Top Ten FAQ about Utah Valley Magazine

Q: How does the magazine reflect the changing cultural demographics of Utah Valley? Utah Valley is so much more diverse than even 10 years ago.
— Rebecca Cressman
A: Great question. Utah Valley Magazine should reflect Utah Valley. While the white population is still between 85 and 90 percent, the growth of our ethnic communities demands our attention. For example, nearly 10 percent of Utah County residents are Hispanic or Latino. During our first 10 years, we have featured three blacks and one Hispanic on the cover. Our Cute Baby contests have been populated with different shades of skin. But we need your help! If you know a great person, event or topic that would help us diversify, fill us in!

Q: How do you find out about the “Best Kept Secret” companies? — Jason Bringhurst
A: Let’s be honest. We can’t keep a secret. When we find out about a cool new venue, an accomplished musician or a boutique-to-shop-for, we want to tell 80,000 of our closest friends. We receive a couple dozen e-mails per day with story ideas and press releases. We also have a network of clients who keep us informed. We strive to send a representative to as many community events as possible and bring back ideas and names. No secrets here, people!

Q: How do you decide on companies and people to spotlight? — Brenda Thompson
A: This is the most common question we are asked. When we started Utah Valley Magazine, we anticipated that coming up with stories would be our most difficult task. Wrong! We have more story ideas than we can wrap our pens around. Editor Jeanette Bennett’s inbox and desk (she’s a piler) are proof that we’ve got ideas a-plenty. But picking which ones to feature is not so black and white. A year in advance, we create a framework for the next six issues. We do our best to spread the love from Alpine to Santaquin with a balance of gender, ages and religion.

Q: How do you get on the cover? — Veronica Chapman
A: If your last name is Osmond, that helps (we’ve featured Donny, Marie and Merrill). But most of our 60 covers have landed on the newsstand with non-household names. In our first 10 years, we’ve turned 22 women and 27 men into cover models. Ten of our covers have included both genders, and one mouthwatering cover highlighted Magleby’s deliciously frosted chocolate cake. Our ideal cover is timely (Kurt Bestor at Christmas and Matt Holland as he took over UVU). It also helps to give a good interview and to endure an hourlong photo shoot (it’s harder than you’d think to smile nonstop and absorb light in the eyes without crying).

Q: I always wonder about “behind the scenes.” Who are the makeup people? How many hours did you spend scheduling the interviews? — Suzanne Reeve
A: Movies like “The Devil Wears Prada” make magazine life look glamorous. It’s true that we have photo shoots and meet Utah Valley’s accomplished faces. But none of us has a personal assistant who hangs up our coats and makes our calls. The only time we’ve hired a makeup artist was for a Utah Valley Bride photo shoot when our unpaid models showcased the valley’s fashion forward dresses. Day-to-day life at Utah Valley Magazine involves sales appointments for ad reps and computer time for the writers, editors and designers. For more details, visit the Utah Valley Magazine blog and Jeanette Bennett’s personal blog at jeanettegazette.com

Q: What mistakes have you made along the way that taught you important lessons? — Laura Horton Lawrence
A: This seems like an easy one to answer. But after interviewing hundreds of local success stories who repeatedly tell us that adversity leads to bigger and better things, it’s hard to truly qualify anything as a mistake. But here are some setbacks …
We tried to start a BYU sports magazine but put the idea on hold before we printed an issue due to lackluster subscription requests. At times we’ve allowed clients to run a handful of ads before receiving a bankruptcy notice. An oversight on postage requirements doubled our mailing costs one issue, which took the profit margin to pennies.
But given the economic climate of the past decade and Utah Valley’s (somewhat true) stereotype of being cheap, we count more successes than failures in our first 10 years.

Q: How far in advance do you complete the magazine?
— Andrea Barney
A: Typical magazines are in production six months before the issue hits newsstands. We aren’t typical. Partly due to our high ratio of magazine pages to staff members, most of the magazine is completed within six weeks of landing in mailboxes and waiting rooms.

Q: Will magazines still be in business in 10 years? — Jason Gray
A: While it’s true that our friends in the newspaper business are seeing their industry change, magazines have been largely untouched. Newspapers deliver timely news. With smart phones and laptops at our fingertips, we access news 24 hours a day without waiting for the yellow baggie to hit the driveway in the morning. Magazine websites are much less important than the glossy, portable version. However, our magazine is available online at uvmag.com, and we intend to add more interactive features in the future.

Q: What is it like to work with family? — Lanae Wilson
A: Bennett Communications is a family business. Matt and Jeanette Bennett started the company in 1998 doing national newsletters and then added Utah Valley Magazine in 2000, which is when Kendall and Roxanne Bennett came on board to run the advertising side. Greg Bennett was hired as an editor in 2002 (he also worked under sister-in-law Jeanette on the junior high yearbook staff). But there are a dozen other staff members who don’t share a last name but do share the goal of creating the best magazines in the valley. We’re all family!

Q: Is Utah Valley Magazine subscription-based? — John Christensen
A: When we started Utah Valley Magazine in 2000, we mailed sample copies to the top 20,000 households in the county based on income. Since then we have built our subscriber base and our newsstand distribution. We do still send sample mailings to parts of the county based on income and age. So if you want to guarantee a copy will land in your mailbox, pony up the $10. If you are lucky enough to be on our sample list, we hope you’ll fall in love with the magazine.