Back in our 2nd year as a magazine, Utne Reader called to say we were finalist as "best new magazine of the year."

Via Waylon Lewis

on Dec 15, 2009

Back in our 3rd year as a magazine, Utne Reader called to say we were finalist as “best new magazine of the year.”

Elephant Magazine Coulda Been a Contendah (a Foot in Mouth Memory)

Back in our 3rd year as a magazine, Utne Reader called to say we were finalist as “best new magazine of the year.”

Don’t remember if it was

2003 or 2004.

I told them we weren’t new—we were in our third year, it mighta been our second I’m not sure.

I said “Ah, we’re just so small you probably hadn’t heard of us before!.” And the nice man whose title involved being a “librarian” said “No, we’re big fans of elephant here at Utne, we all fight over our copy when it comes in. So what’s this about you not being new?”

I proudly explained that we’d been around for nearly three years, or whatever. That I had changed our name from “Yoga in the Rockies” (a forgettable name our writers even forgot, asking “How’s your Yoga Journal?!”) to “Yoga Rockies” (when my initial business partner shoved off for greener pastures, to mix metaphors, I shortened the name…I didn’t want our magazine to be “about yoga,” but rather “about everything yoga people care about, which is anything from family to health to mountain biking and organics and politics…”). And finally, when we were 1.5 years old I changed the name to “elephant.” That’s when Utne Reader thought we’d started.

Mr. Utne Editor sighed, and said, “Oh, okay then, we’ll take elephant out of the running.”

I was standing outside the Trident cafe in downtown Boulder, and it’s a good thing there wasn’t a blunt object around. I wanted to shoot myself. I wanted to say “Oh, nevermind, of course we’re new, you know, it’s a new name, new concept, new ownership…but I sighed, too, and said goodbye to a year’s worth of free press (Utne’s Independent Media Awards were a big deal at the time…they’re less so, now, that Utne is no longer independent—though their parent company is great).

And so, the above recollection is just an excuse to show you this all time classic cinematic moment:

We coulda been a contendah.

Founder of elephant magazine (founded: 2002, went national as indie magazine, & successfully transitioned online in 2009 [because mainstream magazine distribution is wildly inefficient from an eco-responsible point of view]) is dedicated to "bringing together those working (and playing) to create enlightened society." It's about anything that helps us to live a good life that's also good for others, and our planet. elephantjournal.com (named Top 10 in the US by over 40 sites) and host of "Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis," a national “top ten ‘green’ video blog," Waylon was born in Boulder, Colorado, raised at a Buddhist meditation retreat in Vermont, graduated from Boston University’s top-ranked magazine journalism school; and is a top columnist for Huffington Post, daily bike commuter, workaholic, mediocre climber & best friend of Redford (a rescue hound). His goals in life: to take a long bath tonight with Dwell, The Sunday NY Times, The New Yorker & a glass of Talisker with one ice cube; publish a best-selling novel (and get filthy rich); have 12 red-headed chil'n (and only one wife); run for President (and lose) & have fun all along the way. ~~~ founder: elephantjournal.com | host: Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis. Ft. on 20 sites, incl. Huffington Post. ~ 200,000 unique visitors/month: Google Analytics. ~ Treehugger: Reader's Choice "Eco Ambassador in Culture & Celebrity" + 2010 "Changemaker" ~ Discovery Network's Planet Green: "Green Hero" ~ Shambhala Sun: "Prominent Buddhist" ~ Naturally Boulder: "'07 Entrepreneur of Year" ~ 5280 Magazine: "Top Single '09" ~ MNN: Top 10 US Green Video Blog ~ Beliefnet: Top 10 Buddhist Blog ~ Shorty Awards: #1 Green Twitter in US ~~~ To connect: "elephantjournal on Facebook" "Waylon Lewis on Facebook" & "Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis" on Facebook On twitter: twitter.com/waylonlewis and our award-winning twitter account, named #1 nationally in green: twitter.com/elephantjournal