Spotlight On… 200 Issues of the Listing
This issue marks 200 issues of The Listing – a feat that we are enormously proud of, and hope that you will share in our pride with us!
The Listing started life in September 2005, a time before the internet was widely used, mobiles were solely for texting and calling, and Facebook had yet to be launched beyond Harvard. There was a big gap for accessible, accurate, local information, and The Listing launched as a fresh new community magazine for Royston and the surrounding Villages, focusing on upcoming events, clubs and societies, and promoting local businesses. 200 issues later, and The Listing has firmly established itself as Royston and SG8’s go-to what’s on guide for bringing the community together.
The Listing is hand delivered to 17,000 homes in the SG8 area – and rising. We make a concerted effort to reach new households as the buildings become occupied, and have built this increased distribution into our plans for the coming years.
Behind the scenes memorable moments…
We don’t always share exactly what goes on behind the scenes in publishing. Anyone who has worked in this industry knows that print publishing is not for the faint-hearted! An incredibly small but dedicated team pulling together some 3- or 400 pieces of information each month, whilst working to tight deadlines, means that sometimes, just sometimes, things do go wrong. That said, we pride ourselves on how we deal with it – both as a team and with our customers – when it doesn’t quite go to plan.
Here are some of our most memorable moments from 200 issues of The Listing…
Receiving a call whilst hosting a networking event, that our shared office building was on fire (huge thanks to Royston Fire Brigade that major disaster was avoided) but the smoke damage meant a very smelly office and sore eyes for at least a month …
A lightning strike causing a power cut and taking down Indesign, meaning we couldn’t access our magazine files for at least 24 hours…
A pallet of magazines falling off the delivery lorry, boxes splitting and magazines falling into a puddle. And yes, we rescued as many magazines as we could and tried our best to dry them out on the office radiator! (*we just print what we distribute, as part of our sustainability commitment, so really can’t afford to lose magazines!)
For all you fans of the Apprentice, we have made that Artic mistake when talking about an Arctic Exploration event in Cambridge…
The pandemic being declared – after we had had 17,000 magazines printed – and didn’t feel comfortable sending our delivery team out there. A big thanks to Royal Mail for saving the day back in April 2020.
And of course, you can also find our content online at www.thelistingmagazine.co.uk and on our social media channels.
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hello@thelistingmagazine.co.uk