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| January 2008 |
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| ITP Business Publishing |
| December may have been a short working month, but ITP Business had lots to celebrate over the festive period.  Construction Week went $56K over target in December, taking it to the two million dollar mark for the year. Congratulations and thanks to everyone in sales and editorial for their fantastic efforts in the second half.
 Well done too to the entire team on Commercial Interior Design, which has produced some bumper issues and went over target for the year. As many of you know, Charlotte Butterfield will be leaving us in early January. ITP Business would like to thank her for her hard work and wish her all the best in her new role.
 In an active month for the construction division, a number of happy winners walked away from a very enjoyable MEP Middle East awards evening. Well done to all those in marketing, design and editorial who helped make the evening such a success.
 Late December saw the completion of ITP’s first business information directory. The information systems team has been working tirelessly in recent months to put together this 600-page behemoth, which promises to be the first in an entire series of industry directories. Special thanks go to the production team for helping ensure that this massive project is produced and distributed according to plan.
December 2007 was another good month for Arabian Banking & Finance; the magazine has now hit target five months in a row and continues to secure interviews with high level CEOs. A big well done to the sales and editorial teams.   Another magazine on a high is Network Middle East, which went over its annual target after a successful December. It was another big month for Oil & Gas, which beat its December number and comfortably exceeded its annual sales target.
  The hospitality titles continued to excel in December and welcomed a new member to the family in the form of MIME. Thanks to a huge effort by the editorial, design and sales teams, the first issue looks fantastic and reached its sales target. Hotelier Middle East and Caterer both had another great month and sailed effortlessly over their annual numbers.
  Sound & Stage secured front row seats at the Justin Timberlake concert and hit target again in December, its seventh month in a row. Digital Studio also went over for the year. Logistics Middle East nudged over its December target, capping a very successful quarter for the magazine. Another fourth quarter success story was Retail News Middle East, which was over target in December.
  Overall, the second half of 2007 was a hectic but very successful one for ITP Business. In just six months, the company launched six new magazines, produced two sets of show dailies, published its first business directory, relaunched its conference division and organised several successful awards evenings. Thank you very much to everyone for all their hard work.
Promotions
Sales: Michelle Palmer, Jude Slann
Production: Eleanor Zwanepoel
Design: Neil Baker, David Beaver, Nadia Puma, Daniel Prescott
Editorial: Joanne Bladd, Aaron Greenwood, Sathya Ashok, Joseph Mortimer |
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| ITP Consumer Publishing |
| Women’s Lifestyle
 Amid the festivities of December (please, no more chocolate or hampers or we'll never fit into our skinny jeans again!), the Harper's Bazaar team produced yet another ultra-glamorous issue, starring Diane Kruger on the cover, filled with all the chic fashion inspiration needed for readers to look sensational the whole holiday season. For the first time in 12 months, we had the pleasure of a bloke's presence on the editorial team, with former ITP-design star Wakeel Kahn joining us for two months from the UK as freelance art director. (Kudos to Wakeel for getting an otherwise fashion-obsessed office interested in football scores, albeit briefly). We also bid a very sad farewell to our superstar intern Mariam Amro, aka. Tigger, who has been a popular figure at ITP (tireless intern, social coordinator, in-house model...) for the past three months. The whole team wishes Mariam all the very best in what we're sure will be a fabulously successful fashion journalism career.  As for the Viva team, hanging with George, swapping tips with Dita and getting up close and personal with a load of rugby guys was just all in a month's work. Katherine, Elliott, Chee, Celia, Catherine, Pepita and Gaby - another gorgeous issue guys.
 "L'Officiel Middle East is making a statement this January: The real star is not any celebrity who might be wearing a fashion item as much as it is the designer who created that stunning piece. So if you really want to get up close and personal with international designers, this is your chance. In Jan's edition, we take you to visit Lebanese designer Elie Saab with his wife Claudine and their 3 boys, then we sneak into designer Catherine Malandrino's New York flat for a quick chat about her new line "Flag" and how she decorated her home..Other success stories include Silvia Damiani, who reveals the secret of Damiani Group going public very soon, and last but not least, we discuss a very unique concept with French jeweler Cyril Mothe (who by the way looks more like a star himself).. Fashion wise, as promised last month, Dita Von Teese is our cover shoot star this edition, looking gorgeous at the stables with all those fine arabian horses. A very interesting shoot indeed, followed by another celebrity shoot starring international model/golfer, Anna Rawson.. Special thanks to our team who also managed to close Arabic Wedding on time!"
 “L’Officiel Hommes” starts the New Year with a “futuristic” theme coupled with an “outer space” flavour. The magazine- in its 1st 2008 issue- takes its readers with style in a memorable tour to explore the future. The “futuristic” aspects and the “spatial” features are creatively demonstrated and fashionably reflected through the main photo shoots, the product shots, the tourism and the automotive features.
The biggest news for the Arabic Men’s Lifestyle department, however, is the imminent launch of the Arabic Edition of “Boat International”, the world’s only truly international, monthly, English language luxury yachting magazine, which is distributed in over 55 countries. “Boat International Arabic” will see the day of light in March 2008, in tandem with “Dubai International Boat Show”. And it is highly set to be the regional premium boats & yachts magazine in Arabic language. |
| Time Out Group |
|  December has been a month of change for Time Out Dubai. The team had two departures: Marcus Webb jetted off to South America, and Greg Aris went in the other direction to Thailand. Meanwhile, the remainder of the weekly team managed to produce record-breaking issues despite these departures and the inevitable Christmas holiday exodus. Thanks to everyone for pulling together and doing more than their fair share of the work. We look forward to more bumper issues in 2008 and the introduction of some new faces in the office.
 There has been no shortage of Time Out supplements and guides either, despite the year drawing to a close. Dana, Kaye and new recruit Matt Ross headed to Bahrain and Doha to produce two of the best destination guides yet, and designers Dave Donaghy, Louise Browne and Holly White somehow managed to fit in these, plus a Nightlife Map, a new Setting Up guide, a festive edition of Time Out Abu Dhabi and the first edition of the Time Out diary.
Speaking of Time Out Abu Dhabi, the magazine recently held its second annual Restaurant Awards, which coincided with the second edition of the Time Out Abu Dhabi Eating Out guide. Well done to everybody involved. |
| ITP Lifestyle Publishing |
| Ahlan!
Whether you believe in Father Christmas or not, the scandal doesn't stop in celebville so the dedicated Ahlan! teams made sure our readers still got their fill of celebrity gossip over the festive season - even if it did mean missing out on a mince pie or two!  Many thanks to all the Ahlan! English editorial, sales and production teams who worked tirelessly in the run up to Christmas and still kept the smiles on their faces - it's not easy when you're putting together 144 pages every week (yes, there was that much celebrity gossip!) along with a Hot 100 Celebrity Special Issue, all with their biggest targets ever!
 On Ahlan! Masala - special congratulations to Faarah and Alpana and their latest issue of Bandhan - which looks as glamorous as ever! And the excitement is growing on the Ahlan! Arabic team as they prepare for a truly glamorous year, so watch this space!
Special Thanks
Many thanks to Andrew Wingrove and our incredible sales team who smashed their seemingly impossible targets and got Ahlan! English its first $100,000 issue - an incredible achievement thanks to all the hard work from the entire team! Congratulations (now you're going to have to do it again next year!).  And thanks from the Ahlan! team to ITP Lifestyle's Group Picture Editor, Autumn, who got through the mountain of work by working through Christmas.
Goodbyes
The Ahlan! team bids a fond farewell to our Picture Researcher, Maisa who is off on a new adventure into marketing and events. We wish her all the best and hope she'll bring Bella to visit us often, and we look forward to welcoming our new team member Emma Davis in a couple of weeks. And from all the Ahlan! team we wish all of you a healthy, happy and celeb-filled 2008!
Grazia
 Team Grazia struck fear into the hearts of husbands and boyfriends everywhere with their extensive December gift guides. Over two issues, they shot almost 200 fabulous present ideas (including 25 for the boys - just so they didn't feel left out). Not pausing for Christmas (well, Jamie Lynn Spears didn't, so why should they?), the Grazia gals hoped to celebrate their efforts by unwrapping one of the Dhs224,000 lipsticks... |
| ITP Digital Publishing |
| What day is a work day and what day is holiday? With Eid and Christmas and the New Year all falling into line, it has been a stop/go kind of month. Yet despite this, Digital has managed to maintain its momentum ArabianBusiness.com/Jobs, ably led by Toni Morley Taylor, powered over its target, and landed two big names to the site – Nakheel and Emirates. Both Time Out Dubai and AhlanLive.com broke records. For the first time TOD edged over the $100,000 mark for a single month, while AhlanLive’s quite brilliant 12 Days of Christmas campaign – masterminded by Rebecca Wicks and Oli Wood - was instrumental in enticing a quarter of a million new visitors – and, again, the site’s highest ever revenues. AhlanLive.com also single-handedly raised the region’s happy index by a factor of 10 by handing out bags full of gifts as part of the 12 Days of Christmas competition. Santa had better watch out – there’s another player in town – albeit without the beard and an unhealthy obsession for Dolce & Gabbana. Not to be outdone the all Armani ArabianBusiness.com powerhouse is itself charging to a record. As I write it is on the edge of its biggest month ever - $220,000 in revenue in a single month. Richard O’Sullivan, successfully negotiated with HSBC for $90,000 of “seed money” to launch a new channel on the site – Islamic finance. Expect the channel to be live by the time that you read this. The ArabianBusiness.com editorial team also got a little closer to their Executive brothers and sisters by producing the end of year Arabian Business magazine. We enjoyed it – especially working with Tamara, Ochi and Edward – who showed their character by working through boxing day until 6am the following morning. Stars one and all. All in all then another great month for Digital. Check out ArabianBusiness.com’s online feature on 2007 (click here) and forward look to 2008 to know this is just the start - there’s another great year is coming… Happy New Year! |
| ITP Executive Publishing |
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| A strong end to the year. Arabian Business English and Arabic both over target. Successful launch of Arabian Business International and The Advisor. Arabian Business Awards held in Abu Dhabi, also successful. Arabian Property re-designed. Congratulations to Ramsay Al Rashid for hitting target in November on Arabian Property. Sorry we forgot to mention you last time. Employee of the month: Rashid Iqbal. ITP Executive would like to wish all our ITP friends and colleagues a happy new year. | 
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| Spectrum Digital Print Solutions |
| Whilst the banking sector has been a little quieter towards the end of the month it started the beginning strong and there has been the usual flurry of seasonal end of year requirements. Personalised calendars have proven to be very popular with new customers such as Cisco’s, Qatar Financial Center and Hansgrohe all opting for this unique corporate gift. All indications show that our successes in 2007 convincing companies’ clients such as Airmiles, Showtime, Hertz, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Etihad of the truth and value of personalized direct mail will be an excellent spring board for 2008. Most of the above mentioned are now commissioning 2nd and 3rd campaigns and we expect them to be joined by other major names who all want to achieve higher response rates for their marketing dollars. My thanks to all the Spectrum Team for their hard work and commitment through out 2007, the fact that our list of clients and billings for the year are double that of 2006 is indeed testament to their contribution. A Happy New Year to everyone reading this newsletter. |
| New Staff - December 07 |
| Elizabeth Bains - Editor, Utilities Middle East
Elizabeth previously worked for Reed Business Information in the UK as Senior News Reporter on ICIS Chemical Business and Markets Editor, ICIS Pricing. Emma Procter - Deputy Editor, Arabian Travel News
Emma also joins ITP from the UK where she worked as Media Manager for Xchangeteam Group as Media Manager. Ronelo Copones - Housekeeping
Ronelo originates from the Philippines where he worked for Solid Manila Corporation as an electrician. Holly Sands - Staff Writer, First Class
Holly has been working on a temporary basis for ITP but now joins our permanent staff. Patrick Littlejohn - Picture Desk Manager
Patrick joins ITP from the UK where he was working as Senior Picture Editor for the Daily Mail Online. He has also worked for Getty Images as Picture Desk Editor. Melvin Delos Santos - Housekeeping
Melvin previously worked for Antipolo Hotel in the Philippines as a Steward. He has also worked in Korea. Anthony Prophet - Sales Manager, Meeting Industry Middle East
Anthony joins ITP from the UK where he worked as Field Sales Growth Consultant for Yell Group. He has also worked for Reed Elsevier as Senior Sales Consultant. Bonita Carr - Sales Manager, Commercial Interior Design
Bonita joins ITP from South Africa where she worked as Accounts Executive for The Home Channel and Summit TV. Gabriella Kiss - Sales Executive, Caterer
Gabriella originates from Hungary and joins ITP from Positive Publications where she worked as a Sales Executive. Samin Abarquoi - Staff Photographer
Samin joins ITP for Phototechnics Studio in Dubai where she worked as a photographer. She previously worked for Studio Assistance in Tehran. Leigh Wright - Sales Manager, Oil and Gas
Leigh joins ITP from the UK where she worked as a Sales Manager for Rentokil Initial. She had previously worked for Rentokil in Sydney, Australia Jonas Ramos - Website Content Executive
Jonas joins ITP from Accenture Incorporated in Mandaluyong City, Philippines where he worked as a Data Analyst. Christian Barbon - Website Content Executive
Christian previously worked as an Instrument Technician for Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company in Batangas, Philippines. Debra Woffenden - Sales Manager, Emirates Home
Debra joins ITP from Australia where she worked for Australian Tourist Publications in Cairns, Queensland as a National Sales Manager. Gene Dela Cruz - Housekeeping Staff
Gene previously worked as a cook for Sumo Sushi & Bento in Dubai. He originates from the Philippines. |
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| © 2008 ITP |
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