabbana's first ever calendar. (That both featured men in underwear was purely incidental). Along with celebrating a double win at the ITP Awards, the team welcomed Stephanie Holding who joined as Fashion & Beauty Writer from the UK edition of Grazia. Production A warm welcome goes out to Denny Kollannoor who joins the Lifestyle team from Business. We wish him the best of luck in his new role.

ITP Digital Publishing

ITP Digital has been firing up its engines for a blistering 2008. ArabianBusiness.com broke the $1,000,000 mark for 2007, and added brand extensions for Arabic and Jobs. Into January and the powerhouse welcomes Alex Aubrey from HotProperty.co.uk to take the commercial reins of AB.com's new Property site. The brand new channel will be a full on portal for buying, selling and renting property, and will form the third key pillar to be added to the site in the past 12 months. Ahmad Bashour who joined the company in October, this month landed his first 'mega deal' with a $130,000 digital and print booking, while Toni Morley Taylor, who heads up ArabianBusiness.com/Jobs has continued her highly successful mission impossible doubling the revenues month on month. Congratulations also go to Elliot Lintott on his promotion to Sales Manager for ArabianBusiness.com - English. Editorially January has seen the launch of three new channels on ArabianBusiness.com – a heady combination of Sport, Islamic Finance and Research. The latter has kicked off with a region-wide salary survey. Proving just how nosey we are about how much everyone else is paid, in just one week 2800 responses have flooded through to our overworked SQL server. Elsewhere at ITP Digital TimeOutDubai.com has entered the V2.0 dimension with a Will Milner blog. Will has made a point of journeying where few would dare to go with tips for the leader of the free world on what to do while he was here (he got a message back), and an expose of the social irresponsibility of fat men dancing in Deira. From this week, Will's weekly radio spot is going online. Not to be outdone Rebecca Wicks is single handedly driving www.AhlanLive.com to new heights. Next month will see the ability for users to add photos to the Dubai Diary section, and send photos to friends. The fun is clearly just beginning. In fact next month will see a whole range of new additions to ITP Digital – from Ahlan Masala online to the coming of full financial data on ArabianBusiness.com. For all the excitement – you know where to click…

ITP Executive Publishing

Well done to Paul Williams, Roy Moussa, Rabih Najm, Pembe Peri-Natgi, Anees Dayouband Ochi Ogbuaku, who all won something at the ITP Awards. And to Tamara Walid who was nominated. Production January saw the launch of the first issue of Arabian Business International. Ali Fahmi put in a stellar effort on the production side and did a great job of co-ordinating with our new UK press.

Spectrum Digital Print Solutions

A great start to a new year, despite unexpected closures, holidays and interruptions to business we have managed to open with a record month for Spectrum Digital, a sure sign of bigger things to come. Thank you team and well done. A new initiative for 2008 is the introduction of Spectrum Cross Media, in simple terms this is a tactical Direct Mail solution which involves sending personalized printed direct mail and personalized e-mail to arrive with the recipient simultaneously. Incorporated in the creative element is a personalized url known as a PURL. Once the purl has been entered into a browser visitors are greeted with a personalized landing page and as part of the strategy or "call to action" of the campaign verify and/or enter information on themselves which is then published to the client in real time. Clients can follow up and use the "profiled" data to their commercial advantage. This is the next generation of personalized direct mail and is known to increase the effectiveness and return on investment even further, we will be publishing client case studies in due course. A welcome to a new member of the team Matthew King who has joined us from the UK as a Business Development Manager. Matthew has considerable sales experience in variable data printing and cross media solutions and will be driving acquisition of new clients for these two important areas of our business.

New Staff - January 08

Dhara Kirit Bilakhia - Circulation Executive Dhara joins ITP from Loyalty Inc. in Dubai Internet City where she worked as a Business Development Consultant. Nicola Barr - Head of Events, Consumer, Lifestyle and Time Out Nicola has been working on a temporary basis for ITP Consumer as Project Manager organising Middle East Golfer Awards. She previously worked for DWTC as an Industry Group Manager. Amit Galani - Retail Analyst Amit previously worked as an Officer – Strategic Alliance (Marketing Department) for ABN Amro Bank in Dubai. Siddique Valappil - Merchandiser Siddique originates from India but has been working as a delivery driver for a café in Dubai. Hamsa Muhammed - Merchandiser Hamsa also originates from India where he had one year working experience as a Digital Designer. Zoe Cooper-Clark - Publisher, Time Out Group Zoe joins ITP from the UK where she worked as the Publishing Director for Trinity Mirror plc in Hammersmith. Chelle Mai Dauban - Junior Sales Executive, Grazia Chelle also joins ITP from the UK where she worked as a receptionist and facilities management co-ordinator for Nottinghamshire County Council. Janty Nakhesh - Translator, Boat International Arabic Janty previously worked for FuturePack Company in Syria as a Translator/Editor. Greg Whitaker - Editor, PMV Greg joins ITP from the UK where he was employed as a Freelance Journalist in London working on projects with Haymarket and Future Publishing. Stuart Lynch - Sales Manager, ACN Stuart also joins ITP from the UK where he worked as Sales Manager for G8wave Limited. Preeta Panicker - Event Manager, ITP Executive Preeta previously worked as an Event Consultant for Artaaj Events in Dubai. Sian Thorp - Sales Manager, Ahlan! English Sian originates from South Africa but joins ITP from the UK where she worked as a Senior Sales Executive for Cosmopolitan. Stephanie Holding - Fashion & Beauty Writer, Grazia Stephanie previously worked as Fashion Assistant for Grazia in London having also worked as a Fashion Assistant for Marie Claire. Gavin Harper - Sales Executive, Sea Freight Gavin also joins ITP from the UK where he worked for Centaur Media Plc as a Sales Manager for LM-Sheds.com. Alex Aubrey - Sales Manager, Arabianbusiness.com Alex previously worked as a Media Sales Executive for HotProperty.co.uk. Philip Wharton - Sales Manager, CEO Philip joins ITP from the UK where he worked for Ten Alps Media as an International Sales Executive. Faisal Said - Sales Manager, CEO Arabic Faisal previously worked as an Account Manager and Business Development Manager for Artaaj Events. Charles Roets - Deputy Sales Manager, ITP Customer Charles joins ITP from South Africa but has recently been working for Seat Wimbledon in London as a Senior Sales Executive. Michael Abong - Website Content Executive Michael joins ITP from the Philippines where he has recently completed his studies. Elias Noufaily - Sales Executive, Time Out Elias previously worked for the Dental & Medical Supplies Company, Noufaily Freres as a Sales Supervisor. Addi Abu Hanna - Key Account Manager, Network Middle East Addi previously worked for the United Marketing Group in Dubai and Jordan as their Brand Manager. Rechelle Villareal - Call Centre Executive Rechelle joins ITP's permanent staff having worked with us since 15th November on a temporary basis. Teresa Werner - Sales Manager, Healthcare ME Teresa joins ITP from Dallas in the USA where she worked as a Media Account Manager for Branch Smith Publishing in Fort Worth. Loreta Regencia - Circulation Executive Loreta joins ITP from the Philippines where she worked as an Administrative Head for Vidal Commercial Centre in Lucena City. Andrew Watts - Sales Manager Middle East Dentist Andrew previously worked for Thomson Directories in the UK as a Field Sales Account Manager. He has also worked for Concept Publishing again in the UK. Emma Davis - Picture Researcher, Ahlan! English Emma joins ITP from the UK where she was employed as a Picture Assistant/Researcher. James Alexander - Group Editor, Time Out James also joins ITP from the UK where he worked as a Travel Writer / Editor on a freelance basis. He is the author of a 500 page guide to Malaysia, Brunei & Singapore. Suzanne Hoole - Credit Controller Suzanne is another recruit from the UK where she worked for South Yorkshire Police as a Tutor Operator. Khaled Termanini - Staff Photographer, Digital Khaled joins ITP from Stu Williamson Photography in Dubai. He has also worked as a professional freelance photographer. Tuanette Nel - Sales Executive, Customer Tuanette joins ITP from Durban in South Africa where she worked in Hospitality Management majoring in the Sales departments. Vaishali Navgire - Advertising Manager, Directories Vaishali previously worked for Infomedia India Limited in Mumbai as a Response Executive. Oscar Wendel - Conference Producer, ITP Business Oscar originates from Sweden but recently worked as a Seminar Leader at Hamburg University. He previously was employed by Global Events at the Financial Times as Senior Content Manager. Matthew King - Business Development Manager, Spectrum Matthew joins ITP from the UK where he was employed as a Senior Sales Consultant for Alphagraphics NE. Melissa Ilines - Human Resources Officer Melissa also joins ITP from the UK where she was employed as Human Resources Advisor for Sony Computer Entertainments Europe. El Sayed El Azouni - Senior Writer, Arabianbusiness.com Sayed originates from Egypt but joins ITP from Al-Watan Newspaper in Doha where he was employed as a Journalist. Ronald Diola - Website Content Executive Ronald previously worked for Philam Plans Inc. in Hilltop Batangas City in the Philippines as a Telemarketing Representative. Manju Sajeesh - Data Entry Operator Manju joins ITP from India where she worked at Mary Matha College in Kerala working as PA to the CEO. Mohammed Sharif - Senior Advertising Manager, Directories Mohammed previously worked for Concept Media as an Advertising Consultant. Kanupriya Sharma - Advertising Manager, Directories Kanupriya joins ITP from Impact General Maintenance & Cleaning where she worked as a Sales Manager. Neha Barar - Advertising Manager, Directories Neha previously worked for ATN Media in Dubai as Senior Advertising Consultant. Prior to that she worked as a Marketing Co-ordinator for Eastern Hues in New Delhi. Julian Manning - Sales Manager, Time Out Julian previously worked for Square Up Media in London as a Senior Sales Executive. Alie Jaber - Sales Manager, Channel Arabic Alie was previously employed by the Kalimat Group in Dubai as an Account Sales and Marketing Manager. Katherine Chapman - Brand Manager, Consumer and Lifestyle Marketing Katherine joins ITP from MEED Projects in Dubai where she worked as a Marketing Manager. Jemma Galvin - Sub-Editor, Viva Jemma joins ITP from Queensland in Australia where she has worked as a freelance journalist for Brisbane Affair magazine, website "My Wedding Diary" and also Channel 10 television. Craig Barnett - Editor, Boat Owner Middle East Craig joins ITP from the UK where he was a freelance Marine Journalist working for Sportsboat and RIB and Motor Boats Monthly amongst others. He has also worked for CSL Publishing. Anusha Vipin - Web Developer Anusha originates from Kerala in India but joins ITP from Advanced Digital Technologies in Dubai. WELCOME BACK! Sarah Gain - Editor, Caterer Middle East

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