Some times it was fun to experiment. In 1995, Phoenix Newspapers created a fax publication call the Traveler’s Gazette. The fax was sent to hotels that partnered with the paper. The hotel would copy the fax and distribute it. The purpose of the two-page publication was to help visitors have a better time and provide a way for advertisers to reach those consumers.
Of course, this was also about the time that online would start to grow so the experiment was just that.
The benefit that the project provide was simple — an opportunity to think about serving a market outside of the newspaper readership. The project was the idea of Dave Gianelli. Dave and I worked on a number of new media projects during the late 1990s.
The Traveler’s Gazette was low-tech innovation that would help lay the groundwork for AzCentral’s launch later that year, as Phoenix Newspapers explored more scalable, digital ways to reach new audiences. The focus on travel was one of the early pillars of AzCentral. It’s online area for visitors to Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun was very robust.
I sent a copy of the Traveler’s Gazette to Randy Bennett, the Newspaper Association of America’s new media director.
Here’s a part of what I wrote.
This publication is sent to PNI’s hotel “partners” (current count is more than 30) six days a week early each morning. PNI considers the Traveler’s Gazette to be the essential two-page guide to events and activities in the Valley. Much of the material is pulled from existing resources within the newsroom and assembled by clerks.
One example of an advertiser was a real estate company targeting those visitors who might want to move to the area.
