Providence Monthly Celebrates 30 Years of Publishing

In this episode, we delve into the remarkable journey of Providence Monthly magazine as it marks its 30th anniversary. Host Bill Bartholomew sits down with Chris Revill, a media veteran and current account manager at Hayrode Media, to explore how the magazine has thrived in a changing media landscape and its vital role in fostering community connection.

In this episode:

• The origins and resilience of Providence Monthly since 1996
• The importance of genuine journalism and community focus in media
• How local media reflects and influences Providence’s culture
• The evolving landscape of media, from legacy outlets to new media
• The upcoming 30th anniversary party as a community celebration
• The unique appeal of print and local media in a digital age
• The role of authenticity and passion in media success
• The personal impact of media work on professional and life transformations
• The significance of community events in strengthening local bonds

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction to Providence Monthly and its legacy

00:49 - The history and survival of a print magazine in a digital world

01:36 - The story behind the magazine’s 30-year milestone

02:57 - The challenge of maintaining relevance post-COVID

03:34 - Community, love, and storytelling as core values of Providence Monthly

04:12 - Announcing the 30th anniversary celebration at Medici Lounge

05:24 - The importance of community and connection over politics

06:20 - The craving for local media and the nostalgia it provides

07:05 - How legacy media is embracing new media trends

08:15 - Rhode Island’s media ecosystem and national attention

09:01 - The emotional and cultural significance of fostering community through media

09:56 - The enduring appeal of print, radio, and magazines in the digital age

10:14 - Personal stories of media impact and career pivoting

11:19 - Reflection on local media’s role in amplifying voices and ideas

11:36 - The power of authentic relationships and external validation

12:22 - Personal growth through media ventures and the importance of passion

13:02 - Closing remarks and upcoming 30th anniversary celebration

Transcript

Bill Bartholomew 0:00

All right. Providence Monthly magazine is turning 30, and that's what we're going to talk about today and a bunch more. But Chris, uh, I'm shocked this is your first time on the podcast. I'm actually not convinced it is. I feel like we did something during COVID. There's I I don't know. It's a blur. But anyway, welcome back to Bartholomew Town. For anybody who doesn't know who you are and what you do, uh, set the table, please.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Awesome. So um I've been in the podcast world for quite a long time. I had a podcast that ran for like 250 plus episodes called uh Let's Chat with Chris Revel. But then more recently, uh now I'm a account manager over at Hey Roadie Media, which publishes Providence Monthly. And then I at Ferrell period was doing the Hey Roadie podcast, uh, which is hopefully we'll come back at some point. We just kind of ran out of time. And then I also do the producer and host and do kind of a lot of odd, odd things, but largely in the media entertainment world.

Bill Bartholomew 0:49

Yeah. And one big part of the media and entertainment world and really the news world in Rhode Island is a lot of are a lot of the products, so to speak, or the offerings from Hey Roadie, but we're talking about a Providence Monthly to start with. And what Providence Monthly's, you know, it's like here's here's the honest takeaway from Providence Monthly. You know, this format of media is you see it tried in a lot of different ways, and it seems great. Look, we're gonna print a magazine, and then we can sell ads to real estate or this, that, the other, and then uh we'll be laughing all the way to the bank. Well, whatever, we'll just publish whatever filler we can get in there. Providence magazine is a real magazine. You know what I mean? You pick it up and and you actually you actually have like journalism and great photography, and you go inside and take take people inside places and into worlds that they otherwise wouldn't know about or if they did know about, wouldn't get the look that you get. It's actual journalism. And that's a huge separator in the space that you play in, which is why you've survived and thrived for 30 years. So with that kind of setup, uh, what's happening with with 30 years of Providence Monthly?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Yeah, it's wild because I'm I'm from Connecticut originally, and all of these versions of like the lifestyle magazines, like we have like the New Haven Examiner and all this great stuff, they're all gone. Like that, all that stuff just kind of disappeared. Um, we're we're for people who don't know, we're the free magazines you just kind of find everywhere around Providence area. Uh, we have the four four publications, but we're about Providence Monthly specifically. You'll find like Providence, Cranston, East Providence, you know, that that re Warwick, that each that region. And um, so the magazine, god, yeah, it came, it started in 1996 because Hey Rody, the company, our company is 51 years old, which is also insane. But I think Providence Monthly was formed 30 years ago, and at some point there was a merger at some point. Uh so I was I was like just looking it up earlier, like 1996. So this is the year like Independence Day came out. Like, like I was 11 when this all happened. Um, so one day we uh we're just sitting around talking about it, and someone mentioned that we're turning 30. And then it kind of dawned on me as like, we we gotta do something about this. Like, that's not a small feat. Like it's a a free magazine to exist in a post-COVID world, in a digital world. Um, you know, it it is it's still relevant. People like it. One of the things I've always said I love kind of about the magazines, even before I worked here, is um it's nice, it's fluff. You know, it's it's a mirror reflecting the bet what's back at the city. The people who work there truly care. There's only 13 of us who put everything out every single month. And like we really truly love Providence and the surrounding areas. And it's just like it's really like a labor of love in a lot of ways. And it's like I felt like it was important. And uh, so we had a really great event. We had a Huda Watch party at Medici. And afterwards was talking to their owners, Susie and Dan, who were just lovely, and they're like, we gotta do something again. And then once I kind of put together, I was like, huh, a 30th anniversary is coming up. Providence, as we all know, not very busy in June. So I kind of kind of this idea, it's like, well, why don't we just throw a party, make it like the magazines, free for everyone, a way to celebrate, a way to help out our city, and just let's get everyone together and just hang out. Like we could all have different thoughts and views and ideals. Like we don't have to talk about politics. We could all just listen to some music and dance, have a drink, have some food, and just have a nice time and just kind of be together. And it just kind of steamrolled from there. So I'm like, all right, we're doing this.

Bill Bartholomew 4:04

We're doing it Wednesday, June 17th, as a matter of fact, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Medici Lounge. There's the details. What can people expect when they get there?

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Oh, so we're so excited. If anyone hasn't been to Medici Lounge, it's uh really beautiful, a really beautiful space. Uh, we have food from Cafe Divina. Uh our DJ is DJ Mr. Bird. If you're not familiar, he's a fantastic DJ. He's not like a hit play DJ, he's an actual DJ. He uh DJed our Who to Watch party. He got people on the floor dancing, hoping to throw in some retro mix. And like in our true kind of Hey Roadie Providence monthly fashion, it should be like a mixture of all different groups of people. It will be the business community, the nonprofit community, the creative community, like just a little bit of everybody having fun, a complimentary drink from uh Loyal Lemonade. Well, well, supplies last, so we're super excited about that. And like my idea is for people to come and just really have fun. Like it should just be a time to like kind of shut off the news, get off of your phone, and just kind of see the people. We all, especially Providence is such a wonderful city where I'm sure you're in the same boat where there's so many people I call friends, but I don't know their phone number. We don't call each other, we don't ever make plans to hang out, but we run into each other pretty frequently, and every time we do, it just like lifts my spirit. And so the idea is just like let's get all these people from the different worlds in a room and just like just dance and have a good time. People need tickets or anything like that, they can just turn up. They can turn it's completely free. We do have an Inventbrite where you can reserve a ticket for free, but uh that's just forget for headcount. But yeah, you people can show up, bring as many people as you want. Like, um, we're I'm I'm hoping we'll hope we get as many as people we can get there. Um, like I'm gonna I think it should be it should be fun. Hopefully you're gonna run into a lot of people who are like, you know, like it's it's almost like you know when you teach see a teacher out of school, like you know someone from one place, and then you get to see them in a completely dis atmosphere. Like like how often do you get to see like I worked in nonprofits for years and years, and the nonprofit people, we don't get to cut loose often. So it's always fun, like, hey, why is that executive director dancing over? That never that never happened when I worked at uh in the in the healthcare system.

Bill Bartholomew 6:05

You what are you seeing right now as an observer, as a participant, a creator in media on the local level? What are you seeing right now? What are you sensing that that uh is is is is kind of framing the way that you're working.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

I think it's so interesting, specifically to Rhode Island, that there is more of a craving for it now than ever. Where I've noticed within our magazines, I've been here like about a uh a few, I've been in here a few years, a younger and younger generation is actually more interested in the magazines I think that have been in previous years. I think um it's it's kind of well. I think people are craving it. I think it's also nice to have something where you could not get like doom scroll or ra get rageful for them. Like you can just sit down and read about a restaurant or look at someone's home or read about something nice happening in your city and it feels good. I think there's a real craving for it. I think there's a real want for it. Um I think I I come from like your world, like I come from podcasts and new media. I do kind of feel like everyone new media kind of really wants to be um really trying to like mimic what legacy media did. And it seems like all legacy media is trying to now mimic what is new media doing. And I feel like it took a long time and there was quite a divide. Like um, I say it took me years to get any sort of local coverage about podcasting, where I got national coverage a few years in. And now it's like kind of the opposite. It's like it's like you're seeing the the legacy media like really open to what's going on with the new media and and a real respect for it too, as well, which I really appreciate. And like people genuinely like care and they want it. And and it's not just us, like we we have competitors, and it's 2026. There's multiple different outlets, there's newspapers, there's magazines, and everyone's doing a great job. And it seems like all the companies um everyone like is getting along really well together too. Like we we work, we're we're friends with Motif, we're friends with Rhode Island Monthly. Like, we all see each other. Like I chat with those people. If I know of something cool going on that like that deserves coverage, like it's not as gatekeeper. Maybe it was from what I understand, it's not very gatekeeper here. I'm like, I'll talk to my friend Ally at Motif. I'm like, oh my god, this cool event's going on. You got you gotta write about this podcast. I think we're doing a story about it, but that they they need they need this too. Like it's it's a win-win for everybody. And then also the coolest part of it is how much stuff happens Rhode Island that then becomes national attention, that then all those national people, like the housewives, are the perfect example. Sure. They've been like coming like that. Became yeah, that's national news. And then they all turn around and want to do local press, and they all have really strong connections to it, like they read it when they were kids, or their parents did it, or something. It's it's really nice. It's like it I think it's like kind of a warming feeling when and media as a whole can kind of feel opposite, especially what's going on in like a like CBS and some of the other stuff. There's kind of nice to have there's like a a nice narrative going on of like a bunch of supportive community of people who actually just care.

Bill Bartholomew 8:49

Right. Yeah, I think that that is one of the things that connects it it's an it's a very important connector between especially millennials, but probably all generations to to a bygone era is our our television, radio, magazines, to an extent, newspapers. I think that there's a little bit of information there, a little little multi-sensory thing that still feels very comforting. And I think that's part of why people are coming back. I really do think I think it's the art of it and not just the fact that people are t are done with phones. It's part of that, but I think people actually like the thing. I think people actually like magazines and actually like radio. Maybe not television. I'm not convinced that traditional television has uh the same nostalgia. It always felt a little bit temporary in a way to me, but um, but it still has a purpose. The six o'clock news or the road show have a have a purpose, right? Oh yeah. So it's interesting times here. Um, but one thing that we do know in terms of time 30 years of Providence Monthly. I am a big fan. I've been in it a couple of times, I'm not gonna lie. All right, there we go. Great opportunities. And uh that that party's coming up, and definitely we'll be popping by that, and a lot of people should to kind of just check in on the community. You know? That's what it is. It's a community gathering.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah, I remember um in 2020, my old podcast, I had interviewed our editor in chief, uh uh Elise, who still is there, and I remember her asking, like, hey, you guys ever do anything about podcasting? And I remember being like, I think we did something on Bill Bartholomew. Because I remember you were someone who started after me, and I was always like, and just jumped leaps ahead, and you just absolutely killed it, been a fan forever. And I remember being so happy. I'm like, yes, Bill cracked the coat. He got local media to write about podcasts. I think I could be wrong, but you might be the first podcast that they wrote about. I I could need to be fact-checked, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Bill Bartholomew 10:47

I walked into the Providence Journal in 2019, uh, maybe 2018, but 2019. And I I sat down with Alan Rosenberg, who was the editor-in-chief at the time, and I pitched him Bartholomewtown as it would have already been about a year in. And I was like, hey, we should partner on this. You know, we should do something with this. I basically want to give this to you. Just I I need somebody to just give me some money to do this and some distribution. And he was like, Well, why would why we don't need that? We have we already have reports. We have Kathy Greg doing interviews. Oh, we don't need somebody to do interviews with, you know. Um, and you know, we had a great conversation for as he walked me to the elevator and down I went. And uh basically nobody cared, nobody saw it except for um the audience, you know, at the beginning. And I think you know that as well, that that's really at the end of the day where the connection comes from. It's the external validation or whatever is meaningless. It's more just an amplification so more audience can engage. And that's why you've been successful as we're your podcast was uh a must listen, and the work you continue to do matters because you're a great podcaster. And whether or not the Providence Journal or anybody writes about it is like so secondary to that uh because your relationship with your audience is so authentic. And the same with the magazine, like honestly, like it's a very key. And the same with Motif magazine, and same, you know what I mean? There's like a there at Newport This Week, who I have a relationship with, I'll disclose, but there's an authenticity. And man, does that taste good?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

And we all care. And yeah, I've had that same conversation with Podcat regarding podcasts many and many a times with uh local and national companies at various levels in my time. And um, and it did something amazing for me is as I I worked in healthcare. I mean, I I worked at uh Butler Hospital all through the pandemic. And from the podcast, I was able to leave my career in my in my 30s with a child in a house and then make a complete pivot and then get to work in media like I kind of I wanted to do, but never knew how to do. And like it it led to some really amazing opportunities that would have never came any other way.

Bill Bartholomew 12:52

Awesome. Well, Chris, thanks so much for making the time uh to be here on Bartholomew Town, and we'll see you on the 17th, Providence Monthly. Happy 30th birthday.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Oh, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Long time listener, so this is great.