By T.J. DeGroat

When Chandra Czape got to New York City, she realized the old cliché that it’s who you know, not what you know, really is true.


Unfortunately, the only people Czape knew were other entry-level magazine staffers with no ties to New York’s cliquey media scene. So the enterprising editor began organizing informal get-togethers with her friends to share industry gossip and swap tips about job openings.

Between meetings, Czape sent out emails full of industry news and insider information. During the past seven years, the list of recipients has grown from about 15 wannabe editors to more than 4,600 college students and magazine staffers of all levels.

The rise of Ed2010, which aims to help people reach their dream editing jobs by 2010, is proof that “when there’s a need for something, it just tends to happen naturally,” says Czape, who never planned for the group to become such a popular resource for journalists across the country. Ed2010 chapters have sprung up in 20 cities, from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco.

“We didn’t intend it to be anything official or organized. We just wanted to learn about jobs in the magazine industry because we … weren’t from New York and didn’t have any connections,” says Czape, now deputy editor of CosmoGIRL! “We were told you had to know somebody to get a job in New York -- you had to have an in. We were all trying to figure out how to get that, so we became each other’s ins.”

Founder and President Czape is the driving force behind Ed2010, but the organization relies on a team of volunteers to keep it running smoothly. Among them is Sunny Gold, vice president of operations. During the day, you can find her at Glamour magazine, where she is associate editor.

Gold epitomizes the Ed2010 spirit. She first met Czape when she was an intern with the American Society of Magazine Editors program. “She spoke to my group and told us about Ed and I thought, ‘When I move to New York, I’m just gonna take it over,’” Gold says.

Gold’s boss called Czape, one of her best friends, to share the good news: Someone wanted to help out. Back in 2001, this was an uncommon occurrence, much to Gold’s surprise. “No one had volunteered. Hello, dummies, do you wanna get something out of this? How many hundreds of people have I met or talked to because of this?” she asks.

One example of the Ed2010's benefits: whisper jobs, which appear in the newsletter and are archived on the web site. Magazine staffers can use an online form to tip people off about impending openings.

Understandably, some are reluctant to discuss jobs before an official notice has been made. “It’s a little touchy. You just don’t know when it’s right to publicize a job if you’re not the one to take the application but you know the job is open,” Czape says. “But it’s the only way you can find out about magazine jobs. They won’t be in The New York Times or on journalismjobs.com.”

Besides the job postings and monthly meetings (happy hour, anyone?), Ed2010 helps college students and recent grads through Ask Ed, an advice column on the web site, and workshops. Ed also hooks up interns and junior editors with senior-level staffers through the 60-Minute Mentor program.

A spin-off of the mentor program is the EIC raffle. Junior editors buy tickets for the chance to meet with the editor in chief of a top consumer magazine. Last week, Ed2010 raffled off a meeting with Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter. The winners get to pick the brain of someone whose job they covet and Ed2010 gets some much-needed financial love. The proceeds go toward maintaining the web site.

That so many senior-level editors are willing to help unknowns might surprise some. As documented by insider books like The Devil Wears Prada and Front Row, the magazine industry isn’t always the most supportive environment. But Czape says 90 percent of the people the Ed2010 team approaches are willing to lend their support. “People really do love to help people,” she says.

That’s the underlying principle driving Ed2010. If everyone who receives a helping hand returns the favor, Ed could revolutionize the industry. “I think people act the way they’re expected to act. If you tell people it’s cut-throat and mean and competitive, people become cut-throat and mean and competitive,” she says. “If you tell them when they graduate that it’s a nurturing, sharing environment, they’re nicer to each other and help each other out.”

Who knows, by 2010 the country’s most prestigious magazines could be run by people following the Ed2010 philosophy.

And what will happen to the organization in five years, when the deadline is up? “I’ve been nervous about that since 2003,” Czape admits. “That’s the thing -- when you start a group and you don’t think it’s really gonna go anywhere and you just think it’s a joke between you and your friends. I don’t know. We have to figure it out. We’ve got a couple of years.”

One thing’s for sure: there always will be a need for Ed2010. “You can never satisfy it,” Gold says. “We do write back to every single person who writes, but it's never ending. There's always a new batch of people looking for work and they all want help.”

As for Czape, where will she be in 2010? “I used to want to be an editor in chief, but the closer I get, the less appealing it is,” she says. Instead of serving as the face of a magazine, Czape prefers to work in a more hands-on position. Besides, she says, “I kind of get to be editor in chief of Ed2010, helping all of these people.”

What’s more rewarding than that?