Siew Hoon is a writer whom loves to travel
Print is a bigger investment
Print is also a bigger investment than just doing an online publication – anyone can do that these days – and Northstar wanted to enter Asia with a clear signal that it wants to invest in the region, build a solid, substantial business here and make a difference.
Q: Why are you doing this again?
A: Why not? There are some things worth doing over and over again, if you like doing it and you believe in it.
Q: Yes, but a print publication in this day and age?
A: To be honest, I also asked myself that in the beginning. I mean, I love print and I grew up with print. I cut my teeth on it as a cadet reporter in Penang. Ink that made your fingers go black when you turned the pages. Printing presses that went clunk, clunk, clunk in the night and then, first thing in the morning, the smell of freshly minted newsprint. As good as the smell of freshly brewed kopi o (black coffee).
Then I moved away from print and discovered the web, learnt a whole new medium, and loved it, and built a new career on it.
Now I am learning to fall in love all over again with print. Print is to publishing what vinyl is to music – it’s nostalgic and romantic – and I’ve always loved the saying, “When everyone is doing one thing, you do the other.”
Print is also a bigger investment than just doing an online publication – anyone can do that these days – and Northstar wanted to enter Asia with a clear signal that it wants to invest in the region, build a solid, substantial business here and make a difference.
Q: So how will TravelWeekly Asia stand out?
A: I’ve always believed the best things blend the best of everything. It’s about balance, yin and yang. We will blend the global resource of Northstar with the local experience and expertise of our team in Asia. We will blend global knowledge with local insights.
Our team on the ground blends experience and knowledge (we have some pretty senior people and that includes ancient me) with energy and enthusiasm (we have some great young people on our team).
Every start-up needs that blend to execute. I’ve seen too many start-ups fail because they lack that blend of wisdom and naivete.
Read this first issue and you’ll know. I also hope you will fall in love with print again, as I have.
We will also stand out in content. In the web world, they always say content is king like that’s a new thing. Content has always been king when it comes to publishing and even more so now when it comes to print. If you’re going to publish in a solid medium, your content had better be solid too. There’s nowhere to hide in print. Online, you can go in and delete or change something. Print, like love, is forever.
Q: So how will your content be different?
A: Read this first issue and you’ll know. I also hope you will fall in love with print again, as I have.
* Siew Hoon is a traveler who loves to write and a writer who loves to travel. She’s combined her two loves into a career in travel journalism that has seen her launch several travel industry titles and conferences, including Web In Travel (WIT). She loves the change and discovery that comes with travel and the business.