Business as Usual No Longer Applies
The April issues of monthly business magazines are already out of date
The April 2020 issue of 425 Business magazine arrived in my mailbox the other day. For the first time, reading it felt like being in a time warp. Having written many articles for monthly magazines, including the one in my hand, I know how the schedule works. All the content for the April issue was finalized in February, which is actually a tight deadline for a monthly publication.
This magazine focuses on businesses in the 425 area code, located east of Seattle, just across Lake Washington. Through no fault of the writers, many of the magazine’s stories and regular features don’t apply in our current shelter-in-place environment.
The issue overview letter from Editor in Chief Jeff Burlingame mentions a local bakery that recently won an award. He muses about readers perusing the magazine while seated at a table in that bakery enjoying a delicious treat. Sorry, Jeff, but we can’t.
The column about upcoming “Can’t-Miss April Events”? All canceled. One of the events was supposed to be taking place on the Microsoft campus this week. Microsoft employees have been working from home since early March and will continue doing so for at least a few weeks, if not longer.
One page features ideas for spring fashion to wear to the office. They don’t mention sweats or pajamas anywhere. I do, however, appreciate the reminder to clean out your closet and donate items you no longer plan to wear. That’s a useful project for these stay at home days.
The feature called “Office Envy” shows a photo spread from a local business, and this month it’s a coworking space in Bellevue. At a time when the future of coworking is in question, I imagine the offices there are vacant, with no one able to enjoy views from the floor to ceiling windows.
No business magazine is complete without discussing the economic outlook, which has generally been quite optimistic since 425 Business launched in 2014. I noticed the graph of the S&P 500 from 2017 to 2020 with a big question mark for the future. Despite the message of uncertainty, I’m sure the writers weren’t imagining a stomach-churning drop.
Then there’s the regular feature called, “24 Hours,” a photojournalism piece showing images from a typical day in the life of a local business leader. This month’s story was about the owner of a local bar and grill who also works several days per week as a commercial airline pilot. I’m sure that his typical day no longer looks anything like the photos in the magazine. His restaurant is still open, but for takeout and delivery only. I wonder how many workers he’s had to lay off. I can’t imagine he’s flying planes this month.
The inside back cover highlights another business leader. For April, it’s the Chief Medical Officer for Evergreen Health. She, ironically, used to be a pulmonary doctor before moving to management. Evergreen’s locations include a hospital in Kirkland, the epicenter of the outbreak at the nearby Life Care facility. This administrator has got a tough job right now.
If they’re keeping on schedule, 425 Business should have wrapped up the May issue by now. I wonder what its pages will look like. Are we going to see photographs of deserted office buildings and freeways with almost no traffic? Meanwhile, the magazine’s website includes some more recent articles, such as one on sprucing up your home office for better productivity. I think it’s time to clear off my desk again.
