Hello, Friends, and Happy New Year!
As we enter our 14th year of publication, I find myself reflecting on what a wonderful and rewarding 13 years it’s been—and how much Westchester Magazine has grown since our first issue in January 2001.
That year, we started as a single monthly publication and have since grown into a multi-platform media company that includes our ancillary publications (though, to us, they are more like members of our extended family), Westchester Home, Westchester/Hudson Valley Weddings, and our award-winning business lifestyle magazine, 914INC. I’m happy to say that the printed version of the magazine you hold in your hands is not only alive—it’s thriving. Still, even successful publications can’t rest on their laurels; our goal is not just to keep up with the times—and with the ever-changing trends and technology, particularly in the publishing industry—but to be ahead of the curve. That’s why we’ve embraced some challenges and made some changes that we’re excited to share with you.
The redesign of our website, westchestermagazine.com, is one of them. About a month ago, we gave our website a complete makeover—it’s brighter, more streamlined, and much easier to navigate—and re-launched it to include responsive design for computers, tablets, and mobile devices/smartphones. So now, you can be just about anywhere and be connected to Westchester Magazine as your go-to resource for all things Westchester.
Speaking of go-to resources: We are thrilled to debut our completely redesigned Westchester Magazine, which was nearly a year in the making, and resulted in a complete overhaul on both the art and editorial sides of the publication. Last June, our editorial staff held a daylong, offsite retreat, where they could unplug from their email, phones, and the daily grind to focus exclusively on how to reshape and revamp the content of the magazine. They identified subject areas in which reporting should be increased, brainstormed some creative ways to cover our most popular annual features, and developed several fun and intriguing new departments—all to help freshen up the magazine and make it even more enjoyable for our readers. And later in the year, they conducted an online reader survey (which almost 800 of you completed) to further inform their decisions.
Meanwhile, our art staff was also hard at work, developing a new look for the magazine. We worked with outside magazine design consultants, who gave helpful and constructive feedback throughout the redesign process, on everything from our new color palette to typography.
I’d like to thank our entire team for their efforts. The redesign was truly an all-hands-on-deck process. We’re excited to have it finally come to fruition, and place the result in your hands. On the pages of this issue, you’ll see a cleaner, more modern design; new fonts; better photography and illustrations; and new features and sections, which we hope you’ll find informative and compelling. Since the magazine has been redesigned, and our company has grown, our mission statement has been revised, too. Our mission? “To produce a high-quality magazine, website, and other media platforms, that inform, entertain, inspire, and help to connect our community.”
Connecting with our community is very important to us, so we’ve added and expanded some of our events for 2014. Click here for a complete lineup.
We hope you enjoy this issue (we’ve got lots of great stories in the works for our coming issues, too!) and the new website. Most of all, we hope you have a happy, healthy, and safe 2014.
