Chris Hayes

the site gets its groove back

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Although it’s doubtful that anyone will notice, I recently decided that it was in my best interest to give ChrisMHayes.com a little makeover, so I dusted off my Photoshopping boots and got to work. Five hours later, and now I’ve got a snazzy new banner, a revamped footer, and I managed to successfully create my first Web 2.0 button – it’s the “PBG” button at the far right in the “Find Me” section. After finally completing that surprisingly daunting task, I decided I might as well myself a new Web 2.0 favicon while I was at it.

Most importantly, I got off my lazy duff and finally put near-finishing touches on all the PBG Lifestyle stories. Along with adding a stylish banner, there are also brief excerpts to accompany every story. I never thought writing one-sentence summaries could be so much hard work!

Speaking of work, it’s time that I get back to it…the October issue awaits!

it's a hard-knock life (for editors)

The holidays may already be upon us (indicated by temperatures in the low 60s), but it already feels like February to me. We just finished up our January issue with fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi on the cover, and things at PBG Lifestyle seem to be getting better with every passing day. It’s been almost fifteen months since I first joined the magazine and I’ve written nearly a dozen Letters from the Editor; from what I can tell, there’s nowhere to look but up.

Starting in 2010, residents can not only find us in Palm Beach (Main Street News) and Stuart (Soda Stop), but now at eight Walgreens locations running from Palm Beach Gardens to Palm City. Visit our new Distribution page (built by yours truly) for more information.

After a long weekend of relaxation – a Florida Panthers game on Friday, followed by an evening in Boca, and then my high school’s alumni party on Saturday (within walking distance of my apartment, no less) – it’s back to the grind for this South Florida editor. See you on the shelves!

the saga continues

The June issue has been distributed and received rave reviews. So far almost everyone who has read it is saying that “each issue is better than the last” and the magazine owners are telling me that “the magazine will soon start selling itself.” Meanwhile, other South Florida mags are facing hard times due to outlandish advertising charges with minimal returns. Right now I’m just trying to catch my breath; I’ve never seen my iCal packed with so many events and deadlines. July is coming up which means, as Huey Lewis & the News would say, Sports! Writing up the story from my interview with Dara Torres as we speak, preparing myself for my Ottis Anderson interview in a few days, and editing our story on Blake Koch. My job could be worse.

On an semi-work-related note, my first “commercial” Web site has officially gone live, so check it out here: Theatre Orchestra of Florida. Only took me a couple weeks of coding and 4 months of tweaking to meet specifications. Next step: Textpattern.

updates

So, I made a few small changes in the site as of late. Along with reformatting the Delicious Bookmarks at the bottom and the blog entries, I’ve also finally found the time to add to my portfolio section the covers for the last three issues, a.k.a. my first three issues as primary editor…yes I know, I’m incredible. Bad new though: sadly, I do not have the final versions of all of my stories from these months, so there are no PDFs or images for the articles just yet…but give it time, I’m on it.