Hal Garyn introduced our speaker, Paul Heppner, President and Publisher of Encore Media Group and its many publications.  The business, started by Paul's father 39-years ago, publishes programs for 27 arts organizations and gets produced with support of advertisers.  7-years ago Encore expanded to the San Francisco Bay Area to broaden its market. 

Paul spoke about the three new City Arts publications Encore just launched, specific to Seattle, Tacoma, and the Eastside.  He provided a quote from Mark Twain, " Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do thanby the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. " He stated the magazine's theme as, "Explore. Dream. Discover."  These magazines are targeted to the geographic areas and focus on arts and events. The target reader is someone who is curious about what is going on in his or her community. 

Pre-empting the obvious question of why add a traditional magazine when everything is going to the web, he made us aware of some interesting dynamics in the magazine market.  Niche publications are succeeding whereas mass-market papers continue to decline in readership.  People want targeted material.

The publications can be picked-up for free at many locations.  To find one, please go to their website at www.cityartsmagazine.com. You may also get a subscription for $12/year and have it delivered to your home.