Proceeds from the event benefit the magazine studies scholarship fund in the JPRA department. John Mack Carter, who recently retired as head of magazine development for the Hearst Magazine Division, was the keynote speaker at the luncheon. In addition to being director of magazine development for Hearst, he served as president of Hearst Magazine Enterprises and was a former president of the American Society of Magazine Editors. Last spring, he was inducted into the Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame. He also won the Henry Johnson fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers of America for lifetime achievement, the publishing industry's highest honor.
Magazines are eligible for nomination during their first five years of circulation.