The official publication of the Canadian Bar Association will move to a magazine format beginning with its October edition.

For the last 15 years, The National has been a newspaper tabloid.

Reaching more than 37,000 lawyers, there will also be a November/December issue this year and January/February, March, April, May, June/July, August/September, October and November/December issues are planned for 1993.

Maclean Hunter Business Publishing will co-publish and represent the magazine.

– The last day for entries in the RSVP Awards 1992 is Aug. 14, but preliminary entry forms are needed first.

It costs members of the Canadian Direct Marketing Association $125 to enter and $175 for non-members.

– On-site research at SkyDome, the self-proclaimed ‘World’s Greatest Entertainment Centre’ in Toronto, shows almost all visitors are very satisfied/satisfied with the place.

With 97% visitor satisfaction, SkyDome also reports 87% of visitors enjoy events there more than at other venues, and 67% of them believe the quality of SkyDome staff is better than other facilities.

Three-quarters of Ontario’s 8.5 million residents are very/somewhat likely to go to SkyDome, says the research, and 26% of visitors would not have attended an event if it had been held at another venue.

– Truck driver Jim Taylor, whose Canada includes Quebec, has put up more than 150 mall posters in 14 cities in the Maritimes, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The mall poster program was worked out between Taylor and Mediacom.

Displayed on 1.1-metre x 1.5-metre posters, they carry Taylor’s ‘My Canada Includes Quebec’ message and information on how to contact his organization with a view to getting more signatures on the portable billboards he and his supporters take across the country.

– Winnipeg’s Canadian Publishers, a subsidiary of G.T.C. Transcontinental Group, has acquired two more titles, Uptown and Back Spin.

Uptown is a monthly tabloid that focusses on the arts, special events and dining and has a print run of 18,000 copies an issue. It is widely available in Winnipeg.

The second title, Back Spin, is also a monthly, this time about golf. It is published from April to October and has a print run of 12,000 copies distributed at golf courses in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.

Both titles will be distributed by Canadian Media Distributors.

– A virtual newborn from British Columbia has been named the best suburban newspaper in Canada for overall excellence by the Canadian Community Newspapers Association.

MetroValley Newspaper Group’s three-year old Burnaby News also took national second place for Best Front Page.

News reporter Bryan Maelzer copped a third-place finish for a feature story on the gentrification of New Westminster’s revitalized Queensboro district.

There are 18 MetroValley suburban newspapers running down the Fraser Valley from Hope to downtown and west side Vancouver. The independent chain also owns papers in Castlegar and Red Deer, Alta.

The Burnaby News took home its prizes mid-July.