EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN (Sept. 10, 2020) – Volume One, the leading locally owned and locally focused media organization in the Chippewa Valley, has launched an ambitious, impactful redesign to its print and digital editions.
Amid a year of uncertainty and change, the redesign – the first to the magazine in more than a decade – includes refocused and expanded local news and cultural content, a greater emphasis on high-quality photography and printing, and the addition of new digital offerings, including a podcast, new video essays, and more.
Beginning Sept. 10, the redesigned magazine is available free at hundreds of distribution racks throughout the Chippewa Valley and online at VolumeOne.org.
“As a small local media organization with roughly two dozen employees and a revenue model based largely on advertising and events, Volume One – like so many media organizations across the country – has seen a frightening last six months,” said owner and publisher Nick Meyer. “Local businesses were hurting, and that automatically meant we were, too. So while doing everything we could to help – using our resources to tell the stories of (and rally attention for) affected non-profits, businesses, and individuals, as well as offering financial assistance for their marketing efforts – we asked our readers for some help of our own. We launched the Volume One Membership Program. And wow, did this community answer that call.”
Nearly 1,000 Chippewa Valley families stepped up and became members, and thousands more supported Volume One by shopping at The Local Store online and in person. Hundreds of loyal local businesses and organizations continued to turn to Volume One as an advertising and marketing partner, and the organization received national-level pandemic grant support from the Google News Initiative and the Facebook Journalism Project.
Volume One used all this generous support to turn inward and invest in itself. “We had to take this opportunity to make our own meaningful changes. So we took our bit of ‘downtime’ and got to work,” Meyer said. “While many challenges clearly still lie ahead, and the work doesn’t stop here, we’re ready to unveil a whole new approach to Volume One and what it can mean to this community.”
Starting with the latest issue, here are seven changes you’ll see at Volume One:
1. RE-IMAGINED & EXPANDED CONTENT FLOW. Each issue features six new sections, both in print and online: Voice, Community, Arts, Life, Features, and Events+Guides.
2. IMPROVED QUALITY & DESIGN FOR BOTH PRINT & DIGITAL. We’ve revamped our look, updated page designs and styles, partnered with a high-tech Wisconsin-based printer, upgraded our paper quality, and improved our online content to really make a splash.
3. DEEPER INVESTMENT IN LOCAL CREATIVES & LOCAL CONTENT. This fall, we’re introducing new print, digital, and video content featuring local contributors, and increasing pay for key local stuff like feature stories, impactful opinions, photo essays, videos, and more. This publication is by, about, and for, the Chippewa Valley, with 99.9% locally created content – and it’s going to stay that way.
4. FURTHER ELEVATION OF DIVERSE VOICES. To elevate needed discussions across the Chippewa Valley and beyond, we’ve expanded coverage and inclusion of the BIPOC community by launching recurring paid columns and multimedia content featuring diverse voices and faces from across the region.
5. ENHANCED MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCES. We’re pushing the best content forward – impactful videos, events, stories, and more – on desktop and mobile, all available with one touch right from your phone’s home screen, and offered to you on social media every day. And we’re finally launching Volume One’s first-ever podcast – expect upbeat monthly installments featuring key local topics, engaging and insightful guests, and the varied voices of local writers, talkers, and pontificators. (See and hear more at volumeone.org/podcasts.)
6. NEW INTEREST-BASED EVENT LISTINGS. You’ll now see a visually condensed calendar of events with quick-hit descriptions, gathered by interest/topic each day (creating faster browsing for what you’re into), as well as more curated local event collections. Online you’ll find even more info with fully searchable topics, in-depth event descriptions, photos, links, and more.
7. SOPHISTICATED DIGITAL MARKETING FOR LOCAL BRANDS. We’ve partnered with one of the most sophisticated technology and digital advertising platforms out there to make impactful digital marketing available to even the smallest local organizations, elevating local brands to anyone, anywhere, on nearly any platform or device, including national-level websites, search engines, social media, streaming television and radio, and really much more.
“All in all, we’re thrilled for this new chapter of Volume One, and we hope you are, too,” Meyer said. “If you’d like to be part of our future by becoming a member, visit VolumeOne.org/membership. And thank you for reading, for sticking with us, and for your support in whatever form that may take.”
