One era ends, another begins

Concurrent with the launch of the new EncoreMichigan.com website, I was asked by Susan Horowitz (editor-in-chief of Between The Lines) to write the following article, which serves as a "closure" to BTL's involvement with Encore. (Despite all the ownership changes, the website itself remained hosted by BTL - but that ended with the debut of the new site.)

As I was thinking about my approach to the story, it dawned on me that there were actually TWO closures occurring: BTL's and the Calamia era of EncoreMichigan.com. The old website reflected my own personal editorial philosophy - that is, how I envisioned a media company should cover the professional theater community, given budget constraints and technical limitations of the website.

But times change. And the new website reflects a new owner with new sensibilities and approaches. So out with the old and in with the new!

Here's the story:

A New Owner And Expanded Mission For EncoreMichigan.com

One Era Ends As Another Begins

It lasted far longer than it was supposed to.

When Pride Source Media Group and I launched EncoreMichigan.com in 2008, the website devoted exclusively to professional theater in Michigan was intended to be in use for no longer than about six months or so. Seven years later, however, the site was still up and running and attracting several thousand visitors per day - that is, until Aug. 28, when it was finally retired and replaced with a totally redesigned version with all the latest bells and whistles.

Long live EncoreMichigan.com!

What few people know is that the original site, designed and built by BTL technical genius Kevin Bryant, was launched quicker than originally planned, as rumors of a similar site surfaced - and as BTL owners Jan Stevenson, Susan Horowitz and I are a competitive bunch, we wanted to beat our competitors to the marketplace. (We did; the other site never materialized.) And so we launched with a "beta" test site - fully functional, but without all the products and services it was intended to have.

CLICK HERE to read the complete story!