Uniting The Community

One of the major topics of discussion amongst gay businesses and organizations at the recent Stonewall Pride celebrations was the new partnership between Hotspots Magazine and Latino Boys Magazine.

Latino Boys Magazine, or LBM, was conceived in January 2006 and was the brainchild of Adeilson George who envisioned a magazine similar to G magazine based in Brazil. He consulted a friend who was familiar with publishing who informed him that it would take a lot of money and time to get the magazine off the ground. Despite the warnings, Adeilson pursued his dream of producing a quality, local publication aimed at the gay Latino community. When the first issue hit the streets it was well received by the community. Half a year passed when Adeilson began to realize that his dream was becoming a reality.

To celebrate LBM's first anniversary, Adeilson planned a large party to celebrate the success but needed a theme. The Latino Press Awards were born to help bring LBM closer to the advertisers and increase the magazine's credibility. Two-hundred people were in attendance. “It was a small event but it was the best investment we made. It worked and we planned the second one,” Adeilson said.
The second anniversary brought even more attention to LBM and the second Latin Press Awards, with attendance more than triple last year's. The media itself got involved in the awards. “I was surprised. I was not expecting how the community would react. We received a lot of emails requesting invitations because they wanted to be in attendance. The Spanish-speaking television networks began sending out emails requesting that their patrons vote for them so they could win award (s) that they were nominated for. They were talking about the Latino Press Awards constantly, saying “…go to LatinoPressAward.com and be sure to vote for us…” The night of the ceremony, I was at the hotel with some of the evening's performers when I began receiving phone calls requesting my presence at the Theatre because there were quite a few people waiting to get in. It's a nice problem to have,” Adeilson mentioned.

After the 2nd annual Latino Press Awards, Adeilson knew that he had a good product, and was equally aware that he would require additional resources to take LBM to the next level. Though there were very lucrative offers on the table to purchase the publication, these offers would possibly change the content and focus of the publication or even worse, make Adeilson and his staff mere ceremonial figureheads. “It made me uncomfortable wondering what they were going to do with the magazine,” Adeilson mentions.

Adeilson studied the market and decided that Hotspots Magazine might possibly best serve the interests of LBM. He felt comfortable working with us, because of our level of commitment towards and history within the gay community. The fact that Hotspots Publisher Peter Clark's life partner, Cleto, is Brazilian himself, added to that level of comfort. Despite everything, an exchange of concepts, concerns and ideas took place over the course of a month before a final decision was reached.
Peter was impressed with Adeilson's integrity, his level of enthusiasm and passion and vision for the brand. Both parties mutually agreed that a partnership would not be a conflict of interest. “This was a partnership that would leverage the strengths of both publications on the pre-existing models that were out there,” Peter thought to himself. After the discussions, it just made too much sense for both publications not to partner.

It was a win-win situation, with both publications bringing their strengths to the table, and joining forces to build upon their weaknesses. What, if anything, will change as this partnership strengthens?

• The entire team at Latino Boys Magazine remains the same. Adeilson George remains the owner and is in complete control as Publisher. Josue Santiago remains as Editor. Vix is still there, so is Samara, photographer Dale Stine, Las Divas del Jacuzzi and all the other LBM contributors.
• Both Hotspots and Latino Boys Magazines will remain on similar paths in their quest to reach their respective markets as the two will continue to speak with two distinct voices.
• Hotspots Magazine will now be able, with the assistance and expertise of Adeilson George and the staff at Latino Boys Magazine, to reach out to the gay Latino community in a manner that is consistent with the Latino community.
• LBM will benefit exponentially from the efficiencies that Hotspots has to offer. At present, there is a commitment on behalf of Hotspots Magazine to share 4,200 square feet of office space with LBM. LBM's logo is already on the door.
• Hotspots Magazine's sales staff will essentially become LBM's sales staff, selling ad space in both publications. This will prove to be essential in LBM's quest to increase their level of commitment and variety to their readership. Advertisers will also be encouraged to run their ads in Spanish with LBM, and in English with Hotspots.
• In an effort to create a visible similarity between the two publications, LBM will now boast a UV-coated, 100 pound stock cover.
• As time progresses, LBM will be able to increase its editorial content, whether it be on issues of importance to the Latino community (i.e., immigration law), or of entertainment value (i.e., concerts, pageants, etc).
• LBM will now have the resources to get more involved in the community as a whole.
• Finally, and most importantly, both publications combined will attempt to effectively target 100% of the community. This unique co-branding marketing strategy will, in retrospect, create the largest gay publication in the state.

“The partnership came at the right time for us,” Adeilson mentions. “Stonewall was so successful. People saw us together in the parade and sharing booth-space.” This was the first time LBM had a major presence at Stonewall Pride.

As a whole, the community has embraced the partnership between the two publications. Many of our advertisers have expressed their approval of this unique partnership. Community leaders, such as Steve Adkins, President of the Miami Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Terry De Carlo of Care Resource, and Robert Boo of the GLCC, applaud the partnership and feel that it speaks volumes on how well our community has evolved and united over time.

However, it was Adeilson who summed up the partnership best. “It just feels right. It's the first time two magazines have gotten together to work together for the betterment of themselves and the community. This is amazing.” Together we are the only publication that will attempt to effectively target 100% of the gay community.”