As I packed my East Cobb News swag bag into my car Saturday morning, I took a deep breath.
I’ve been promoting this community news venture in a variety of ways since launching it in the summer of 2017, mostly on my site and newsletter and before the local business community.
But going before the larger community was something different. The Taste of East Cobb event on Saturday was a great opportunity to meet some of my readers, spread the word about it to those who weren’t familiar and reinforce the value of local news, community information and small business advertising.
It couldn’t have been a better day on the grounds of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, weatherwise and otherwise.
People stopped by the booth, picked up pens, magnets and other goodies I laid out for them, chatted and signed up for the newsletter.
Many of them said simply this: “I really like what you do and I just wanted to tell you that.”
Or words to that effect. Also this:
“Keep up the good work.”
“I love how local it is.”
The response was exactly what I was hoping for, as the audience for East Cobb News continues to grow. Thus far in 2023 we’re averaging between 150,000-200,000 page views a month, and between 70,000-100,000 unique visitors a month.
More than 8,200 of you subscribe to the Sunday newsletter. What I wanted to gauge was what readers were interested in.
Not surprisingly, many of you said it was updates on local businesses and restaurants, as well as zoning cases and development issues.
Some wanted more political news, others wanted more news of a certain political bent, and some were grateful for news about events at East Cobb Park and other community venues.
For the newcomers who signed up, I mentioned the Community Guide of services, businesses and community entities. For those interested in advertising, I’m sending rate information.
One of my current advertisers, real estate agent Sheri Hardy, stayed for a while and offered her testimonial for advertising with East Cobb News, and left behind some Atlanta Braves schedules that were scooped up by many of you.
Oh, and the food. I was lucky enough to be located between the booths for Mediterranean Grill and Belen de La Cruz: I had gyros to the left of me and empanadas to the right.
The kind of community gatherings that we went without for a couple years seem so much more vital and meaningful now. I’ve attended the Taste of East Cobb before, and it’s different when you’re a sponsor.
You really get an appreciation for what it takes to stage such an event when you learn more about what happens behind the scenes.
The folks at the Walton Band Parent Association do a phenomenal job, and I’d like to thank them for how well they worked with this first-time sponsor. Thanks to Pam Duffy, who first reached out to me in February about getting involved, 2023 event coordinator J.J. McKelvey and photographer David Wilson, who let us use some of his many photos from the event, including the cool aerial shot below.
While event proceeds go to Walton High School’s band program, the entire community benefits as well from having such a festive gathering.
I can’t wait for the Taste of East Cobb next year, but East Cobb News will be doing more of these events in the coming months so stay tuned!
And thanks for your readership! As always, feel free to get in touch with your thoughts by e-mailing me: wendy@eastcobbnews.com or calling: 404-219-4278.
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It was great seeing you there, Wendy!
I appreciate the publication as well. Keep up the good work!