Preview Issue by SevenCities Print

House Specials

Contents Sample our offerings.

“I’ll have what she’s having…”

Inside this promotional issue are previews of our seven magazines. Both the editorial and advertising layouts seen here showcase the various ad formats we offer, designed to the specifications that will appear in our editions. Discover the ways SevenCities can serve your business.

Advertising

Editorial

4 Half Page

Aperitif

Hello love.

24 seven cities .com /taste coming soon

A Moveable Feast

Good Friends. Great Food. Unforgettable Moments.

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TasteMakers

EDITORS | PUBLISHERS Hannah Serrano | Allison Hurwitz DESIGN DIRECTOR Robert Simmons SITE ARCHITECT Jason Gay WORDS George Booker | Jerome Spencer | Jen Stringer PHOTO Jerry Altares | DCPG Photography Howard Tarpey ART Chelsey Barnes | Doug Clarke | Jason Levesque | Walter Taylor DESIGN DCPG Photography | Ian Oliver PRODUCED in association with Grey80 Multimedia, Inc. SPECIAL THANKS Chuck Miller | Miller Custom Homes | Home-a-rama Norfolk Drawing Group Look Alive Project | Jarrett Beeler Tom Robotham | TReehouse The Hurwitz Family The Serrano Family Restless Bodies | Elm & Oak Josh Wright | Dave Hausmann VII | Rebel E ADDITIONAL Skye Nott (p.4) PHOTOGRAPHY flickr.com/iamskye Glen Balls (p.5) flickr.com/chefglen Jami-Lee Heimerle (p.9) flickr.com/jami_lee

Taste is a quarterly print magazine devoted to food in Hampton Roads. It is the first in a series of seven biweekly produced publications, each devoted to a vital element of local culture. The digital edition of Taste, at 24SevenCities.com/taste, includes interactive maps with clickable listings and reviews, plus an expansive database that allows you to search dining options by location, type of cuisine or rating. Restaurant listings include pictures, menus, chef profiles, and video; “Taste Tests”—our review, notes and rating; and, most importantly, user reviews, ratings and live interaction.

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Kitchen Confidential

annah Serrano and Allison Hurwitz started SevenCities, 24SevenCities.com and seven specialty publications, after getting their chops as editors at Port Folio Weekly. Inspired by the food world’s New Guard—a generation of young, edgy chefs whose method marries old-school, straight-from-the-heart sensibility with conceptual, experimental techniques—these Tastemakers have a striking combo. Smarts and soul. The product, SevenCities, is equally dynamic. With its pairing of print and web publishing, it has both the integrity of slow food, and the innovation of molecular gastronomy. It’s latenight comfort food, and it’s healthy, holistic nutrition. It feeds the body, stirs the soul.

The dichotomy reflects an even balance in the two writers’ aesthetics. Together they are like a scoop of ice cream and a cup of black coffee. The result is complex, and can be, at times, bittersweet. “We want to make people smile,” says Hannah. Finishing her thought quite rightly, Allison adds, “and we want to make them think.” Cheif among the duo’s talented and dedicated collobraters are site architect Jason Gay and design director Robert Simmons, whose intuitively crafted style compliment and complete Serrano’s and Hurwitz’s vision. Pens and forks in hand, word processors and food processors all abuzz—these two hungry young women are chowing down, talking food, and feeding local culture.

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Sweet Deal ou can’t very well improve upon something, we believe, without first recognizing its inherent splendor. This publication is about all the things that make the Seven Cities great. And its presentation—one online alternative daily plus seven quarterly print magazines—strives toward the best of both media and the qualities that make each indispensable; collectivity, personalization and intuitiveness. Here’s how it works: Everything happens online first. 24sevencities.com, as its name implies, focuses on the here and now. It offers practical resources, including integrated calendars and previews; maps, listings and reviews; weather, traffic and the like. The customizable homepage allows users to filter content to suit their preferences. It is based on widgets—familiar to most

from iGoogle and now also BBC. co.uk—which offer a kind of salad bar approach to customization. For advertisers, it is a direct approach to consumers; a nuanced understanding of their interests, lifestyles, and thusly their spending habits. The web mag also incorporates a great deal of user-driven content. Ratings and comments maintain quality, blogs and forums contribute to editorial. For content that does find its way to print, we will fairly compensate its author, be they reporter, blogger or user. The print editions then derive the best of the web. They deliver exquisite feature stories that in turn drive readers back to the site for the fuller, interactive experience; videos, cooking tutorials and live blogs, for instance. Here’s how that works: Our quarterly magazines are published fortnightly, giving readers something

Preview Issue Advertising Guide fresh every other week and providing a longer shelf life for ads. So, two weeks into the season we produce Taste, a new issue of which you will not see until the next quarter. Then, two weeks after Taste, you have Sound, then two weeks later, Shop, and so on. The seventh pub of the series, however, stays out for two quarters to fit the 52week year. That edition, released with the lead title MoreSevenCities, is the wildcard. Topically focused and always different, More goes for big-ticket themes, like politics, sex and power. As multi-dimensional as our endeavor is, however, there is a simple goal at its heart--to help make this area better and more beautiful, somehow. And the way that we do that is to celebrate the culture and life that we already do enjoy in this blossoming little place that we call home.

GUEST EDITOR’S RANT Don’t worry;

I don’t intend to make this magazine a soapbox for me to espouse some ideological rant about how only you can support your local music scene. I’m the first one to admit that The Seven Cities have no music “scene” in the traditional sense. But that’s a good thing. I’m not here to talk about that either, though. I’m really just hoping for a way to convey my own passion for music and its impact on our culture and community. I don’t claim to know more about music than anyone else; I’m no expert (I’m not even a musician). But I do tend to obsess over sounds more than what’s probably healthy. But I think that’s a good thing, too.

This is more than just a magazine about music and how it moves me specifically. It never ceases to amaze me that music, good or bad (far too often the bad), can shape cultures, communities and entire generations. So that’s where 24SevenCities comes in for me. If our vast community can ever hope for any cohesive musical movement it’s going to need some way to exchange ideas and share passions. This area is far too expansive in terms of geography and musical tastes to ever rely on one venue or genre to define us. But who wants that anyway? Sure, sometimes you need to drive a little further to catch a good show. That’s called an adventure and it’s the price you pay for this

type of diversity. But I’m getting pretentious… I just want to share my love for music and culture with anyone who happens to be literate in hopes that it’s contagious (I was referring to my love of music there, but it’d by okay if literacy were contagious also). I don’t necessarily have a mission statement or manifesto (hell, I don’t even have a game plan), but I’m going to write about music from a local perspective and hope that people read my thoughts instead of lining their birdcage with these pages. How’s that for lofty goals? Oh yeah, check out our website. Jerome Spencer

Words Jerome Spencer Photo + Cover DCPG Photography

ho the hell

is Moutheater? And why is everyone I know talking about them like they’ve invented an environmentally sound energy alternative and restored America’s economy? They are just a band, right? Were the term not so criminally outdated and misrepresented, I might even say Moutheater is a “grunge” band with a touch of metal’s antagonism and enough feedback to keep the buzz going. They’re particularly popular, and with a lot of momentum behind them. But what makes them any different than any other local band? I propose that it’s their work ethic. This is a band devoted to being a band. Instead of griping about lacking venues and opportunities in the Seven Cities, Moutheater keeps their calendar full with shows, tours whenever their jobs allow, has already recorded an EP in Chicago with the legendary Steve Albini and fit right into the Thrashed Records roster. Not too shabby, right? I also suspect it’s because these guys are loud. No, I mean really loud. And sometimes you just go to a show to get loud and let loose. Still in their first year, Moutheater has done more than most local bands achieve in their whole careers. And because of that determination, they’ve developed a national fan base and the admiration of their equally loud peers. If they maintain this drive, Moutheater is poised to make that short (but impressive) list of local musicians who’ve “hit it big.” And it seems like that’s what they want. They’ve definitely worked hard to get it. Don’t miss our premiere issue of SOUND for Jerome Spencer’s “in-depth analysis of just who these guys think they are, and what it means to our local culture.”

PREMIERE PREVIEW Hello, SevenCitiesOfHamptonRoads... ites(?), and allow me to introduce you to Sound. I am thrilled to help present this to you, as there isn’t a publication comparable to express what Sound looks and feels like. Listen to the delicate flip of the paper as you make your way through this preview. Listen to the crinkle as you find yourself grasping the pages like the bills in a newly discovered pile of cash you found near the isolated site of a plane crash or something. These are my admittedly lofty ambitions as you pore through this preview of Sound, and it is my sincere hope that such ambition creates a sustained adequacy that will Sound okay. Perhaps you are the type that prefers the miniature clicking and rolling and steady buzz of a computer parsing the Interweb. We’ve got that Sound for you as well. As this fancy print collectible will give you a quarterly update as to what we are listening to and thinking about, our Sound soldiers will be cranking out a regular stream of coverage on the cyber side at a rate faster than the living of life itself (or, at least, dai-

ly). Additionally, this is where you will find a few things that are just very expensive to put into a magazine, such as video and, something very close to Sound; audio. Tiring of this editorial abstraction? Yeah, me too. Please let me invite you to just relax and enjoy. Put on your favorite record. We’ll tell you about ours. Stay tuned.... George Booker For our debut issue of Sound, coming Jan. 30, 2009, local comedian, writer and hip-hop-head George Booker spends quality time with Black Viking God. Here’s a little Soundbite: “More people have seen him running shirtless by the freeway than have attended any of his shows...Like a benevolent Joker, Black Viking God has hovered secretly over the area for years now as an agent of benign chaos. He can also freestyle so well that he is pathologically afraid to write anything down.” You won’t want to miss this one. The hijinks and hilarity will be properly documented and, of course, will be featured at 24sevencities.com/sound.

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Photo Stuntkid Jason Levesque stuntkid.com Cover Illustration Chelsey Barnes chelseyisgross.com Cover and Layout Design Robert Simmons Model Sarah X

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and Contagion to this world: now And do such bitter business as Would quake to look on.â&#x20AC;? -Hamlet

Super Natural

Preview Issue Advertising Guide

hese days, I do not look forward to so much. These days, they're wasted stuck behind a desk, behind the steering wheel, behind some guy in line who's talking way too loudly into his cell phone. These days, sometimes they feel like the one in that Bill Murray movie about groundhogs. But never mind these days. These bright, boring days, they never

Howard Tarpey photo-documents the phantasmal scenes of the Seven Cities

fail to disappear into the night. When the sun goes down, I come alive. Night time is my time. Whether spent in a cocktail dress sipping swanky martinis at Empire, glued to the Crack Machine (photo hunt) at the corner bar, or busting out sweet interpretive dance moves to "Like A Prayer" with my girlfriends at The Wave, the night is my playtime. Adult Recess, if you will. And even though I sometimes feel guilty for not doing something "productive" with my evening, or for spending a few extra bucks I don't really have, or for

having to skip Rise 'N Shine aerobics the day after, I deserve to let loose. So much energy is exerted on things that don't make us smile. I go out with my friends, other hardworking people in their 20s and 30s, not to just have something to do, but to have something to live for. Sure, we could text each other all day long, but it's just not as fun to impersonate Madonna by your lonesome. So yeah, I look forward to the nights these days.

ng time of night, ards yawn and hell itself breathes out his world: now could I drink hot blood, itter business as the day to look on.â&#x20AC;? -Hamlet

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A Look Inside Miller Custom Homes’ Latest

Green and It’s very easy

to read a book by its cover, especially if it has a beautiful one. How deceiving and how dissatisfying it is to open it up and find quite another story within. One glimpse inside the latest and perhaps most impressive residence from local builder Miller Custom Homes reveals that, thankfully, that’s not the case. In fact, here the story may be more beautiful than the cover itself. Chuck Miller has crafted an elegant and harmonious “cover” for his 6000-square-foot, Palladian-style, modern suburbia mansion, which he has dubbed ‘The Mothership.’ By the massive façade of rich brick, copper detailing, slate shingles and grand entranceways, you would expect an elegant migration through enriching spaces. The Mothership does not disappoint.

Photo Jerry Altares Words Jen Stringer

and Grand But you might expect something else, too; something like massive operating costs, a huge carbon footprint or frightening uses of exotic materials found far, far-flung from our backyard. Well, here is where the story gets interesting: pssst…It’s green! From the recycled tires in the roof material to the reclaimed, 100-year-old yellow pine wood in the kitchen cabinetry; the recycled grey water (to flush toilets…very cool!) to the mere $20 a month that it costs to heat and cool the entire house. Green doesn’t look like you think it does anymore! In our Spring 2009 premiere issue of Inhabit, we showcase the sustainable elements of, as Chuck Miller calls it, “The Leader of the Fleet” in this year’s Home-A-Rama; The Mother Ship. You will see which options are available to help reduce your footprint and increase your style.

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Re|Creation

One of artâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolute essentials

is drawing from life. More specifically, drawing the live, nude figure. It was quite the scandal when Michelangelo did just that in study for his Sistine Chapel. And yet in recent years, several local artists have faced the revolutionary artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s same plight as the powers-that-be in this local, conservative area have taken the same stance that the Council of Trent had during the Renaissance. Which, unfortunately for Seven Cities artists, has almost indefinitely meant censorship, in some small form or another. Yet the Norfolk Drawing Group persists, meeting every Tuesday evening from 7 to 9:30 pm at The Warehouse (located at 1229 West Olney Road). Groups of some 20-odd artists, including major local talents Bernard Conda, Mark

The Norfolk Drawing Group is not afraid to bare all.

Miltz, Doug Clarke, Mike Bell, Wally Taylor and our own Robert Simmons. Create editor Hannah Serrano went so far as to model nude herself for this exceptionally skilled and professional arts group to get the lowdown on this brave, little endeavor of theirs. Look for the whole story in our premiere issue, coming soon...

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ivenchy had Audrey Hepburn. Marc Jacob’s has Sofia Coppola. Zac Posen, Natalie Portman. Every great fashion designer has a muse. A woman who inspires him and tickles his creative fancy. Join us on Dec. 6, when these pages (illustrated by Norfolk artist Chelsey Barnes) come to life during Shop Girls on Display, a live fashion event in the downtown Monticello Arcade. Models will be wearing fierce hats by K@t Marsh of the regional dynamic (art) duo MC7C. SevenCities’ partner in this event, Walls Fine Art, also located in the arcade, will be open as well. All the more reason to venture out! Stop by, sip some chard, wander the gallery, and experience Shop’s incarnation of smolderingly sexy Winter fashion. And, of course, grab a copy of Shop’s big cover debut!

FREE

Winter 2008

When all the world is on the web, what becomes of journalism and

THE PRINTED WORD?

Paper + Pixels The future of print. (It’s not all gloom-and-doom, we promise.) Preview Issue Advertising Guide

rint is dying

, no doubt you’ve heard. But as better and wise people are wont to tell us, the death of one thing is the birth of another. And at the time in history when the written word has become most endangered, a new age of media emerges. Blogs and online magazines are now not only reputable sources of news and culture; they are the standard. Arianna Huffington is a staple on CNN and NPR; Perez Hilton has gained millions of followers (and dollars) providing daily coverage of Hollywood gossip; and the spontaneous success of Virginia Beach’s Christine Gambito— whose videoblog as alias HappySlip is one of YouTube’s most subscribed channel— resulted in the 21-year-old’s appointment to ambassador for Philippine tourism. (The latter bit of information, in fact, I learned from Gambito’s article on Wikipedia, which itself has democratized the exchange of knowledge probably forever.) Suddenly, citizen journalism has found itself a place in the world. Blog buzz has as much impact on a book or CD’s release— and success—as a critical review. Concert footage and party pics are posted on facebook pages before morning. Jobs, homes, lost friends and love are found everyday on craigslist. And, to be sure, the richness of some of what’s published on wordpress and

even myspace, contends with the likes of Kerouac and the late, great Hunter S. Thompson. Creative nonfiction can and should be reborn in this moment, this new dynamic. Sacrilege, you say? What of hard news reportage? What of the intimacy of paper under your fingertips? What of books? Well. We don’t really have those answers. But we hold to the inspiring notion that it is just as the caterpillar believes the world is ending that it becomes a butterfly. And we also firmly believe that the internet is the strongest asset that free press can have. Its ability to connect communities and give voice to any regular, disenchanted person—that is what journalism, when it’s good, is meant to do. With maps and directions and sound bites and video clips streaming from our laptops and iPhones; now more than ever, books and magazines have the space to be literature. Between the two—web and print—there is an unexplored relationship that can activate writers and readers to share beautiful, well-told stories.

Here is the opportunity to combine the immediacy of the internet with the everlasting effect of a word printed on paper. Here is where we can make media into something that has the myriad facets of an uncut jewel.