Five Questions for Emerson Schwartzkopf, Editor and Publisher, Out of Home Magazine

Five Questions For Emerson Schwartzkopf, Editor and Publisher, Out of Home Magazine

As a niche business there are very few sources of information on the outdoor business.  Most of us are too cheap to spend the thousands of dollars is costs to join the OAAA.  This week I was delighted to discover a digital magazine dedicated to the out-of-home business.  It's called Out of Home Magazine.  You can subscribe for free to the monthly magazine and a weekly newsletter by registering at the magazine's website.  The magazine is published by Emerson Schwartzkopf who has a 25 year career covering the outdoor-signage industry, including stints as editor of Sign Business Magazine and Digital Graphics magazine.

1.     Emerson, how did you get involved in the outdoor business?

It came as part of the territory when I first joined Sign Business Magazine in 1988. I ended up watching nearly all the major technological changes for on-premise signage and out-of-home, from computer-cut vinyl to digital printing to serviceable outdoor LED displays. I spent most of the 1990s doing hands-on testing of cutters and the first poster-sized printers, as well as tracking ink and substrate development.

2.     What's the history of Out of Home Magazine?

Bob Klausmeier founded Out of Home Magazine in the early spring of 2013. For more than two decades, he sold and assembled signage components, and also represented one of the larger constructors of electronic signage and billboards. His depth in all aspects of outdoor media gave him insights to build a very interesting magazine. I’ve been in the background since the first issue, providing editing and, later, a presence in regular industry news roundups with the Out of Home Weekly and instant updates via our Twitter account. When Bob found a great opportunity last year with an industry supplier, I was glad to step in and take over the magazine.

3.     Who is your target audience?

Out-of-home is a coordination of a pretty diverse lot of people in creative, production and delivery, so it’s more of an effort to bring together readers from many areas. First among equals are, of course, the media companies/owners and the industry suppliers. However, the changes in OOH technology are going to bring clients much closer to the action, so we’re also reaching out in a significant way to agencies. We’re also keeping close with digital-signage networks, because evolving technologies are merging more products into the same delivery mix.

4.     What made you want to be editor and publisher?

Somebody once asked the writer P.J. O’Rourke why he became editor of National Lampoon in its 1970s heyday, and he gave a simple answer – “because I could do what I wanted and nobody could stop me.” I like being in a position where I can be creative and offer something that people want to read.  You need to recognize your responsibility – I’m not going to blow things up just to, well, blow them up – but you can also have fun and give people something that’s worth their time.

5.     What are the biggest trends you see impacting the out of home business?

Technology is going to provide more ways to deliver a message, but every incredible digital thingamajig is going to call for a greater focus on the basics of out-of-home business: capacity and measurement. Managing the growing amount of space that can be filled is going to really ratchet up the challenge for media providers as to where and what and how they sell. And those spending the money – the agencies and their clients – will demand more and more details about OOH consumers and crafting some complex strategies to get every penny out of media that’s getting more and more flexible.