What a year 2017 was. Natural disasters, crazy politics, fires, mass shootings, mudslides, devastating flu bug, legendary snow and cold across the Northeast. Challenging times for sure. It wasn’t all bad though, as the economy is clicking along at a pretty good pace and people seem optimistic.
2017 turned out to be a pretty good year for us. Carmel Magazine was voted Media Outlet of The Year by the Carmel Valley Chamber of Commerce and voted Business of the Year by the Carmel Chamber of Commerce. The latter award we share along with our friends at Folktale Winery. We were extremely humbled and honored to win these awards and cannot thank those who voted for us enough.
Also in 2017, my wife Kelli and I became sole owners of Carmel Magazine Inc., Having had partners since the beginning in 1999 it presents us with more opportunities and provides a great feeling and renewed sense of enthusiasm.
There were three partnership changes along the way and none were better than our recent partners for the past 12 years. Thank you to Chip and Mary Brown along with Tom Biesheuvel, for allowing me the freedom to run this company over the duration of our partnership. I really appreciate you and the confidence you placed in me. Also, thank you to Monterey County Bank for the awesome service you provided.
We have created something pretty special with this magazine as it has become a staple in this community. One of the most frequent comments we get is “I cannot believe this is a free magazine.” For the most part that is true but there are places it is for sale other than by subscription. As an example, go to eBay and enter Carmel Magazine in the search bar. It’s crazy to see that on any given day, 20 or more past and current issues are shown for sale from people all around the country. The perceived value is undeniable. I have seen entire collections for sale on eBay. I will often get a call from someone looking for a back issue from, say, 2004. I may not have that particular edition but can direct them to eBay as a possible resource. These magazines have been found in France and various countries around the globe. That is some reach!
People ask what will change now that we own it? The short answer is, not much. There will be an expansion in our content that covers art, home and dining over the coming year. Some new features will be added and as always, we welcome your ideas and comments. Those should be emailed to steve@carmelmagazine.com.
In this edition, we celebrate singing and film legend Doris Day. Although we don’t see her at the local Safeway much anymore, she is such an inspiration and will turn 96 this April. She is amazing and her drive to continue raising money for our four legged friends is something to behold.
We also feature the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and golf in general as we gear up for the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach. I will make a prediction that Tiger Woods will not only play the 2019 Open, but will contend and it will be an incredible tournament to watch play out.
To our advertisers: Thank you for partnering with us over the years. It has enabled us to get this far and after 19 years, we’re still here because of you. We continue to provide a circulation of 140,000 copies of the print version annually and that is a far greater distribution than any other lifestyle magazine distributed in Monterey County. Analytics show that the digital version of the magazine had about 295,000 page views in 2017 so all in, we provide an excellent way to market, brand and sell your goods and services.
Off to an exciting 2018. I am excited to see what the future holds and hope that the disaster streak is on its way out as we could all use a break!