Rural Intelligence Returns! Publication Resumes on May 3
Posted by: Bess Hochstein
Posted on: Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Comments
The real genius of Rural Intelligence is that it isn’t simply a listing of ‘fun’ things to do; it unties us as a community, connects and celebrates what’s good in the people who live, work and give back here. Plus, the writing is top notch human interest. Shouldn’t there be a party to celebrate?!
Ok, I meant “unites” not “unties”. Big difference!
Hallelujah! I’ve missed my weekly email. I can’t tell you how much I used Rural Intelligence for planning my weekends. Regarding the party, I’ll bring the wine if someone brings the cheese.
What wonderful news, to have my favorite website return, just in time for a beautiful summer in the Berkshires/Hudson Valley/Litchfield Hills! Thank you, Mark Williams, for seeing the value, and maintaining the values, of this special corner of online journalism! Onward Rural Intelligence!
Meredith Kane, Copake
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Full Article
Rural Intelligence, the four-year-old online culture-and-lifestyle magazine for Berkshire, Columbia, Dutchess and Litchfield counties that has been on hiatus for the past six months, will resume publication at the beginning of May.
Mark Williams, who lives in the Tyringham Valley of Massachusetts, has purchased Rural Intelligence from its founders, Marilyn Bethany and Dan Shaw. Bethany and Shaw will remain as consultants and contributors. Williams has named longtime Rural Intelligence contributor Bess Hochstein as the editor.
“Since its inception, Rural Intelligence has become important to the social and cultural life of our region,” says Williams, who serves on the board of Jacob’s Pillow. “Everyone I know used to look forward to the weekly Rural Intelligence email, informing them of exciting news and great things to do over the coming week. Everywhere I went, people would talk about how much they missed Rural Intelligence. I felt its absence as a tremendous loss, and I saw that bringing it back would be a service to the regional community.”
Williams says he plans to maintain the site’s exacting journalistic standards and distinct editorial point of view while expanding its audience and advertising base. “Everybody who knows Rural Intelligence loves it and lives by it,” he says. “But there are still many people in our region who are unaware of it. Our goal is to expand the readership of Rural Intelligence by continuing to provide the insider’s insight to all the best this region has to offer.”
Rural Intelligence founders Bethany and Shaw, both of whom have decades of experience in journalism for such widely respected publications as The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, New York magazine, Elle Décor, Architectural Digest, and Los Angeles Magazine, are gratified that the online magazine they created from scratch will be revived and resurrected.
“This fall and winter I’ve seen so many stories that I know our Rural Intelligence audience would have loved to read,” says Shaw. “Now I’m happy that we’ll once again be able to share these stories.” Says Bethany, “The postcard-pretty villages and scenic farmland in this region are so lulling it’s easy to miss what’s exciting – topnotch restaurants, entertainment, art, shopping. Rural Intelligence offers a map to the hidden treasure, but, more important, through insightful and entertaining writing, it energizes readers so they can’t wait to join the fun.”
Rural Intelligence’s new editor, Bess Hochstein, says, “Dan and Marilyn have set extremely high standards for Rural Intelligence, and my goal is to maintain the site’s quality and to continue to introduce our readers to new and wonderful things to do, places to go, and experiences to try. There’s no lack of exciting news to share in this region; we’re lucky to have limitless material to inspire and motivate our readers to get out and enjoy the Rural Intelligence region.”
Rural Intelligence has been in stasis since August 2011. Over the next few weeks fresh content will be uploaded onto the site, and on Thursday, May 3, email subscribers will receive the familiar note with links to exciting new stories in the free, online magazine.
