New LGBT Publication for Minnesota: My SCENE City

Founded by David C. Birchard Jr. (aka DJ Davidb), and with the support of his partner Cory Weissman and his brother Michael Birchard, the magazine is focused more on entertainment and advertising, but the publication also aims for an environmental edge.

"We will be sure to use the most environmentally friendly paper and ink, and never be wasteful of over printing our magazine," said Birchard. "We want every issue picked up and read, we refuse to distribute to unnecessary locations just to raise our circulation numbers. My SCENE City wants your advertising dollar spent as wisely as possible. We will do our best to keep our printing and distributions standards a top priority at My SCENE City."

The focus will not be politics, but on the "scene" in the Twin Cities both the LGBT spaces and those that are friendly to the community. Recent issues have featured queer rocker, artist and entertainment director for Pi Bar and Restuarant Shannon Blowtorch and local hip hop artist Tori Fixx, and each issue features an advice column by drag queen, designer and musician Kevin Aviance. "We love participation, after all it's your SCENE!," said Birchard. "We have so much room to grow, and each issue is an evolution of the previous."

Indeed, My Scene City expects the community to get involved in creating each issue. "There has been some great things said about our SCENE in Minnesota, but there has been some complaints," said Birchard. "This is your opportunity to make a difference and contribute to your SCENE and get your ideas out there. So please send in your pictures, send in your ideas, and let us know what you think needs to be covered as a main feature."

Another feature of the magazine is a number of pages dedicated to "SCENE Snaps," pictures from bar and club events throughout the Twin Cities. "Our readers enjoy looking at each issue to see if they have been 'scene'," he said.

But in a city where Lavender Magazine has a monopoly in the LGBT printed publication realm, it can be hard to get going. My Scene City tried to sponsor a recent fundraiser, only to find out later that Lavender had sponsored it, and any event that Lavender contributes to, My SCENE City may not according to Lavender's contract.

While it is an accepted practice int he corporate world to ask for exclusive sponsorship of certain events (one would not expect Wal-Mart and Target to share corporate sponsorship of an event), to My SCENE City it smacked of a less than charitable policy. "Because of Lavender Magazine being non-community orientated, we are unable to support a very important cause... in our state." In a community with few venues, and virtually no other competition, Lavender's policy seems to be directly targeted at My SCENE City.

Unlike Lavender, Birchard says the advertising has "less conservative" restrictions. The size of the publication is unique. It's a 5" x 7" inch publication, sized to fit in a person's back pocket. The print version can be found at 35 locations throughout the Twin Cities and a dynamic wepage at www.myscenecity.com compliments the print version well.

Here's to the future success and a little more competition in Minnesota's LGBT media environment.

Said Birchard, "We are excited to finally offer the community another LGBT publication for Minnesota. We hope that you enjoy what we put together in the coming years and always remember to BE SCENE!"