Dear Readers,
First and foremost, I am honoured and excited to welcome all of you back to Toronto Standard. It’s been several months since we’ve published anything at a regular interval, but, as of today, you can expect to see us return to a more regular schedule.
Second, it is my pleasure to introduce myself as the website’s new managing editor. For long time readers, I might be familiar to you as Toronto Standard‘s former technology critic. Since the start of 2013, I’ve tried to provide this website with some of the best startup coverage in the city.
When Toronto Standard‘s former managing editor Sabrina Maddeaux gave me the opportunity to expand our tech coverage, I approached it in the way that made sense to me. I was less interested in how much funding the city’s startups secured, or the specifics of their most recent product; instead, I wanted to share the story of their founders. After all, talented people are at the heart of any successful endeavour, and you can’t have a good story without memorable characters.
With this in mind, the new Toronto Standard will be about the hardworking and creative individuals that make this city a more vibrant and better place to live. From the entrepreneur trying to create a revolutionary product; to the activist fighting for gender equality; to the artist redefining how we see the world; to the cafe owner just trying to make sure everyone gets a good cup of coffee in the morning. It’s my belief that these people are absolutely integral to the city, and it’s their stories you will see us focus on.
To start, later this week we will have a feature from Sheena Lyonnais on the closing of the Guvernment and Kool Haus. Sheena is not only a long time contributor to this website, but is also the managing editor of Yonge Street and has contributed to numerous other Toronto-based publications. Her feature is part of our recommitment to publishing excellent long-form journalism. Each week will we have an article exploring in-depth some aspect of life in Toronto, and they will be brought to you by some of the city’s best writers.
In addition, we have an interview with Bob Blumer, whom you might know from his work on Food Network. In our interview, Blumer talks to us about the circuitous path he took to becoming a TV personality, how Toronto’s food scene compares, and his involvement with Second Harvest, a local food rescue group that many Torontonians depend on.
What you see here today is the modest start to what we have planned for the future. In the coming weeks and months, we will not only publish more stories, we’ll start to tell them in more interesting ways. I believe that we all read and digest stories differently. Unfortunately, few Canadian publications have taken advantage of the tools the Internet affords storytellers. As a digital-first publication, Toronto Standard is committed to using those tools to create a better reading experience for everyone.
Lastly, thank you for taking the time to visit the website today. It means more than you can imagine. A website’s readership is its lifeblood and we hope to get the entire community involved in the going ons of the website through a series of events we’re planning at our home base. In the meantime, I hope you will continue to read the stories we publish daily.
If you have any questions of comments on the direction we’re hoping to take the site in, please feel free to get in touch with me through email, igor(at)torontostandard(dot com), or Twitter.
Sincerely,
Igor Bonifacic
Managing Editor
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