The cover of LORE for January/February 2006, with a photograph by Greg Murphy.
All good things must come to an end. But, do they end, or do they change?
LORE magazine (an acronym for Lives of Real Estate) recently announced a hiatus. This is for obvious reasons. The perhaps not-so-obvious reason is that many advertisers are beginning to see more value in online advertising, and print just cannot keep up.
LORE has been my flagship project since the first issue launched in January 2004. It was spearheaded by Anne Randolph, and bankrolled by Real Trends.
I was brought in to be the art director before the first issue launched, and was a replacement for an art director who had been fired, who had been a replacement for an art director who had been fired. Nothing like pressure to meet lofty expectations.
But, you know, it takes pressure to make diamonds.
LORE was such a career highlight for me because it opened so many opportunities, and introduced me to a multitude of amazing and inspiring people. Randolph and Real Trends put a lot of faith in me, and they gave me huge responsibilities with a budget and making large decisions. Not only was it a great adventure, it also induced a large amount of personal growth.
I believe that when a client or employer gives you the benefit of the doubt, and are willing to take risks with trusting you, it can lead to greatness.
I’ve done my greatest work with LORE, and have made huge strides in my skills, and have connected with a powerful international network of highly influencial people.
I could go on and on about it, but it does not make for a practical blog entry.
I do want to thank some of the great people who helped make LORE such an amazing project:
Anne Randolph, Steve Murray, Maureen Regan, Greg Murphy, Phil Mumford, John Johnston, Melinda DiMauro, Kevin Sprouls, Bryan Peterson, Tod Kapke, Jing Tsong, Linda Droeger, Andrew Sternard, Dru Shockley, Corey Burres, Stephen Schweickart, Marco Cristofori, Daniele Stuft, Manuello Paganelli, Dave Liniger, J. Lennox Scott, Wes Foster, Creig Northrop Team, John Barone, Adam Ewing, Sheri Chris, the list goes on and on . . .
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Post-script: I must mention that the popularity of LORE might save it from total demise. I believe it surely could survive a very difficult economy for several years with a genuine revenue stream (maybe more of a trickle) if it were to continue publishing as a website only. This would require a robust, yet thrifty, business plan. Stay tuned . . . .