“The new normal” is the tagline…

have been using since our inception —it appeared on every cover prior to our redesign in December 2019—roughly 200 magazines emblazoned with the phrase. We used it to highlight cannabis’s transition into the mainstream, and during the early days of COVID we watched it become the official catchphrase of the pandemic “The New Normal” How else could you describe it? 

With that I welcome you to Sensi’s new new normal, which looks a great deal different than some five months and a lifetime ago. Way back then, we were printing local magazines in 14 markets across the country with a 15th, Metro Maryland,  slated to launch April. Our creative team was in the midst of sending those editions to print when COVID-19  started to pick up steam.  After some hard conversations with our leadership team, we made the call to hit pause for a variety of reasons, namely that our points of distribution were not going to be distributing during a global pandemic. We were optimistic that we’d be back by June. Then we thought we’d return in July. I’m writing this on August 7th as those refreshed April editions work their way to being published in the next few days if all goes as planned.

Little these days is going as planned, for better and for worse. But if there’s a silver lining to this chaos, it may be that it’s forced us to slow down and examine our lives—to really consider the why and how behind it. It provided a chance to stop the constant doing and start thinking about whether those are the right goals to be aiming for at all. It allowed us to examine our business, piece by piece strip down to the basics and rebuild using the lessons we stumbled our way through. We’re guided by one mission, to serve our readers and communities by focusing on connection—to information to each other to businesses and brands that meet your needs. 

That’s why for the first time in Sensi’s history we won’t be printing magazines. Going all digital this month helps us increase our reach without compromising the quality our readers expect. We hope to return to print in the not too distant future—perhaps no one more than me I believe in the power of print.

But I also believe in evolution and the way people consume information is changing.  By limiting ourselves to print we were limiting our impact. But now with a fresh digital strategy that entails both dynamic local content as well as fully designed digital magazines created by the award winning team at Em Agency, we’ve got the best of both worlds and I’m excited to introduce you to the first phase of Sensi’s new digital universe. We’re almost ready to take the scaffolding off Phase 2,  so be sure to check back and see what we’ve got planned in order to continue to bring our new normal into the new, new normal of the world. 

Thank you for being here with us as we rebuild—better than we were before