ANDY JONES
| 10.1.2008
I ACTUALLY STARTED my relationship with David as the Fitness File writer. I owned Simply Sun Tanning, and I was a certified trainer, so I was offered free advertising to write the column. My coupon-cutter genes took over, and I jumped at the offer.
The magazine had only been in circulation in Atlanta for a few months and was struggling with a staff of three. I wasn’t a publisher or Journalism major, but I saw a lot of potential. The owner was going to shut it down, so I bought it.
My vision was to publish the first impressive gay and lesbian weekly entertainment magazine Atlanta had experienced. Up to that time, the only reliable weekly source was ETC Magazine, which was a black-and-white, non-glossy with spot color. I know that sounds archaic now, but it was what everyone used to keep up with the nightlife, and it served its purpose.
After putting together a team, our first challenge was to put out a publication that was not soft porn — and it did not have to be all about the bar scene. We started a regular Fitness File (of course), a Legal File, Health File, Business File and even a Spiritual File.
We all like to see a cute boy showing his tan lines or lack thereof, but we needed to do it in a tasteful way. So we soon started showing local men on the covers. It was a real challenge to shoot a different one every week that was “cover worthy” and I am sure we showed a few that some questioned. But it soon became "the talk" to see who made the cover.
I WANTED A MAGAZINE THAT WAS gay-friendly, but not used exclusively by the GLBT community. The more readers, the more it would grow. So we started soliciting more straight business owners to advertise. We also wanted more events in the magazine that were not exclusive to the GLBT community to highlight more diversity in our city.
Then we started the infamous “Scene @” pages that remain the most popular feature in the magazine. Everyone could see who went out, who looked wasted, who was holding onto whom, and sometimes, who was dating their last boyfriend. Even then, people would either seek out the David photographer to get in the magazine, or run for their lives not to appear.
Within a few months, everyone was picking up the glossy, full-color magazine much faster. Atlanta and the southeast embraced David fast. I think when we started, there were about 25 drop locations [about 300 exist today]. Within the first year, that rose to over 200, including 12 other cities.
It wasn’t all fun and glamour. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Throughout the years I owned the magazine, we had many up and downhill battles. When you put out an issue every week of the year, there is no room for missed deadlines, sick employees, printing equipment failures, bad weather or vacations.
SO HOW WAS IT DIFFERENT 10 years ago? I think the gay community embraced each other a little more. Being gay wasn’t yet so fashionable. All the gay celebs and sports figures were not out yet. I think we coveted our gay friendships maybe a little more.
I left my almost five years with David with many special memories. One of course, would be when Bryant, my partner now of eight years, walked into my office for a test cover shoot. I guess you could say he made the cut.
Next would be the annual Pride festival. It was the most exhausting weekend of my life each year, and I was always “gayed out.” By Sunday, I did not want to see another rainbow anything.
But being in the parade and hearing the cheers as the David limo or Hummer rolled up gave my staff tons of energy to continue another year.
|
