From Rex:

On Tuesday, I spent an hour chatting with host Anita Campbell on her radio show, Small Business Trends. The show is now posted online.

Here’s what we talked about:

This photo, taken just a few hours ago, is the sales gang of MyBusiness Magazine out for a post-dinner (photos from dinner, here) stroll in our nation’s capitol where we are having a sales meeting. (That faint glow in the background is the White House.) A good time is being had by all. (But I guess that may be obvious.)

From Rex Hammock:
At the Folio Awards on Nov. 1, we learned this Ride magazine cover had won a Silver Ozzie in the non-profit/institutional/custom magazine category.
“It’s nice to be recognized by one’s peers,” as they say in the awards world. The Ozzies are a big deal in the magazine world because they recognize the best design of the year.
I’m very proud of our design team’s consistent performance in the Ozzie awards and am especially proud to learn that a cover from one of our magazines, Ride PWC, is one of three finalists for this year’s Ozzie for Best Cover (association, institutional or custom magazine — it is the official magazine of the American Watercraft Association). Being a finalist in this category is a great honor and I have great hopes that this particular cover wins the Ozzie.
I wouldn’t usually say this (I’d be blowing my “humility” cover), but I’m especially proud of this cover as it knowingly breaks many clich rules of “cover design” yet with great craft and success displays how powerful a medium magazines can be.
The interplay of photograph, typography along with the juxtaposition of words and images all connect in telling a wonderful story.
It makes me want to be down there, riding that PWC across the “R” and off into someplace great. I can just imagine those folks in the cars wishing they were on that PWC. I know the cover connects powerfully with the magazine’s readers in a way that only a PWC enthusiast can truly appreciate.
At Hammock Publishing, we think our job is to help our clients tell their stories. Some people may call this “branding.” We call it storytelling.
This is one of those times when I am not only amazed at how well our team helped tell the AWA & PWC story, they created a classic tale.

From Rex Hammock:
Last week, I heard about the impact Katrina had on the publisher and staff of a New Orleans-based magazine and felt Hammock Publishing could reach out and help.
Romney & Charley Richard, publishers of Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine were flooded out of their home and office in New Orleans. (They still haven’t been able to return to either.) They are now living in an RV parked at their daughter’s home in Baton Rouge. Likewise, their staff are all direct victims of the disaster and are now evacuated across five states.
Committed to keeping Louisiana Cookin’ alive, yet consumed with the personal struggles she and her staff are facing, Romney sounded understandably dazed when I spoke with her for the first time last week. I told her that getting out a magazine is something we at Hammock Publishing know how to help her do…and that I know a lot of folks throughout the magazine publishing world will also love to volunteer to help out.
We’ve launched a weblog at KeepCookin.org. Please link to it. Please subscribe to its RSS feed. I know a lot of folks who read this blog are media-types, but we also really want to reach out to food bloggers, as well. Pass the word along to them.
Also, please purchase a subscription to the magazine. It’s a great magazine for folks who enjoy Louisiana cuisine or who have enjoyed the restaurants of New Orleans. Subscribing via the Louisiana Cookin’ website is perhaps the quickest and most-direct way that individuals can help support Romney’s efforts to get back up and running. (That, and advertising, which we discuss on the Keep Cookin’ blog.)
If you’d like more information regarding Keep Cookin’ or would like to volunteer your support, visit KeepCookin.org or e-mail: helpkeepcookin (at) hammock.com
Also, if you’re a blogger, as you make posts about this, please use the tags: magazines, louisianacookin, keepcookin.org

For over 1,000 days, the server which hosts Hammock Publishing’s website ran continuously. That’s right. Never a crash or interruption. It took a fire in downtown Nashville near the hosting facility we use to stop this baby. And the fire would not have done so if the fire department had not made the hosting facility shut down the auxiliary power (some lame excuse about the fire and the diesel fuel needed to keep those generators humming). Thanks to Patrick Ragsdale (and Blair & Julia for the phone-relays) for spending his Sunday evening getting all our servers back up and running. 12 hours and ticking.

From Jamie Roberts (on behalf of the Hammock folks who attended last night’s Excel Awards presentation in Washington, D.C. — the annual awards of the Society of National Association Publications):
Hammock Publishing had a great night at the SNAP awards gala.
MyBusiness looked smashing on screen as the Bronze award was announced for General Excellence. Plus, there were lots of audience laughs when the title was announced for MyBusiness’ award for feature writing, “The Secret Life of a Tightwad.”
And here are the judges’ comments for our two Gold award winners:

Ride (Most Improved)“The winners were so far above all contenders that the judges did not choose a bronze winner. It was difficult to choose between the two top winners, but Ride’s redesign took advantage of dramatic photography, improved writing and daring design. This is a magazine that truly knows its audience–jet-ski enthusiasts. It is a publication that is as exciting as its sport.”

American Spirit (Design Excellence)“Overall the design, while conservative, in consistently classic and elegant. The photography is beautiful, strong and provides images relevant to the content. The cover images relate well to the cover story. The feature layouts benefit from a good use of color and an interesting selection of text for the headlines and decks and pull quotes. The print production quality is excellent.”

From Julia:
The proud dad of Sienna Grace Willis just e-mailed us this photo from his cell-phone. She was born early this morning and weighs 6 lbs, 12 ounces. Mom (Natalie) and baby are doing fine. And, as he was able to e-mail us this photo, we presume Dad is, as well.
All together, now: Ahhhhh!
Update: Today is creative director Susie Garland’s daughter, Sammy’s, third birthday. (Happy birthday, Sammy.) Sienna Grace was born at almost the exact same time of day at which Sammy was born.
All together, now. Hmmm!
Update 2: A new picture of Natalie holding Sienna:

From Rex:

As some of the Nashville hammock folk traveled to Austin for the South by Southwest Interactive Festival over the weekend, we felt any such trip would not be complete without stopping by the exact spot where Austin-hammoratian Summer Huggins hangs out. So, here are Laura Creekmore and I with Summer. (Photo by Summer’s husband, Cole.) Cole and Summer have also been more than kind in taking us from incredible eating establishment-to-establishment.

From Rex:
It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I love magazines. Recently, the folks at Media Life asked me, “Okay, so why do you love magazines so much?” They asked me some other questions, also. You can find all of their questions and my answers on their website where they posted it today.