The O-town Scene

Scene the O-Town Vol. 2, No. 1 www.otownscene.com 102 Chestnut St., P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820 (607) 432-1000, ext. 255, editor@otownscene.com EDITOR Cassandra Miller ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Adrienne Wise PUBLISHER Armand Nardi CONTRIBUTORS John Champlin, Michele Ginsberg, Terry Ludwig, Ashok Malhotra, Robin Nussbaum, Mark Simonson, Sam Spokony, Jennifer Tighe and Hope Von Stengel. EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Sam Pollak ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sean Lewis The O-Town Scene is published Thursdays by The Daily Star Inc. Free copies are distributed throughout Oneonta, as well as parts of Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties. Member of The Associated Press and CNHI News Service EDITOR'S NOTE The Scene is celebrating its first anniver- sary this week. It's a noteworthy milestone. One year means commitment. It means the relationship is working. We love you, readers, and we feel your love reciprocated. We've got a good thing going on. At various times, I've referred to the Scene as my child, my significant other, and my dream job. I'm attached to this publication, and am consistently proud of it. Last summer when my publisher, Armand Nardi, and my editor, The Daily Star Editor Sam Pollak, gave me the opportunity to con- ceptualize, design, find writers for and be the editor of a new hipsexycool publication _ you know, for the kids _ I was thrilled. And a little terrified, at first. But, I never doubted it would be success- ful. (The terror subsided once I accepted that these people did actually have faith in me, and then excitement set it.) I solicited friends, family members and acquaintances to write. I contacted every communications and English professor in the four-county area for student writer recom- mendations (that's how stellar college writers Sam Spokony and Jennifer Tighe, who have 2 O-Town Scene Oct. 6, 2011 been contributing articles since the first issue, started writing). For inspiration, I collected alternative weeklies from cities I visited, and asked my friends who were traveling to do the same. I harassed Dan Savage's agent until we got his Savage Love column syndicated (and then had to stop running it a couple of months later because a reader complained of its sauciness). I wrote the first cover story on area a cappella groups, and on Oct. 7, 2010, the Scene was born. In addition to being a child, I also some- times think of the Scene as a weekly party of which I am the hostess. I get to decide who to invite, what to serve and how to present it, but it would be no fun without other people. I'm very proud of the caliber of writers and photographers contributing articles, columns and photos to the Scene. Several of my colleagues at The Daily Star also make the Scene as good as it is. Daily Star Assistant Editor Emily Popek came up with the idea for R.o.B.S., and writes the B.S. story each week. She, along with Daily Star reporter Mark Boshnack, write biweekly columns, as well. Daily Star design magician David Fredette keeps track of all the ads, and created eye-catching covers for the first few months of publication. (He also has taught me more about graphic design than he probably knows.) Continued on Page 3

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