NEWS & VIEWS

Editorial

By Ashley Burns

Here, There,

& Everywhere

Back in 2003, I had a very serious rule that I lived by—my only social networking was face- to-face interaction. No text messages, just handshakes. I didn’t have a MySpace, and when Facebook first popped up as a network for students, I refused to jump on that bandwagon. There were no friend requests and no poking. The most tech-dependent that I had been to that point was email and AOL Instant Messenger. But that peer pressure, she is a seductive force and by the fresh January days of 2004 I was a MySpace fiend.

Fast forward to the change of the decade, and here I am with a Facebook dependence that rivals my college addiction to coffee. I am a mere mortal, susceptible to temptation and a victim to the change of trending seasons.

I’ll admit that while I was so quick to criticize social networking platforms and voice my objections loudly and boisterously, I was also acting childish by ignoring the positive aspects of these platforms. First of all, without Facebook, I’d probably keep in touch with one percent of my friends. Without MySpace, I’d have spent the last seven years listening to old mix CDs instead of discovering new bands. From the perspective of the Editor of Pageantry magazine, I now also know how important these platforms are for communicating with the people who mean the most to us.

The Pageantry Facebook fan pages now offer readers, advertisers, and our legions of fans—who found us rather quickly, I might add—an extra resource in “Celebrating the Glamour Lifestyle.” Our fans quickly discover updates to major advertising partners as well as exclusive images within our photo albums like Sprit Award winners, Pageantry covers, and even my bad haircut in our staff photos. The Pageantry & Prom Time Fashion Boutique is devoted solely to our award winning fashion showcase and features each glamorous shot with the designer info as well as the design partners from each edition of Pageantry, each in a unique photo album.

A while back we had the bright idea to transcend our pages and give our readers, advertisers and friends a more complete way to gain insight into the worlds of entertainment, glamour, fashion, pageantry and competition—through our one of a kind Pageantry PodCasts. So far, so great. The response has been awesome and we couldn’t be more excited.

Our podcasts are essential for our dedication to bringing our readers the next level in covering the Glamour Lifestyle. Our mantra is simple—Celebrating the Glamour Lifestyle.

In case you’ve been missing out on our one-of-a-kind podcasts, then you haven’t been keeping tabs on some of the biggest names in the world of pageantry, entertainment, modeling, fashion, and design. As of our print date we have released Pageantry PodCasts with such industry luminaries as designers Jovani, Mac Duggal, Tony Bowls, Alyce Designs, House of Wu, Moonlight, Karishma Creations, Precious Formals, and Benjamin Walk along with industry leaders such as Steve Mayes of NAM, Nikki Clark of IJM, Jennifer Reed of Beauties of America, Nancy Mancuso of IMTA and Barbara Gilbraith of Showcase International. You can also listen to the full story as Pageantry CEO Carl Dunn interviews featured guests such as winter cover model Claudia Jordan. Upcoming guests include Miss USA Kristen Dalton as she prepares to crown her successor and Miss America Caressa Cameron speaking on her recent win. Each podcast offers insight, advice and news that in some cases can’t be found in the pages of our magazine. Consider it an ancillary reward for your dedication to being a valued reader.

Between our print editions, digital magazine, the Pageantry web site, three social networking media platforms, the podcasts, our online boutique, upcoming video clips, and all of the other wonderful resources that we’re working so hard to provide you with, we’re hoping that you aren’t starting to feel spoiled. Then again, even if you are, we’re not too concerned.

While we may not be able to reinvent social networking and the Internet, we’re sure trying to reinvent the information you can find on it. ;