Sean McGinnis
Vice Chair
Sean McGinnis has been in the media industry in Atlanta for the past thirty years getting his start selling advertising for a local corporate real estate magazine. From there he joined the privately-held trade publishing firm of Shore Communications where he became National Sales Manager of two of their magazine titles.
Sean McGinnis continued his career with Shore through the acquisition by New York based, VNU Business Media (now Neilsen Business Media) and rose to be Group Publisher of four of their magazine titles in the apparel and sporting goods industries. During this time, McGinnis successfully launched several ancillary products for the magazines that included two trade shows, one of which was the company’s first international trade show launch in Mexico City, a highly-successful Annual Industry CEO Forum, industry awards banquets and oversaw the re-positioning/re-branding of the company’s flagship magazine. During this time he was recognized by the company through its annual Leadership Award and by the industry he served by being named the “apparel industry executive of the year” by the California Design College in 1998.
McGinnis left VNU Business Media in February of 2000 to become Vice President and Group Publisher of the local publishing firm, The Leader Publishing Group, Inc., then publishers of Business to Business and Catalyst magazines, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations and management of the company including marketing, event promotion, circulation, advertising sales and P & L responsibilities.
In December of 2000, McGinnis joined Emmis Publishing as President and Publisher of Atlanta magazine, where he is responsible for the overall operations and bottom line performance of the magazine and its ancillary products including the Atlanta Magazine Custom Publishing division, Digital and Events franchises.
He directly oversees the publication’s sales, marketing, accounting, event planning, special sections, audience development, digital and production departments. During his time at Atlanta Magazine, Mr. McGinnis has grown the Atlanta Magazine franchise to include a host of ancillary and custom magazine titles including the launch of Atlanta Magazine’s HOME, Southbound and the Atlanta Magazine 500. The magazine’s Custom Media Division is now responsible for producing over a dozen titles for clients across a wide spectrum of business categories. To further diversify the magazine’s brand, Mr. McGinnis has also grown the magazine’s event and digital departments.
Mr. McGinnis currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Born in Columbus, OH, McGinnis has resided in the Atlanta area since graduating from the University of Georgia where he received a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Communications in 1988. McGinnis is the father of three children, two girls and one boy ages 23, 20, and 17. He currently resides in Alpharetta, GA with his wife Martha to whom he has been married 26 years.
