Imprimus
Nearly two thirds of Hillsdale applicants mention Imprimis; $314,000 a month; editors aim at 2.5 million subscriptions
Daniel J. Williams
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: News
Chris Bachelder, associate vice president for strategic marketing, said Imprimis directly affects the school in other ways.
"The fundraising guys will tell you every once in awhile they'll get a gift from an estate, and there will be somebody who's never set foot on campus," Bachelder said. "But they've read Imprimis for 30 years and they said 'OK, these guys mean it - I'll give them some money.'"
Giving Imprimis away free isn't cheap. College Treasurer Ken Cole said Wednesday that the current monthly cost of printing, mailing and staffing Imprimis totals $313,674.
Imprimis follows the same format it has had since its inception, featuring an adapted speech given by a prominent conservative at a Hillsdale-sponsored forum. Getting a speech from the podium to the page to the post office is a joint venture shared by the college and Cyril-Scott, a printing and mailing company headquartered in Lancaster, Ohio.
After selecting a speech, Doug Jeffrey and Timothy Caspar, Imprimis editor-in-chief and deputy editor, adapt it for the printed page.
"Most people come and have notes, and they just talk off the top of their head," said Jeffrey, referring to the Center for Constructive Alternative lectures and seminars which spawn the majority of Imprimis articles. "That often doesn't read very well, so usually it takes a lot of heavy editing to get it down to the right form and also the right length."
At either six or eight pages, Imprimis is not a large periodical. It isn't flashy, either, with black text accompanied only by accents of blue and gray. The blue replaced the long-familiar red last June when the college decided to identify Imprimis more closely with Hillsdale's colors.
After layout is complete, the college sends the finished product to Cyril-Scott, which then prints and mails Imprimis.
"We are able to start with a roll of paper and finish, with one pass through the press out the end of the press, with the personalized, folded, tabbed ready to mail Imprimis," said Ken Conley, sales representative at Cyril-Scott and an '87 graduate of Hillsdale College.
"The fundraising guys will tell you every once in awhile they'll get a gift from an estate, and there will be somebody who's never set foot on campus," Bachelder said. "But they've read Imprimis for 30 years and they said 'OK, these guys mean it - I'll give them some money.'"
Giving Imprimis away free isn't cheap. College Treasurer Ken Cole said Wednesday that the current monthly cost of printing, mailing and staffing Imprimis totals $313,674.
Imprimis follows the same format it has had since its inception, featuring an adapted speech given by a prominent conservative at a Hillsdale-sponsored forum. Getting a speech from the podium to the page to the post office is a joint venture shared by the college and Cyril-Scott, a printing and mailing company headquartered in Lancaster, Ohio.
After selecting a speech, Doug Jeffrey and Timothy Caspar, Imprimis editor-in-chief and deputy editor, adapt it for the printed page.
"Most people come and have notes, and they just talk off the top of their head," said Jeffrey, referring to the Center for Constructive Alternative lectures and seminars which spawn the majority of Imprimis articles. "That often doesn't read very well, so usually it takes a lot of heavy editing to get it down to the right form and also the right length."
At either six or eight pages, Imprimis is not a large periodical. It isn't flashy, either, with black text accompanied only by accents of blue and gray. The blue replaced the long-familiar red last June when the college decided to identify Imprimis more closely with Hillsdale's colors.
After layout is complete, the college sends the finished product to Cyril-Scott, which then prints and mails Imprimis.
"We are able to start with a roll of paper and finish, with one pass through the press out the end of the press, with the personalized, folded, tabbed ready to mail Imprimis," said Ken Conley, sales representative at Cyril-Scott and an '87 graduate of Hillsdale College.
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Dennis mansfield
posted 4/14/08 @ 12:16 PM EST
Good job, Daniel, on your article. I hope the college newspaper realizes the level of talent that you have!
Dennis Mansfield
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