Bernard Leser, the founder of Vogue Australia, has been inducted into the Magazines Hall of Fame at the Australian Magazine Awards (AMA) this morning.
Leser was honoured for his long career with Conde Nast, which originally headhunted Leser in 1958 to launch the Australian edition of Vogue. During his tenure with the publishing company Leser was appointed managing director of Conde Nast UK, president of Conde Nast USA and chairman and managing director of Conde Nast Asia Pacific.
Leser was introduced by last year's Magazines Hall of Fame inductee John Southam who spoke of Leser's flair for publising.
Speaking at this morning's awards in Sydney, Leser urged the magazine industry to strive beyond the numbers and money and to push the creative boundaries.
"Our overpowering objective is to strive to reach the highest possible standards," he said.
"I would say to you all here to always consider the creative people your stars, they are the ones that make the products that make you money."
"This business should be fun and I feel a lot of the fun has gone out of the business because of the pressure from the bean-counters, but it is so important that you enjoy what you do," Leser said.
After Leser's moving speech, a spontaneous standing ovation took place which saw all of the attendees standing and clapping Leser's contribution to the publishing industry.
For more on the 2010 Australian Magazine Awards click here.
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