“Le roi est mort, vive le roi!”
Come on, raise a glass. Say those words with me. “The king is dead, long live the king!” We honour the old, and praise the new. We mark a passing, and look towards a new era.
Why do I want to propose this virtual toast to our readers? Because, this is a not-at-all-bittersweet end to Avenue Edmonton and avenueedmonton.com. Our Summer edition, issue no. 159, will be the final edition under the Avenue flag. And we’re going out with a bang. We’ll take you on a tour of the fabulous home owned by Connor McDavid and Lauren Kyle. The results of our Best Neighbourhoods survey are in, and they might not be what you would have predicted. And, a bevy of well-known Edmontonians share what they love about the city, a collection of rallying cries as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
But, as we put our final Avenue issue to bed, our staff has been hard at work on a new magazine. Edify’s first issue will be on the streets in October. Our edifyedmonton.com website will be up on Sept. 1.
If you follow us on social media, you will notice a change in our handles. Our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts are all in the process of being renamed.
Is it a name change, or a brand-new magazine? That’s a question, as the editor, that I’ve wrestled with over the last few weeks. Our talented team has remained together through the process; we’re still going to be focused on the personalities, style, quirks and, of course, the food scene that make Edmonton such a unique place in which to live. Sure, we’re underrated by outsiders, but that doesn’t matter much to us.
The approach to Edify comes from an entirely fresh perspective. This is much deeper than a magazine redesign.
As Edmonton emerges from COVID-19, I expect that we’re all going to consider that we’re entering a new era as a city. The pandemic makes it feel like we’ve finished an important chapter in this city’s history — and it’s time to think about what comes next. How have we changed? What is our new normal? We’ve all had time to really consider what’s truly important to us. So, there really is no better time to not only relaunch the mag, but reinvest in what we do. In a time when many media outlets are cutting, cutting, cutting, our publisher, Trudy Callaghan, has determined that this magazine, this stable of freelancers, this city, is well worth doubling down on.
The name change is coming. And, yes, it’s a loonie in the jar every time I use the word “Avenue” after we wrap up sharing this great final issue with our readers.
