We’re Open: Aspen Sojourner magazine

Business name: Aspen Sojourner magazine

Address: 411 E. Main St. Ste. 211, Aspen, CO 81611

Phone: 970-925-7809

Web: aspensojo.com

Email: nancy@aspensojourner.com

Social media: @aspensojourner (Facebook/Instagram/Twitter)

Aspen Times: How have you gotten creative during this time? What have you done to keep your customers engaged?

Aspen Sojourner: For starters, we had to pivot with the content on our website right away. Instead of our weekly “5 Things to Do This Weekend” updates, for example, we’ve been creating “5 Things to Do While Sheltered at Home” posts. Other articles we created have included a photo essay by a photographer who, with five friends, was on a 100-mile backcountry hut trip from Aspen to Vail the week the pandemic broke in Colorado; a look at local liquor stores’ quarantine best-sellers; and a comprehensive takeout and delivery guide to restaurants in Basalt and Carbondale. We wanted to give readers practical info without a gloom and doom message. From an advertising perspective, we’ve combined our traditional summer and midsummer/fall issues into one issue that will come out at the beginning of July. There was no sense in producing an issue — and charging advertisers to be in it — when town was still shut down and no one was visiting.

AT: What’s the most important thing the community can do to support you?

AS: Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter at aspensojo.com to stay in the know about everything we’re creating, from outdoors recreation guides to the new rules of dining out to this summer’s virtual arts offerings. And please, please consider advertising, both in print and online. We can’t exist without both our readers and our advertisers, and getting out the message that you’re open for business has never been more important. We’ve come up with different formats for advertising, so if you think you can’t afford it, talk to us first. We bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

AT: Where can we find your most current offerings and updates?

AS: Right now at aspensojo.com and on our Facebook page. For a media kit to advertise, please email publisher Nancy Mayer at nancy@aspensojourner.com. And look for us around town, wherever we are allowed to distribute, in early July. You can even stop by our office and we’ll give you a copy.

AT: What has been the best customer experience or comment you’ve had since the crisis started?

AS: We’ve received great feedback on our recent web posts, especially the midvalley restaurant take-out guide, and how useful they’ve been. Our advertisers have welcomed the changes we’ve made to try to help them be successful in this new climate. Wrote one, “We appreciate the combining of issues and the saving of one month of advertising, so kudos to your team on coming up with that,” while another wrote, “I’m glad that Aspen Sojourner is being realistic with this new reality.” Of course, we are all in this together.

AT: Is there anything else you’d like to add regarding your business during the pandemic?

AS: Keeping it local and relevant is so important right now, and we’re here to keep you informed and inspired, in print and online. Plus, in the middle of the pandemic, we won the Western Publisher’s Association Maggie Award — for the second year in a row — for best consumer quarterly. The ceremony was virtual, but our pride and excitement was very much in real life.

via:: The Aspen Times