BeanScene Magazine - great news.

[Coffee2Di4]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

I agree with each and every word of Scootas and she put perfectly what I would have said (minus the having been on both sides of the fence!)

Re the full name in the CoffeeSnobs corner, I would not have particularly wanted my full name against my picture and story and am quite happy with only having my username published. Whilst I dont jealously guard my anonyminity, I prefer that I know people and give them that information myself. Its one thing to have a username to a photo, and another to have a full name without a photo but to put both together in a publication that goes around the world is not necessarily what I particularly want or need - as Scoots said, I am not a supermodel or celebrity!

And I have no problem with reading two DiBella stories in one issue - particularly when said owner of the Company has just donated a stackload of reading material to subscribers. And, just for the record, I found both articles interesting - Id rather read two interesting articles on the same person/company rather than one good and one boring article on two different people/companies.

Cheers
Di

[Dennis]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

The new Beanscene Editor has a fish?  Oh dear, thats even further off track. I enjoyed the look and layout of the mag, but found it a little underwhelming in content also.  Given that it is a new publication however, it has come a long way in a short time and displays all the hallmarks of a well established thoughtful quality publication. This bodes well for future editions.  The target demographic is already on display here at CS which should be indicative of a higher level of intelligent written communication required for this product audience.  

I agree Brett. While the mag is entertaining that latte art pic on the cover is hardly world class and the content of some of the articles seems dumbed down. Honestly, while I am pleased for Aimen Krayems appointment with DiBella, that article read like an infommercial to me.

I do enjoy the variety the mag offers and guess it will always be a struggle to provide a balance or please all of the people all of the time.

[TC]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

I think that as per any new venture, theyre on a pathway with many forks...

Lets hope that the editorial team choose the right forks to keep the mag interesting and successful. I guess that in a sense, theres only so much you can write about coffee so the challenges are there. Most of us can see through promotional and infomercial content, so its important to maintain a balance and to broaden the team of writers to keep things fresh.

2mcm

[Andy]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Dear Allan Leibowitz,

and Ill get my head bitten off for this

...and I think you deserve to until you produce a better one!

Its a great publication and certainly one of the best coffee magazines in the world. Sure, it might not be the coffee "Journal of Macromolecular Science" but how many copies would be sold if it was?

Publishers print magazines as a business and as such need to appeal to a wide enough audience to pay the bills. A balance of cover price and advertising is needed so recoop the expenses without annoying the buyer. It must be tough to do and I certainly think that Bean Scene have done a really good job of it.

I have taken copies of the magazine to America and Germany this year and everyone that saw it was stunned at the content, the production values and even the stock it was printed on ...including a publisher of one of the worlds biggest coffee magazines.

It could have been written by journalists with little coffee knowledge who googled enough stuff to write a page... but instead the authors of most the articles in the magazine are industry people, people with a passion for coffee and an opinion to share.

Of all the coffee businesses in Australia, why would there need to be two profiles of DiBella (successful as the company may be)?

Why not? Does it really matter?
Aimen has been the face of DaVinci syrups at every coffee industry function that I have been to for years. He has a real passion for coffee, a good palate and is a really nice guy to boot. Unlike you, when I got to that page I didnt see an ad for DiBella as much as a I saw a well known industry person having a change of career (and a good scalp for DiBella too I might add!)

Why is the celebrity virtually a non-coffee person

Again... why not? Sitting on a coffee table in a cafe or at the hairdresser I bet most readers didnt even notice.

Why would coffee industry insiders and connoisseurs need to be told the difference between Arabica and Robusta (even maccas knows the difference)?

Do "maccas" know the difference? I doubt it! I would expect like most the planet they are under the marketers (wrong) impression that robusta=bad, arabica=good.

While I would hope that coffee industry insiders and connoisseurs would know the difference I doubt that most readers would know.

And, sorry Andy, wouldnt you attempt to find the full names of the snobs profiled, especially when their pictures are included?

Gee, even I get a slap! The first (one or two) did have full names from memory (sorry, I dont have the magazines in front of me to check details). In the merge of online-world and print-media I was concerned that privacy might become an issue so I only pass on CS member name and first name. Besides, I dont think lack of a surname detracts anything from the story of the CSrs roasting journey.

I really think you should chill, grab a latte and thumb through the magazine again in a different frame of mind. Its a magazine! Light reading and fluff with great pictures and stories and even some of the ads are interesting.

...and when you publish your coffee magazine we might buy that too.

Regards,

Andrew John Freeman

[flatwhite]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Its good to see that debate is alive and well at CoffeeSnobs.

[kabintylen]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Now...wheres that book of Di Bellas??

Ill send you mine Scoots if I can get a copy of the August mag...I brought a subscription and got the Di Bella book (of which I now have 2 because I bought one from Bean Bay a month earlier) and no Mag!

Hrmm, now that I think about it *jots a note to call them tomorrow*

[A_M]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Now...wheres that book of Di Bellas??

Ill send you mine Scoots if I can get a copy of the August mag...I brought a subscription and got the Di Bella book (of which I now have 2 because I bought one from Bean Bay a month earlier) and no Mag!

Hrmm, now that I think about it *jots a note to call them tomorrow*

I never got mine either... Do we have to contact them ???

[argon]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Me neither :-/

[Dimal]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

I definitely support the Beanscene "pros", not the "cons"....

Great responses from Scoots and Andy too, which really doesnt leave much left to be said. On balance, I think its a pretty decent mag with the emphasis on balance and a credit to all who contribute to the mag eventually ending up in my sweaty mitts.

Whilst Im happy for CSers and the wider coffee industry to know me by my Christian name, for reasons already stated by Scoots, Hoyks and others, thatll do.

Keep up the good work Steve and the Beanscene crew, its a great mag and gets read from cover to cover in this household.... 8-)

Mal.

[Intellidepth]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

I really like the magazine.

Being visual, I love the quality of the physical product and images. That alone makes it worthy of coffee table status.

Being coffee-minded, I like the majority of the content Ive read in all the issues. Even some of the ads. I like the broad-spectrum approach as it allows me to pass on mags Ive read to people with CoffeeSnob potentiality, and theyre impressed and surprised by it too.

I like the exploration of origins and peoples stories there. I like the inclusion of coffee processing material. I like the explanations of how else to make coffee - being an espresso fan Ive kind of skipped trying the other ways.

I like reading opinions from experienced people - with whom I sometimes differ. I like the novelty value of seeing what else people do with coffee (botox replacement?). I like the photography.

Its a great magazine.

Id like to see one article on coffee cups - as many different opinions there as anything Id say... so many more topics still to cover and Im looking forward to them all.

[Andy]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Id like to see one article on coffee cups

Good idea Intellidepth, that would be a couple of articles I would expect as the choices are huge.

Additional to that, I think that CSrs featuring in the CoffeeSnobs corner could include their fav cup in the picture of their roast setup.

Knowing that Editor Steve Agi reads this thread I think CSrs offering up some future content ideas is a real positive way that our little community might help shape some content in future editions.
...or at least plant some seeds of thought.

You can post ideas here or email them to myself or Steve

8-)

[redzone121]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Thanks to Steve for his generosity for our up and coming Coffee course, over 25 registered already and will all be getting a free "Beanscene Mag".
Thats what Im talking about

Chris

[A_M]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Id like to see one article on coffee cups

Good idea Intellidepth, that would be a couple of articles I would expect as the choices are huge.  

Additional to that, I think that CSrs featuring in the CoffeeSnobs corner could include their fav cup in the picture of their roast setup.

Knowing that Editor Steve Agi reads this thread I think CSrs offering up some future content ideas is a real positive way that our little community might help shape some content in future editions.
...or at least plant some seeds of thought.

You can post ideas here or email them to myself or Steve

8-)

For some it may be corney...

But I really look forward to not just the CSs that might be included... But the real life stories / examples...

To me it adds a feeling of reality and not all good marketing and hype...

Can not wait to see Andys home roasting set-up and fav cup... A popper and a Vegemite jar ;D

[linnaen]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Can not wait to see Andys home roasting set-up and fav cup...   A popper and a Vegemite jar  ;D

Surely the vegemite jar would be his combined cup and tamper or has he gone all posh on us?

[redzone121]

Re: BeanScene Magazine - great news.

Can not wait to see Andys home roasting set-up and fav cup... A popper and a Vegemite jar

Surely the vegemite jar would be his combined cup and tamper or has he gone all posh on us?

Those are a couple of EPIC lines IMO ;D ;D ;D