- In addition to writing arts stories, the Artifacts column, 831s, Face to Faces, cover stories, features, online stories, restaurant reviews, movie reviews, calendar hot picks and news stories, I’ve served as the calendar editor at the Weekly. I did that from the end of 2007 until last Monday – minus a year and a half when music writer Adam Joseph took over (he left last July). Former intern and contributor Marielle Argueza (a smart cookie) has stepped in as calendar editor so I can step down to a part-time schedule exclusively writing stories. After 6 years, 4 months and 2 weeks of looking into that multi-sided prism, here are some insights I would like to share.
- 1. There is a ton going on in Monterey County. One week I counted 100 events listed in the print calendar. And there are more that either escape our notice or don’t quite fit into its parameters of arts, entertainment and culture.
- 2. According to our market research (yes, we’ve done market research), the calendar trades places with the cover story as the number 1 or number 2 reason people pick up the Weekly.
- 3. Folks here are mostly understanding if we make a mistake. For that we’re grateful. Because it will happen. You’ve been warned.
- 4. Here is the calendar mantra: To submit an event to the A&E Calendar, email all the details (1 to 2 pages should suffice) and photos to calendar@mcweekly.com at least 2 weeks in advance.
- 5. The calendar is unrelenting: waves of events, a minefield of information, a 4D puzzle (time being the fourth dimension) that has to fit just right in the space and deadline allotted. (See item no. 3.)
- 6. We have anywhere from a dozen to 18 writers – staff, interns and freelancers – who write the calendar entries. Each week the A&E Calendar lists them at the end, usually with some cute or clever (we hope) intro. For the Dec. 24 issue, it was “This week’s A&E Calendar loves to give the gift of experiences… ”
- 7. The calendar flows in chronological order, by day and time, which makes it easier to navigate.
- 8. It’s been rewarding, nerve-wracking and fun to curate and edit the calendar all these years. I’ve seen it as a privilege to be charged with helping people navigate Monterey County – from Prunedale to Lake San Antonio – as deeply, as meaningfully or as frivolously as they want. My biggest reward has been believing that it may have inspired you to go out and revel in our cultural bounty.
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