Physics World, the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, has won two awards in the space of a few days. Physics World has been named best ‘Magazine – Professional Association or Royal College’ at the annual MemCom Awards held in London, UK. The Physics World team also picked up ‘Best Use of Social Media’ at the SIPAwards announced at the annual SIPA conference in Washington DC, USA.
Published by IOP Publishing, Physics World is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics. It covers the latest developments in the global physics community, and includes features from the world’s leading physicists and science writers. Members of the Institute consistently identify the magazine as one of their most important member benefits; in a 2011 member survey, 87% of respondents named Physics World as one of their top three reasons for joining and maintaining their Institute membership.
In 2011, Physics World launched a new digital version of the magazine, viewable online and via apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. The digital version forms part of a new digital-only membership grade called IOPimember, and over 1000 new IOPimembers have joined the Institute since launch in February 2011. Contributing to the success of IOPimember has been the development of social media channels including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr and successfully engaging with users.
John Brindley, Director of Membership & Business at the Institute of Physics said “The Physics World team has worked very hard to innovate and improve our services to the global physics community and so we are delighted to have been recognised by this award from MemCom. By making high‒value content such as the digital version of the magazine available on the website and through various apps, we have been able to provide services that are truly useful to physicists wherever they are based.”
Jo Allen, Head of Marketing and B2B at IOP Publishing said about the SIPA award win, “The Physics World team started to experiment with social media in 2010, but 2011 was a breakthrough year in terms of engagement and business results. Key to that success was the close collaboration between editorial and marketing staff and we are thrilled to have won the SIPA award.”
In the last few weeks, Physics World has been shortlisted for two other awards, the results for which will be announced in the coming months: ‘Cross-Media Project 2012’ at the AOP Digital Publishing Awards; and ‘Best Video Journalism’ at the Online Media Awards.