The Mission of AISES and Winds of Change Magazine
The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is a non-profit organization committed to significantly increasing Indigenous representation among science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs and career paths all across North America. This people group, due to many extenuating factors, has historically been on the outside looking in when it comes to STEM initiatives.
One of the society’s core ways of growing the professional and educational success of American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, First Nations and other Indigenous peoples of North America is through theirWinds of Change Magazine, which is published 5 times a year. This magazine aims to push future generations of Native peoples to advance their education and careers by highlighting AISES’ advancements and shining a light on Indigenous innovators, movers, and shakers in the STEM fields.
To further this goal and extend their reach, AISES has recently embraced digital solutions to share Winds of Change with mobile users.
The Need for Mobile-Friendly Content
Research suggests that 96% of Americans aged 18-29 own a smartphone. Furthermore, as an age group, they are the most likely to be smartphone-dependent. So, it is important for content creators to embrace digital solutions for easy mobile reading. Because AISES values reaching younger audiences, they needed to adjust their strategy to find a better way to share mobile-friendly content.
Prior to 2018, Winds of Change magazine was published in a non responsive format. This type of magazine required readers to pinch and zoom to engage with the content. Also, it limited AISES’ ability to reach mobile users and include clear calls to action that were easily seen and acted upon.
As an organization focused on STEM advancement, AISES board of directors and the Winds of Change creative team decided to “walk the walk” by evolving into an innovative, responsive platform.
Creating a Solution for Mobile Growth with PageRaft
AISES began producing Winds of Change in PageRaft to create an interactive, responsive reading experience. In contrast to their previous versions, digital magazine content in PageRaft reflows to adjust to any screen. As a result, the pre-college, college students, young adults, and professionals that AISES aims to inspire are able to easily view and engage with the publication on smartphones and other mobile devices.
AISES also uses increased ad-sharing capabilities while reaching mobile readers. They made the most of PageRaft’s offerings in order to create interactive ads and animated content. Because of this, they were able to enhance their marketing and sales potential.
Looking at analytics, we know the time spent per visit for Winds of Change magazine is an impressive 4 minutes and 35 seconds on average. For certain issues, it is of course much longer.
Impact of Using PageRaft for Winds of Change
Montoya Whiteman, the Director of Marketing and Communications at AISES pointed to these capabilities, “PageRaft helps us share magazine content in a mobile-friendly format with an easy-to-navigate design that offers expanded mobile advertising opportunities for our partners and diverse audiences.”
Check out the mobile version of the 26th Annual Special College Fall 2019 issue of Winds of Change in PageRaft.
As you can see, Winds of Change magazine is easy to navigate and reflows to fit on a mobile device. It is fully interactive while looking polished and remaining true to AISES’ brand. As their organization continues to grow, PageRaft and the Nxtbook Media team can grow with them. This partnership helps to ensure that Winds of Change remains an innovative magazine.
Ms. Whiteman explains, “as our audience gets even younger, Winds of Change helps us to stay on-trend while highlighting members of AISES and showcasing innovation and research to promote STEM in Native communities.”
With PageRaft, AISES can reach even more readers to spread this message of empowerment, inspiration, and success to current and future generations of Indigenous peoples.
Reprinted from Nxtbook Stories. Orginal can be found at: https://www.nxtbookmedia.com/aises/
