Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Inside Story of the People Behind Your Magazine


IF YOU'RE TALKING to a guy in a yellow slicker and hard hat and he’s spraying water on the blazing inferno that used to be your house, the discussion usually revolves around practical matters like, “If you had to guess, what are the chances of getting my kids out alive?” But, under routine, everyday introductions, “Where are you from?” and “What do you do for a living?” are generally the first questions asked. When I’m asked that last question I am always proud to answer, “I work for South Dakota Magazine.” If the person is from out-of-state there is usually a lull at this point in the conversation.

If they are from South Dakota it’s a different story. One of the advantages of being from a small state is that almost everybody has at least heard of South Dakota Magazine. Mostly they say, “I love that magazine!” and “I sit down and read every word the minute it arrives!”

Once they’re done gushing and ask me what I do at the magazine, I tell them I write a column called Seriously, Folks. This often proves a bump in the road for they can’t seem to recall my name or what I’ve written. It is especially awkward if they’ve just told me they read every word. Despite this recurring kick in the pants, it’s still great to meet subscribers. I get to bask in the magazine’s glory even though my contribution to the operation is actually quite small. I’m the tail of the dog. Heck, I’m a flea on the dog’s tail. Maybe even a bacterium on the flea on the…

You get the picture. I have what I consider the greatest writing gig in South Dakota, if not the universe. I get to be silly and see my name in print — which is still a thrill, even after all these years — all because my colleagues keep the magazine going on a day-to-day basis. Imagine our office is like a cruise ship: I get to lay around topside with the sun on my brow and the breeze in my hair while they’re somewhere far below, shoveling coal as fast as they can.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the magazine. That’s a lot of years for the staff to be shoveling coal, so I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce each of our current staff members.

It starts with Alma Korslund and Jana Lane, who handle the vital process of managing our subscription lists. That sounds like a simple, straightforward task. It isn’t. The computer program they use to track addresses and gift subscriptions looks like a flow chart for decision making at the Pentagon.

Alma has been at this a long time. She was the magazine’s first employee, back in the day when she kept track of each subscriber on a 3 X 5 index card and pasted on mailing labels one at a time. When everything became computerized Alma adapted. For many years she kept the backup disk with our subscriber information in the safest place she could think of — her purse. It went with her everywhere, and we never worried about the security of our data.

Alma is semi-retired these days — she and her husband spend a fair amount of time trundling about in their camper, following the sun — which leaves Jana as the primary subscription person. Her value to the business is immediately apparent to anyone knowledgeable about office politics. In large corporations, those with the power get the best offices. Jana has the best, biggest corner office here at South Dakota Magazine, with lovely, south-facing windows that flood the space with sunlight. My work area, by contrast, is way in the back, beside a refrigerator. Jana has stained glass and art adorning her walls. I have an old sign and two trash cans.

Jana has a degree in philosophy, which means she is capable of wrestling with weighty moral and ethical issues. She has doubtless pondered the disparity of our situations, and reasoned why it’s not only okay, but a benefit to the universe. If only I could be so enlightened.

Ruth Steil is our office manager and food editor. These two very different jobs display the breadth of Ruth’s talent. Just one of Ruth’s tasks is to pay the magazine’s bills. In all the time she’s been here the electric company has never shut our power off because of an unpaid bill, so she must be doing a bang-up job. Ruth has also upped the quality of our food articles. She actually makes all the recipes she writes about and we get to sample them. This works out to my advantage five times a year, the exception being one of the summer issues when she threatens to make something with zucchini. Before she came, the recipes usually weren’t tried out before we published them, which didn’t work out to anyone’s advantage.

Barb Hanson and Heidi Marsh are our Advertising and Marketing Directors, respectively. I lump them together because their work requires them to spend a great deal of time being nice to people. That sounds like the seventh circle of hell to me, as can be judged from this actual transcript of me attempting to do Barb’s job.

“Yeah, uh, gees, that’s, uh, some weather. So…you wanna buy an ad? No? Well, up your stovepipe, Jack! We don’t need your business!”

South Dakota Magazine would be in a sorry state indeed if our prosperity depended on me selling advertising. Barb does it, and our ongoing success is due in no small measure to her hard work. More importantly, our days here are frequently and pleasantly punctuated by the peals of Barb’s earthy laughter.

As Marketing Director, it’s Heidi’s job to direct our marketing. I have no idea what that means. I asked once what her job entails and my eyes were glazed over five or six words into the conversation. I vaguely recall the terms circulation, Web site, public relations, tweeting, blogging, flyers. All I know for certain is this: we recently passed 40,000 subscribers for the first time ever, and she apparently had something to do with that. You go, girl!

I hope I used that phrase correctly. I felt I had to insert something trendy here because Heidi is our youngest staffer. She was born just a couple months before South Dakota Magazine’s premiere issue, in fact. New blood, fresh ideas, blah blah blah. I’d be happier for the magazine if I wasn’t feeling old and threatened.

Andrea Maibaum is our Production Manager. She is responsible for the magazine’s graphic design and for coordinating a million details, then she shepherds it all through the printing process — a task that isn’t nearly as much fun as it sounds like it should be.

Andrea is also the smartest person in the building, technology-wise: if it involves software, cables or any kind of black box with flashing lights, she is our go-to person. At least once a week one of us can be found standing before her desk, bleary-eyed, pouring out a piteous tale of woe. My computer won’t, my printer won’t, the coffee pot won’t, etc. At that moment Andrea could say something cranky and sarcastic. She could roll her eyes and sigh heavily. Or she could interrupt whatever she’s doing and help us solve our (mostly) piddling problems. Guess which path she chooses?

John Andrews is our Departments Editor. He puts together Dakotiana, poetry and such, and also writes our book and music reviews. Let me restate that: John writes all the reviews. If your work has been given unfavorable notice in the pages of South Dakota Magazine and you wish to express your opinion to the author of said review with a paint ball barrage, please remember I had nothing to do with it.

John writes a score of small articles for each issue, in addition to at least a couple of feature stories and he also keeps our Web site fresh with blog postings. As a guy who does very little and still can’t manage to get it done on time, I’m more than a little embarrassed.

Katie Hunhoff is South Dakota Magazine’s Associate Editor. She writes stories, keeps everything on schedule and edits everybody else’s work. In this regard she occasionally has to inform writers that the words they thought were golden aren’t quite right. Not that this has ever happened to me, of course.

Katie is also responsible for those big colored things that fill up the space between the words. Though it pains me as a writer to admit this, some people like the photographs in South Dakota Magazine every bit as much as the stories. Go figure. Katie tracks down the images that go with our articles, and then does some digital voodoo and they end up looking better than they started. As a relic of the days when cameras used film, I admit most of this is a great mystery.

Last but not least is Bernie Hunhoff. The Man. Big Kahuna. Capo dei Capi. El Magnifico. I love being part of South Dakota Magazine, as do my colleagues, and we have this wonderful opportunity to make a living and be proud of what we do because 25 years ago Bernie took a chance and started a magazine about the state we call home. I could probably think of something witty or wise or stupid to say about that, but I think I’ll pass and just say thanks, Bernie.

By Roger Holtzmann

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