A Letter from the Publisher
New Year! Exciting Changes!
In November 2023, our company, Old Mill Road, celebrated its 5th Anniversary. At that time, I wrote an article, sharing our history as a company. I also promised some exciting news was on its way in 2024.
In the months to come, you can still expect quality stories from us, and you can still rely on our publications as trusted sources of information for our region.
You’ll also see some changes.
In the last few weeks, you may have already noticed that we’ve added a dedicated music section to the Vermont News Guide. You’ll see music sections in ALL of our publications moving forward. After all, music is the universal connector.
The next big change related to the Vermont News Guide is that we are going bi-weekly (every other week), beginning with the January 29, 2024, issue. In other words, the January 29th issue will cover all events through February 11, 2024. The following issue will be dated February 12, 2024.
Why?
1) We are expanding our distribution and community coverage. When the Vermont News Guide (then called, “The Guide”) was first published 70 years ago, it focused almost exclusively on Bennington, Arlington, and Manchester. Our paper already has a much bigger reach, spanning from Rensselaer and Washington Counties in New York, over to the Northern Berkshires (Williamstown/North Adams), throughout Southern Vermont, and north beyond Rutland.
We are taking it further… covering more communities. And in order to deliver the papers to a wider radius, an “every other week” schedule just makes practical sense, particularly during the winter months.
This also will allow our readers more lead time to plan local trips to nearby communities to join in all those events that make our region so unique.
2) Speaking of “delivery”… as we all know, mail just doesn’t arrive as fast as it used to. You may not know this, but the paper is mailed to hundreds of readers every week – in Vermont and 19 other states! For those folks who receive the Vermont News Guide via home delivery, this new schedule will once again allow more lead time to plan for community engagement.
3) We have loyal advertisers, and we encourage our readers to shop locally. Our advertisers will benefit from the longer shelf life of the Vermont News Guide. In addition, because we want to support local businesses, we are not increasing our standard rates, we are eliminating extra fees for color advertisements, and we’ve simplified our media kit (making it more user-friendly).
We’ve got more exciting announcements in the works, but for now, please know that our team is here – and continues to be fully committed to promoting our region and sharing your stories.
For ease, we’ve created a new calendar (below) for advertisers and organizations sharing press releases.
Thank you for reading! And stay tuned!
