About Extended Weekend Getaways

 

The Weekender Magazine started as a monthly lifestyles page in the local weekly newspaper. In May of 2001, the staff from a group of area weekly newspapers joined together to publish the first 16-page tab-style magazine. It was inserted in the partnering newspapers, expanding readership and aiding in reaching more potential customers for its advertising sponsors. It was all black and white newspaper print with features covering ‘Places to go, People to see, and Things to do.

When the company that owned the newspaper was sold to a neighbor radio station in 2002, Kathy and Mike Barnett obtained the print rights to The Weekender and continued the magazine under the present ownership of Barnett PRO.

The first color magazine-style publication was issued in the Spring of 2003 intended to be distributed on a quarterly basis. The response was overwhelming and a subscription campaign was soon underway. The publishers immediately saw the need of expanding to bi-monthly distribution and then monthly distribution before the year was up. Several format changes later, an all-color, glossy format was introduced for the Festival/Fair Preview issue in Aug. of 2007.

Still distributed FREE to our subscribers, the world-wide web enabled The Weekender to reach other areas besides Ohio with online, 3D, page-flip versions. Surveys proved more and more readers were looking online to find the type of information The Weekender Magazine provided. So In the summer of 2008, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri issues were added to the roster. As we continued to grow, it was evident that each and every state needed coverage. With more places to go, things to do and people to see than what our small staff had time for, A sample Weekender Extended section was introduced to subscribers at fair booths in the regular Weekenders with the first issue published in 2009.

Still covering “Places to go, things to do, and people to see” but across the U.S. on and “extended weekend getaway, we added “for the fun side of life” in 2013. Magazine Media is reaching up to 385,733,000!  Travel category results show 30 million reached per month in 2015. The Weekender Magazine is now ready to reach this audience!

Post pandemic, the staff gathered at the round table and reviewed how we could better serve our subscribers. With new technology requirements and updated software available, we researched our readership, travel trends and the new social media sites. The result was changing our name to better describe who we are and what we cover.

It is so simple! Our magazine issues still cover places to go, things to do, and people to see while on those

“Extended Weekend Getaways!”