Posts from — February 2008

I know this is the magazine website and the topics should be relevant to our audience.

You’re probably asking how does the headline “Giants Win The Superbowl” relate to our magazine and readers.

Before I go on I need to make two announcements:
As a life long Giant fan last night was very rewarding, thank you Giants!
I, like many fans, thought Eli was a bum and should be gone after the season - I was wrong. Sorry Eli!

As I watched the game last night and the heard the Giant players speak, before and after the game, I couldn’t help but see parallels between canvas, our readers and the game.
I’m not suggesting for a moment we’re the Giants or this is the Superbowl, but people often say sports are a metaphor of life.

For starters when we were running around with the prototype for canvas there were many people who didn’t take us seriously and thought we’d be finished after a few issues. The same held true when the Giants almost beat the New England Patriots in the last game and then entered the playoffs, most people didn’t take them seriously.

The composition of readers that make up the canvas audience are often discounted and their influence underestimated. As the season neared completion the same was true of the Giants fans and the support the team received from them throughout the playoffs and into the Superbowl. Clearly there was a Giant contingent in Arizona last night and throughout the game they were heard. The parallel; throughout the din of everyday life here on Long Island our readers are making themselves heard. We hear them and the market hears them, they are the 12th man, in football speak.

Gaining respect – I don’t think the Giants gained the respect of the Patriots, the “industry professionals” and their peers until they kept hitting and leveling Tom Brady again and again in the 1st half of the game. By the 2nd half you could see the effect it was having on the Patriots team. The professionals also began admitting the Giants apparently were for real. I find a similarity with canvas; it’s taken a number of published issues, our co-founding of Greendrinks, starting of the canvas Open Mic Nite and the opening Footprint Gallery to start gaining the respect we knew we deserved and earned a long time ago.

But like the Giants throughout this season we’ve remained confident all along, adapting to the moment at hand and making $#*& happen.

And like the Giants we are thankful for our fans and the support they bring!

I thought the Giants could and would win going into the game. I got a little concerned with a few bad plays they made in the 1st half. But by the 3rd quarter I knew, not only did they deserve to win, but destiny was on their side. During their last drive, as they moved the ball to the end zone you saw them demonstrate their confidence, great execution and the depth of their passion. You also saw that these combined together allowed them to compete at levels way above everyone else’s expectations.

So, congratulations to the New York Giants and I look forward the next drive for canvas.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine