Felix Dennis

The Independent has a fascinating interview with Felix Dennis.

The magazine industry has its fair share of eccentrics and larger-than-life characters. Mr Dennis is one of the largest and liveliest. One would not want to bet against him (though he admits in the interview to some hilarious and disastrous mistakes). One of his claims caught our eye:

"This is going to be a huge thing for us, the most money we've ever spent on a website," he (Felix) says. "You just can't take The Week as it is and put it on the web. I am looking to create an environment that the people who love The Week will go to at least two or three times a week. If Dennis Publishing fails at this then we are all going to have to go and shoot ourselves, because these are our best boys and girls working on the best product and this should be a knockout."

The Week is a great magazine and a very successful magazine. If you really could put it on the web exactly as it is it would be a great magazine on the web. Chances are it would be a very successful magazine on the web. Very slowly but surely magazine (and newspaper) publishers are finding that putting the issue onto the web is a good idea. Two three or four years ago it WAS a bad idea and it could not really be done. If Felix Dennis's brilliant team can do something else which complements The Week on the web all credit to them. If they are building a service which complements the print publication it would be a good idea to have the print issues up there with their creative output. The fact is, putting The Week on the web as a fully searchable, easily readable, citeable and clickable publication can be done as easily as falling off a log. Dennis doesnt need a brilliant team to do that.

Memo to self -- make an appointment with Mr Dennis.