Columns

Few jobs offer the ability to do good while attempting to do well. FOX CITIES Magazine has afforded Ruth Ann and me such an opportunity. A significant part of doing good comes from our ability to present to you our NOT TO BE MISSED event calendar. So it comes after the most careful consideration that we present the first major change in the way NTBM is to be presented in the future.

For more than 31 years, FOX CITIES Magazine has presented to interested readers in a roughly 50-mile radius the events of nonprofit organizations. In the March 2016 issue alone, 132 event listings were published for such important community assets as Lawrence University, The Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, Wriston Art Center, Trout Museum of Art, Grand Opera House, Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Xavier Fine Arts Center, UW Fox Valley, St. Norbert’s Abbott Penning Fine Art Center, UWGB Theater, Riverview Gardens, Arts Unlimited, Neville Museum, Paine Art Center, Sawyer Museum, Bergstrom Mahler Art Center, libraries across the Valley, SOAR Fox Cities, Fox Valley Coalition for Advanced Care Planning, Visiting Nurses, History Museum at the Castle, Hearthstone and on and on and on. The total number of listings now far exceeds 35,000, filling in excess of 600 pages.

In 2015, FCM launched a new website to accommodate our bursting-at-the-seams event calendar and the organizations who count on us to help spread the word of their noble work. Our updated online calendar allows for realtime changes and direct entry by our nonprofit friends. It also allows the community to quickly and easily access information on upcoming events that interest them, anytime, any place.

By better utilizing our digital landscape, FCM can now provide more in-depth arts and event coverage in print. We strive to feature both beloved annual events as well as events that you may be unfamiliar with – those one-time, new or unusual happenings that add richness to the place we call home.

NOT TO BE MISSED will remain a basic effort of FCM, which is made possible by our loyal advertisers. You can continue to find the full event calendar at foxcitiesmagazine.com. Visit us online and tell us what you think.

— Marvin J. Murphy, publisher