DAVE: Outlook Turns Ten

In a strip mall on Memorial Road, a group of people sit on the floor amid boxes, computer equipment, cables and Braum’s burger wrappers. They are listening to someone who has a plan. It’s early September, the year is 2005 and this small group is planning to publish the first issue of the Outlook magazine.

That’s how these things get started. And 120 issues later, here we are. A decade of publishing. Along the way, we did set up that equipment and accumulated some fairly plush office furniture. We also met some amazing people and it’s my sincere hope that we touched some lives.

Print publishing… “That’s so old school. Everyone’s on the internet.” I won’t argue that. But you know why I still believe in the power of print? Because people like magazines. And people like being neighborly. Combine those two points and you have a niche publication that has legs. I know this is not very scientific, but its true—at least that’s what I’m gonna go with.

This isn’t to say I don’t embrace digital media. My company, Back40, is all about digital media. We build and host websites for businesses all over the country. The fastest growing segment of our business is online marketing—creating engaging content for our clients and campaigns to increase results for their sites.

What these two mediums have in common is storytelling. Communicating ideas through words and pictures. And now the fun part, do you have any stories we can tell? Something local and amazing please. Thanks neighbor.