Who is Rural Intelligence?
Rural Intelligence is the brainchild of journalists Marilyn Bethany, who lives full-time in Columbia County, NY, and Dan Shaw, who lives full-time in Litchfield County, CT, They have both worked as editors and reporters at The New York Times and New York Magazine, where they met 20 years ago.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) has been the design editor of The New York Times Magazine and New York Magazine. She was the editor-in-chief of Buzz magazine and the executive editor of Los Angeles Magazine. She has written for Vogue, Town & Country, Elle Décor, and Architectural Digest.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (with his former boss Oprah Winfrey, left) was a founding editor of the The New York Times Sunday “Styles” section. He has been features editor of House & Garden, as well as deputy editor of HomeStyle and O at Home magazines. He has written for publications that include Berkshire Living, House Beautiful, Martha Stewart Living, O: The Oprah Magazine and Real Simple. He regularly writes the “Habitats” column for The New York Times Sunday Real Estate section. He is also the founder of The Falls Village Blog.
They created Rural Intelligence because they recognized the need for a reliable information source for people like themselves, who routinely do business and seek out recreation and entertainment in four counties—Berkshire, Columbia, northern Dutchess and northern Litchfield—that are spread over three states. This sprawling region, they believe, is not well-served by mainstream media, which tends to hew to conventional jurisdictional and geographic lines. They have taken their combined forty years of experience in print journalism and applied it to the technology of today to create a website that allows readers to comment and blog on every article.
Rural Intelligence treats this uniquely sophisticated rural region as one big neighborhood and hopes sharing information will foster a sense of community that transcends county and state boundaries. Rural Intelligence is the place where full-time residents and weekenders can come together to share their passion for culture and country life.
To build our audience, Rural Intelligence will advertise on screen at The Triplex in Great Barrington, MA, and The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY. There will be print ads in the Shopper’s Guide and other publications. To introduce Rural Intelligence to the widest possible audience, marketing partnerships with local cultural institutions and businesses are being formed. But, thanks to the magic of the internet, our most effective marketing strategy is readers like yourself, who spread our message by word-of-mouse.
