Pub. Note: Here’s the email that Seattle Met sent to readers and clients, in the wake of the bankruptcy filing by the parent company of its head-to-head competitor, Seattle Magazine. It also speaks to the “changing media landscape” we’ve been talking about in our “ad-volution” series.
A note to Seattle Met readers and clients, I’m sure that most of you saw the news last week that Tiger Oak, the Minnesota-based parent company of Seattle Magazine, filed for bankruptcy. If you didn’t see the news, here is the PSBJ story.
We know that there is a lot of upheaval in the media industry today, but we thought it was important to let you know that Seattle Met, and its Seattle-based parent company SagaCity Media, are in a solid financial position. SagaCity has successfully diversified its revenue streams, allowing it to thrive. We also recognize there has been some confusion with the two publications over the years and wanted to be sure that no confusion existed here.
Further, we wanted you, our valued advertisers, readers, event goers, to be assured that Seattle Met remains dedicated to serving this dynamic market with complete independence. At a time when other information outlets, including much of social media and user-generated websites, steer their audiences to businesses that pay for their coverage, we will continue to recommend only those restaurants, arts organizations, local boutiques, and local travel destinations that our editors deem worthy.
We also want to thank you, because, while our financials are sound, our success owes everything to your continued support: without your advertising dollars, readership of our websites, engagement with our social media, and subscriptions to our print magazine, we could not continue to cover this ever-changing city with complete independence.
I’d also love to engage you in a dialogue about this changing media landscape. It’s incredibly valuable to hear about the changes you are seeing for your business. We want to know what’s working and what’s changed. To that end, our Publisher, Jeff Adams, Editor-in-Chief, Allecia Vermillion, and I are embarking on a listening tour. We’d love to schedule just a few minutes of your time to hear more about both the success of your marketing efforts as well as your personal media habits in this new world. We’d be happy to host you at one of our recently named 100 Best Restaurants, coffee, or simply a meeting at your office. I’m available for any questions, comments or lunch scheduling at nvogel@sagacitymedia.com.
Thank you,
Nicole Vogel
CEO, SagaCity Media, Seattle Met
———————————————
The news that Minneapolis-based Tiger Oak Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy hits close to home.
Daughter Melissa honed her considerable print- and digital-publication skills with Tiger Oak’s entire stable of Seattle publications over a 10-year period, ending her stint as group publisher of the flagship Seattle magazine, Seattle Business and Seattle Bride. She also created several custom publications during her tenure there, which ended in 2009.
Craig Bednar, president and publisher of Tiger Oak’s 30 regional titles, said in a news release that the filing would not impact the production, mailing or advertising commitments of the company’s publications. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows owners to reorganize and to be shielded from creditors and legal claims.
Bednar cited a shift away from print advertising and high vendor debt (i.e., money owed printers, venues that hosted publication events and freelancers) as the reasons for the filing, which listed liabilities between $1 million and $10 million, with less than $50,000 in assets.
Since leaving Tiger Oak, besides her work with all aspects of the MARKETING enterprise, Melissa and her husband, Scott, have handled production of the weekly Westside Seattle and the quarterly Business Pulse magazine in Bellingham. They also recently launched a book-publishing company called Book House.
—LC