Uptown Magazine Defies the Odds and Turns 1 in July

Necessary ingredients for the successful establishment of a magazine for its first 12 months: • No prior experience in the magazine business • Little to no money • No experience in graphic design or photography • No existing stable of contributors • No journalism experience • Enough rejection for a lifetime Mix together until lumpy, print 240,000 issues in the first year, and work like a madman. Blend in the sweat from delivering 1,600 pounds of magazines a month. For added zest, drop in a newborn baby named Kate. This is exactly what Todd Trimakas has done in order to create the wildly successful Uptown Magazine, the only magazine that captures the energy in Charlotte’s Uptown neighborhoods.

CHARLOTTE, NC (PRWEB) June 29, 2006 -- Necessary ingredients for the successful establishment of a magazine for its first 12 months:

• No prior experience in the magazine business

• Little to no money

• No experience in graphic design or photography

• No existing stable of contributors

• No journalism experience

• Enough rejection for a lifetime

Mix together until lumpy, print 240,000 issues in the first year, and work like a madman. Blend in the sweat from delivering 1,600 pounds of magazines a month. For added zest, drop in a newborn baby named Kate.

This is exactly what Todd Trimakas has done in order to create the wildly successful Uptown Magazine, the only magazine that captures the energy in Charlotte’s Uptown neighborhoods.

A Charlotte native, Trimakas wondered why in a world of 3 Lake Norman magazines, SouthPark, and a Ballantyne publication, there wasn’t a magazine celebrating the explosion that was happening in Uptown. While still working in the corporate culture at Wachovia, he decided he would remedy the situation and start one himself.

With a healthy severance package from his former employer, Trimakas published his first edition in July 2005. Within 12 months he has grown monthly advertising revenue by 400%, increased the number of advertisers by a similar margin, and become the de facto advertising home for the condominiums sprouting like weeds in the fertile ground of Uptown.

The Uptown community has been just as supportive as the advertisers in the magazine. Those that move and shake in the neighborhood have all appeared in Uptown, including:

• Mayor Pat McCrory

• Noted architect and developer David Furman

• CATS chief Ron Tober

• Attorney Bill Diehl

• President of Johnson and Wales, Art Gallagher

• Head of Charlotte Center City Partners, Michael Smith

• Leader of the resurgence of Uptown, Jim Palermo

• Director of the US National Whitewater Center, Jeff Wise

With the Uptown resurgence continuing to expand, Trimakas believes that Uptown Magazine will grow accordingly and continue to capture the excitement that is Uptown Charlotte. Now if he could only get baby Kate to sleep through the night!

Uptown is a four-color glossy magazine published monthly and distributed to the denizens of Uptown and its surrounding neighborhoods. An archive of issues, including this month’s, can be seen online at www.uptownclt.com. For more information, give Todd a call (direct–he can’t afford a P.R. person!) at 704-408-4379.

Todd Trimakas

Uptown Magazine

833 East Boulevard

Charlotte, NC 28203

T: 704.408.4379

F: 704.894.9772

W: www.uptownclt.com

# # #