Some of my favorite memories of growing up were Sunday mornings before church when I would get to pull one or two of my dad’s rock albums (yes, albums) out of his collection, and we would listen to them front to back. While he was doing his thing, I was obsessing over the pictures and artwork and words that the album covers contained.
Another favorite was getting a stack of cassette tapes in the mail that I had paid $.01 (!) for. Never mind the future financial commitments that came with that glorious package — brand-new music and artists had just been delivered to my house! That was a big deal for a middle school kid in the ’80s. But eventually, albums and cassette tapes gave way to CDs and Napster, and now digital streaming platforms — where everything you could ever want (or never even knew you wanted) — is at your fingertips.
Sometimes it is difficult or challenging to embrace change. Change can be hard. It’s often uncomfortable. But both in life and in business, change is necessary for adapting to new realities, new technology, and simply new ways of doing things. And the best way to pull off changing things up is when no one, or at least very few people, actually notice. With that in mind, we’ve embarked on a change in our magazine publication schedules while also embracing the not-so-new brave new world of digital media.
Our August “Time Traveler” issue seems the most fitting time to make the shift from being a monthly print publication to being a bimonthly — that is, every other month — print publication. Our next issue will be the September/October issue, and it’s also our annual “20 Under 40” issue, so you don’t want to miss it! That will be followed by the November/December issue, where we’re highlighting community and celebrations, some of which might not be familiar to everyone. (Spoiler alert: That lineup includes Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.)
But that doesn’t mean we’re going silent in October and December or the subsequent months when we will not print a magazine. In fact, we still have most of the same content — our regular departments, community “Voices,” feature stories, and more — during what we’re calling our “digital month” (October, December, February, and so on). There will also be additional stories and areas of coverage that we have identified, most of which will live on our busy websites: comomagazine.com and comobusinesstimes.com. Printing costs have risen disproportionately to all the other costs of doing business, but this community has come to rely on — and trust — our publications, so they are not going away.
We have new realities, new technology, and new ways of doing things. That will mean a print magazine for one month and new digital/web stories the next. This change is also the result of an epiphany that shone on us thanks to our membership in the City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA), whose membership list revealed only one city or regional magazine with a monthly publication schedule in a city of our size.
Us.
You may recognize “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes” from the lyrics of the David Bowie song “Changes,” which reflected a time of social change, challenging norms, and embracing transformation (or, in today’s world, technology). It’s about refusing to be stagnant and refusing to do things the same way “because that’s the way we’ve always done it.” And here’s the thing: While change can bring feelings of both excitement and uncertainty, it’s also possible to celebrate the beauty in reinvention and adaptability. It’s about having the courage to evolve — especially when change seems inevitable (and doesn’t it always?).
Maybe I’ve channeled a musical connection with these thoughts because our office often has a musical vibe that is, let’s just say, eclectic. One day in mid-July, Christmas music was wafting through the office. On other occasions, Southern gospel, Big Band, and crooners might emanate from one corner, while hip-hop, country, and classic rock blare from another. Through the musical ages, though, the lyrics often have a common theme: change.
Bob Dylan’s protest song “The Times They Are A-Changin’” basically warned that change is not only inevitable, it is unstoppable. As we embrace and even lead change at COMO Companies, though, there are some things that are non-negotiable priorities: exceptional customer service, building relationships and trust, telling compelling and meaningful stories, and being an integral part of making Columbia a truly special place.
DAVID NIVENS
PUBLISHER
david@comocompanies.com
