Archive for February, 2025

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Magazine TM 2: Ray Seebeck’s Encore Introduction To The Ink On Paper World.  The Mr. Magazine™ Interview

February 13, 2025

This is a first for me: Interviewing the same person within six months from the first interview.  But, Ray Seebeck’s (28 years) love and dedication to print and magazines is unlike any I have seen among this age group, with regard to passion and zeal for the printed product.

Ray is the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Magazine TM.  The first issue of the magazine (to refresh your memory, I am reprinting the first interview at the end of this interview) was amazing both in size, content , and binding.  The second issue promises to be a state-of-the-art curation of more than 50 writers and artists plus five in depth interviews.

Magazine TM is a testament of Ray’s desire to create a curated permanent display for artists and writers that makes flipping every page of the 230 pages second issue a walk in museum fresh with ideas and art.

So please join me in this conversation with Ray Seebeck about issue 2 of Magazine TM, but first few soundbites:

On the reason to reduce the size of the magazine: “It was just a little bulky to bring around… to bring it on a train and read on the train, and it was just too big to read.”

On why print?: “What I feel print does, print is not trying to necessarily count your views, it’s more of a read at your own pace, it is a different type of experience.”

On the goal of the second issue: ‘Something I really wanted to make sure that I kept up that excitement with the second issue.”

On the creation of issue 2: “Magazine TM has 50 artists and writers, and it was designed and curated over a two year process.”

And now for the lightly edited conversation with Ray Seebeck, founder, publisher and editor-in-chief, Magazine TM:

Samir Husni: From an oversized magazine to a digest size magazine. Why did you do that?

Ray Seebeck: So the reason for the change of size was mainly because of the feedback of the first issue.

One of the people who got it, who’s an artist, mentioned it was just a little bulky to bring around. She wanted to bring it on a train and read on the train, and it was just too big for her to read. That was the main reason why I made it smaller, for readability and for people to bring it places. It makes more easy to read. Another reason is the cost to print. It costs a lot to print 11 by 17.

Samir Husni: You are 28, the question begs itself, why a person your age is interested in print?

 Ray Seebeck: I remember last time you asked me why print? And I don’t feel like I really had a good answer. But related to this question, why is someone my age interested in print? Just reflecting about a little more, I feel in today’s age, we have everything digital, right?

We have social media companies, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and publishing companies like The New York Times, they all monitor how long we read, how long we view videos, they try to get us to read, to watch their content for as long as possible. What I feel print does, print is not trying to necessarily count your views, it’s more of a read at your own pace, it is a different type of experience.

That’s something that I’m interested in, if that makes sense.

Samir Husni: It has been a year plus since the first issue came out. What was the reaction?

Ray Seebeck: I received a lot of very positive reactions to the first issue. People were really excited about the accordion bind, about the size of it, and just the design of it. So that was something I really wanted to make sure that I kept up that excitement with the second issue.

Despite a lot of challenges, I wanted to make sure it is as much of a success as the first one. So I’ve been trying to do a lot of things to do that. Another piece of feedback was people wanted to learn more about artists and their process.

And because of that, I did two things: One is I started interviewing artists. I interviewed five artists to provide more of an insight of their process, what they make and why they make that has gone into the magazine.

If you remember the first one, it was mostly just the artwork and poetry. It didn’t have much content from the artist. So that was one thing is interviewing people and putting that into the magazine.

Two: we started asking artists to basically write on note cards about the story behind their art process or the pieces they made, just to make it even more interesting to read. There’s probably like five or six of those note cards in the release.

Samir Husni: Is the second issue going to use accordion binding or it’s going to be perfect bound?

Ray Seebeck: It’s going to be perfect bound.

Samir Husni: Give me the elevator pitch for Magazine TM.

Ray Seebeck: Magazine TM has 50 artists and writers, and it was designed and curated over a two year process. It’s very thoughtfully curated, very thoughtfully designed. Magazine TM is supposed to give you more of an insight into artists and writers process and their work.

Also it tells you the story behind their art (through curator notes) because people care about the story. That’s what matters to people. The story about an art piece, not necessarily just the art piece by itself.

People want to learn more about it. And that’s what I’ve tried to put into the magazine. It is telling you how it was made, telling you the unique techniques that artists use. And hopefully, it’s a place where people can discover artists that they could collect their work.

Samir Husni: If you and I are having this conversation a year from now, what would you tell me about Magazine TM?

Ray Seebeck: I’m going back closer to the first issue format with the next one.

That’s my plan is to do accordion binding again. So I’m going to go backwards in a way, go backwards to go forwards, if that makes sense. And another way I’m looking at the magazine is I’m trying to almost make it more of an art, a document of events and conversations with artists.

Through different video content and different collaborations with artists, the magazine hopefully is going to become more like a document of those experiences. This is how I’m thinking about it now.

Samir Husni: Anything I didn’t ask you about issue two you’d like to add?

Ray Seebeck: Yes. In the last question, I was telling you I want the next one to be almost more like a an archive or a document of different events or different conversations.

I’m trying to keep up that excitement from the first issue because it was like large format, accordion bind, and it was pretty successful. I’m working on an installation with one artist named Chelsea Bighorn, who  makes these really big textile pieces inspired by her Native American heritage that are canvas and really colorful. They use traditional dye techniques and have beading in them.

I went to her studio recently, and she’s making six new banners that are dyed with canvas and really beautiful with beading in them. Two really large pieces that are going to be at the release party in March. So we’re going to have her pieces there.

Our goal is selling her work. It’s like a show to sell her work and make it an exciting release party.

The two big pieces are going to be interactive. So basically, when you walk through the elevators, you’ll have her two pieces there.

You’ll actually walk through her artwork, the canvas. Hopefully that will create some excitement. Then a document of that will go into the next release.

Samir Husni: How can people get issue 2 of Magazine TM?

Ray Seebeck: It’s on my website and it’s available for sale through February 28, which is the last day to buy it.. It’s available for $35  until February 28. It has 50 artists and writers, almost 230 pages, and five interviews.  To reserve yourself a copy of Magazine TM issue 2 click here.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

And for those who want to know more about Ray Seebeck and Magazine TM, here is an encore of my first interview with Ray:

Ray Seebeck , The Twenty Something Young Person* Behind The Unique Print Magazine “Magazine TM” The Mr. Magazine™ Interview

September 28, 2024

“There’s something different about holding something in your hand and looking at it to actually create that experience that we want to create.” Ray Seebeck, Founder and Editor

They say Gen Z is the digital generation, and print is their parents and grandparents’ medium.  However, one twenty something young person from Chicago begs to differ from that adage. They are the founder and editor of  the print “Magazine TM” which they launched last year. 

The oversized, accordion bound magazine, is a beauty to view and a delight to flip through its pages. Ray wants the magazine to be an experience for artists and the audience. An experience it is. It is a very pleasant experience that ends with a series of pages that looks like a wall mural.

To say Ray is passionate about print, would be an understatement, but they are also very digitally oriented.  They use online for their research and searches for anything and everything beautiful. They hope to invest in that passion to create a profitable magazine that will hopefully make a living for them and those who work with them.

So please enjoy my conversation with a print fanatic, Ray Seebeck, founder and editor of “Magazine TM,” but first the soundbites:

On the role of print in a digital age: “For me the end solution is print. Part of what I’m trying to do is make that finished product.”

On the binding method for Magazine TM: “I wanted to do something that was memorable, that was unique for the first issue. We settled at the accordion bound method.”

On the magazine audience: “Right now, it’s mostly people in the art community is who I want to reach.”

On their vision of the magazine: “It’s more an experience of actually viewing art through how it’s designed.”

On their goal for the magazine: “I’m trying to make a model where it’s positive for the artists. It’s building community for the artists.”

On their aim to help artists: “It’s really important for the artists to have their work published. It’s huge. And then just to be doing something that I love is hopefully showing people and inspiring them in a small way.”

On the TM in Magazine: “The answer is no. It’s a play on letters… it’s not actually a trademark, but what it means is TM stands for The Magazine. So it’s basically Magazine, The Magazine is what it stands for.  And TM is like abbreviation.”

On what keeps them up at night: “It’s just the idea of the keeping the magazine running. That’s a big one.”

And now for the lightly edited conversation with Ray Seebeck, the founder and editor of Magazine TM:

Samir Husni: My first question to you is, you’re a young man in his 20s, and you launched and produced a print magazine unlike any other print magazine that I’ve seen in a long time. What’s your fascination with print?

Ray Seebeck: It probably started when I was a young kid. I did collect some magazines. I collected National Geographic, and we had Life Magazine running around the house, and Sports Illustrated.

I was a big Sports Illustrated fan, but I really got into print as an art form in college at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I had some really great experiences there where I learned from teachers screen printing, lithography, and letterpress as well. So I really just developed. It was a great opportunity where I was able to chart my own education, and so I studied in the print media department at SAIC, where you were able to take the classes you want to take, and I was able to take a lot of classes related to printmaking and try to develop a lot of skills in that field.

Samir Husni: People will tell you we live in a digital age. What makes print so attractive to you? You’re so passionate about print, you produced a magazine called Magazine. What’s in you that makes you feel print is essential today as it was yesterday?

Ray Seebeck: It’s kind of a tough question to answer, but I feel print is just the answer, it’s the solution.

There’s no other solution for me. There’s no other possible route, like the end product. For me the end solution is print. Part of what I’m trying to do is make that finished product. There’s something different about holding something in your hand and looking at it to actually create that experience that we want to create. So printing is sort of a solution for that.

Samir Husni: Why did you choose this format for magazine? It opens up like an accordion and it becomes like a mural.

Ray Seebeck: I worked with, I worked with a few people to make it.

We had five meetings as we were preparing to make the magazine and as I was gathering submissions. And so one friend from New York, one of my classmates from college, and a friend’s friend from college. We had a few Zoom meetings.

My friend Christiaan, who’s a designer, the print designer, who works with me to design print, put together this like Pinterest board with different print and different binding ideas. We talked through what were the design details we wanted to have for the magazine. We discussed different binding formats.

We all kind of came to a decision together. I wanted to do something that was memorable, that was unique for the first issue. We settled at the accordion bound method. That opened up so many possibilities for the actual design of it, which was really exciting.

Then one of the people who I was working with asked what size we wanted to make it and we decided large format would also be very memorable. We went by the 11X17 size. Those are the two key elements as we decided accordion bound and large format.

Christiaan and I  had some book binding skills from our college days, so we were able to figure out how to do that.

I definitely want to turn it into a business and hopefully make a living off it and help other people make a living off it.

Samir Husni: Who’s your audience? Who do you want to reach with this magazine?

Ray Seebeck: Right now, it’s mostly people in the art community is who I want to reach.

I would love to reach art collectors. It is an audience I want to grow to. Anyone who’s like interested in art and artists. So I’m hoping to expand the audience. But right now it’s mostly people in our community.

Samir Husni: Give me the elevator pitch the magazine?

Ray Seebeck: I would say there’s a few things that are really important: I’m really trying to create a different kind of publication, something that’s different than what most people have seen before. A magazine that’s more an art experience. It’s a simple magazine. It’s more an experience of actually viewing art through how it’s designed. That’s one huge aspect is trying to do something really creative.

The second aspect is that I’m trying to create a better experience for the artists. So there are a few art magazines they make artists pay them to get involved in their magazine. I’m trying to make a model where it’s positive for the artists. It’s building community for the artists. And it’s something that artists want to be a part of and they can themselves grow through being involved in it. So those are the two key probably aspects, I would say.

Samir Husni: Is the magazine a mirror reflection of you? Are you the magazine?

Ray Seebeck: I would say yes and no. I put so much of myself into it. So in one way, it’s a lot of the artists in the magazine are artists, that I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing at art shows or events. I’m kind of reinterpreting the art that I’ve taken in through the magazine. So in that way, it’s sort of a reflection of me. And then also, I would say, being it’s not meant to be super loud. It’s not meant to be super loud and showy.

It’s meant to be reserved. Once you start looking at it, it’s kind of an amazing experience. In that way, it’s maybe a reflection of my personality maybe kind of a reach. I definitely put a lot of myself into it. But at the same time, I feel like it is something totally different. Just like an end product of a lot of hours of work.

Samir Husni: It sounds like you have a love affair with this publication. Do you ever or would you consider it to be also a business? Is your dream to make money from this or just to do a magazine and say, hey, I have a magazine?

Ray Seebeck: No, I definitely want to turn it into a business and hopefully make a living off it and help other people make a living off it.

That’s the dream. So I’m trying to take small steps every month to achieve that. So in terms of  producing the magazine, I have to figure out how much each issue costs and how much I’m selling each issue.

And then packaging and mailing is a huge thing I’m working on trying to reduce the cost of. Then just trying to create more revenue by expanding to new areas such as a podcast I started, which is basically just interviews for the next issue of the magazine.

I’m trying to create new ways to maybe make money off it. I have some like possible goals for the future. But right now it’s a passion project.

So I work on it whenever I can. A lot of times late nights and things like that. But my dream is to definitely turn into business.

Samir Husni: Good luck on that.

Ray Seebeck: Thank you.

Samir Husni: What are you looking for to work in print?

Ray Seebeck: I’m really looking to just to keep the magazine going. That’s the main goal.

So if I can keep it afloat, and not losing money on it. At the end of the day, if I’m what’s most important to me, is to put something out into the world and to have it mean something to people. That’s a big part of it.

It’s really important for the artists to have their work published. It’s huge. And then just to be doing something that I love is hopefully showing people and inspiring them in a small way.

Samir Husni: So Because you have limited distribution, how can people get the magazine?

Ray Seebeck: So I did, with the first issue and also will do with the second issue coming out next March, a presale for them, probably the month of February. I’ll have a presale online and that determines how big the edition is going to be for the next issue. Basically print however many copies we sell for the limited edition.

Samir Husni: And your website is?

Ray Seebeck: It’s rayseebeck.com backslash magazine dash tm.

Samir Husni: Okay. Were you able to register magazine as a trademark?

Ray Seebeck: That’s a good question. The answer is no. It’s a play on letters.  So it’s slightly misleading, which I understand because it’s not actually a trademark, but what it means is TM stands for The Magazine. So it’s basically Magazine, The Magazine is what it stands for.  And TM is like abbreviation.

Samir Husni: Is there any question that I should ask you that I didn’t ask you? Or anything you would like to add.Ray Seebeck: I would say I have done a lot of market research, not necessarily market research, but read research on different publications and podcasts that has really informed me in the evolution of the magazine, the design evolution for especially for this next issue. So I could talk about that a little bit, if you wanted me to.

So have you ever heard of Esopus magazine? It’s no longer published.

There was a show at the Colby College Museum of Art about Esopus magazine. I learned about it because of that show. I actually found a copy at a bookstore in Chicago. That was really cool to see that magazine because they do a lot of similar things in terms of creatively, making creative layouts, interviewing artists, and having different formats in the magazine. That was pretty cool. It’s something to look up to.

But it’s definitely not the perfect model of what I’m trying to do. But it was cool to see. I’ve gained a lot of research by going to libraries and looking through old magazines, or print design inspirations.

I also have gotten a lot of inspiration from different art books, too. I just wanted to share that I’ve done a lot of research of looking through magazines and also art podcasts. I’ve been listening to a lot of art podcasts in the last year or so.

Samir Husni:  Let me ask you my typical last questions. If I come uninvited to visit you one evening at your home or apartment, what do I catch Ray doing? Watching TV, cooking, having a glass of wine?

Ray Seebeck: So to be honest, most nights, what I’m doing is after I’ve done everything I need to do that day, I’m generally pretty busy.

I generally will like take a shower, change into like a comfortable t-shirt and shorts and make dinner. I will turn on the TV basically every night. I watch a lot of different television shows.

Right now I’m watching like the Great British Bake Show. And RuPaul’s Drag Race is a big show that I like.  I watch a lot of TV shows. I’m currently watching Only Murders in the Building.

I like to decompress. I know the  magazine is very print oriented, but I’m also a very digitally oriented person. So I do a lot of online research and look through a lot of photographs all the time. That’s generally what I’m doing at night.

Sometimes I’ll… If I have something to work on for the magazine, I will work on that at night. That’s kind of my exception is that because I love doing it. If I have like if I have a submission from an artist, I will like organize all the content or work on the design layout at night.

Samir Husni: My typical last question is what keeps you up at night these days?

Ray Seebeck: I’m worried about the magazine falling apart. I would say that keeps me up. It’s just the idea of the keeping the magazine running. That’s a big one. There’s a lot of things that goes into that. Making money for the magazine also sometimes will keep me up. And just like diversifying.

Samir Husni:  Thank you and good luck.

  • Ray is a non-binary and they use they/them pronouns.

Posted in A Launch Story..., Innovation in print, New Launches, News and Views, The Mr. Magazine™ Interview | Leave a Comment »

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Inside The World Of TOPS News: A Magazine That Helps Members Lose Weight Sensibly. A Mr. Magazine™ Interview With Team TOPS News.

February 1, 2025

TOPS News is the membership magazine for TOPS Club Inc.  TOPS stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly. Its motto for the last 75 years since its inception is Real People. Real Weight Loss. 

In 2025, and for the first time, the TOPS News magazine started accepting advertising on the pages of the magazine. Through an agreement with the James G. Elliott Company, Inc., the magazine opened its pages to advertising in a move that is seen to add more help to their members.

I reached out to TOPS News president Rick Danforth, editor and publisher Barry Gantenbein, and senior designer Dave Zylstra to chat about the organization and its magazine.  It was sort of a roundtable about TOPS News, the magazine’s mission, and the reason they are now accepting advertising in the magazine.

Before the interview, I should note that in a recent study the magazine found out that over 90% of the members see it as the number one benefit of membership. A quarter of the membership responded, unaided, to the study in the first two days. A response rarely heard about in the magazine industry.

So without any further delay, please enjoy this round table conversation with the team at TOPS News and what is in store for the years to come.

But first the soundbites:

On TOPS News mission: “I view TOPS News as our best vehicle to keep in constant contact with our members to share success stories and give them updated information on a healthy lifestyle.” Rick Danforth.

On why they are accepting advertising: “Because things are getting more costly and it was a way of generating some revenue.” RD

On why did you add the publisher title to the editor’s title: “One of the reasons that I became publisher was just to prevent any snags in meeting our deadlines.” Barry Gantenbein

On how is TOPS News different than the rest of weight loss magazines: “I think the one thing that really separates TOPS News is the group support, from the chapter level and also from the magazine.” BG

On how to approach the design of the magazine: “Our members are basically our core demographic, trying to think and trying to tap into their minds what they want to see.” Dave Zylstra

On the hope and goal for the design of TOPS News: “Hopefully inspire them to want to keep flipping the pages and keep reading it.”

On any challenges facing him: “There’s always challenges… But no serious challenges that we couldn’t fix.” RD

On content creation : “There’s a large element of TOPS News is the member contributions. So that does definitely affect the scope of things, and the way we approach things.” BG

On the magazine being an experience: “There has to be a reason to engage with the magazine, and that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with every issue is to engage our members as fully as possible.” BG

On what he is expected to accomplish this year: “A year from now, what I would be telling you is that it would help with our revenue stream so we can provide more services to our members.” RD

And now for the lightly edited conversation with the team at TOPS News:

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Samir Husni: Rick, can you give me the elevator pitch of TOPS News? TOPS News, not TOPS as the organization, the magazine.

Rick Danforth: I view TOPS News as our best vehicle to keep in constant contact with our members to share success stories and give them updated information on a healthy lifestyle.

Samir Husni: And why did you decide after 75 years to start taking advertising?

Rick Danforth: Well, that is because things are getting more costly and it was a way of generating some revenue.

Also, too, there was a misconception by past administrations that that wasn’t allowed by a non-profit. So it took a while to convince people that this is a legitimate concern and plus Jim (Elliott) was very instrumental in helping us with that process.

Samir Husni: Why do you think members should be interested in advertising as much as they are interested in editorial?

Rick Danforth: I think it’s another way for us to show them other information without just putting it out there in an editorial format or story to prompt them that it might catch their fancy and do a little research on their own.

Samir Husni: Barry, as an editor and publisher, you wear two hats. First, let me ask you the personal question. Which of the two hats do you prefer, editor or publisher?

Barry Gantenbein: Oh, well, that’s hard to say.  I like being the publisher because then I have the final say in things. And one of the reasons that I became publisher was just to prevent any snags in meeting our deadlines.

When I had worked with publishers previously who had more than one job and did more than just be the publisher of the publication, sometimes there would be other priorities other than the magazine and I wanted to get rid of that sticking point. So that’s why I became the publisher. I like being the publisher for that reason.

But as far as the work and what I do mostly, I’m an editor and I have been doing that for a long time and I enjoy that type of work.

Samir Husni: So being the editor, let’s put the editor’s hat on. What’s the mission statement of TOPS News?

Barry Gantenbein: The one sentence is to provide our members with information and inspiration to make healthy choices.

I want to provide a variety of stories for our members. When you open up the TOC, there’s seven different headings. Those are the types of stories that we publish.

So our goal, we build a magazine on a frame and I use those seven sections to create those types of stories.

So if we have at least two in each section, then I know that we’re going to have a balanced offering for our members.

Samir Husni: Weight loss has been a topic for ages. There are so many commercial magazines and there are so many commercial drugs nowadays to help you lose weight. Where do you think you can navigate the magazine to balance between everything that’s taking place with weight loss these days?

Barry Gantenbein: I think that’s a good question. And that goes back to the start of TOPS.

We’ve always had a medical component as part of TOPS since the beginning. Our founder, Esther Manz, always wanted that component.  When she started the magazine with her friends, they were all doing the same stuff and they were losing weight, and she wasn’t. So she was wondering, why is that? Why am I not losing weight? So she wanted to get a doctor involved in this so that she could better understand why they were losing weight and she wasn’t losing weight.

We don’t really take any stance on things like the different types of injectables now that are out there. We feel that if you are considering something like that, see your healthcare professional and get their advice on that.

We’re open to the shots, but that’s part of the overall health plan. And I think the one thing that really separates TOPS News is the group support, from the chapter level and also from the magazine. We try to always provide a community for our members so that they can be themselves, make healthy choices. We just really want our members to become the best version of themselves.

Samir Husni: Your last issue that I saw, the November-December, was all about bringing balance to your life. Does this balance now include the shots?

Barry Gantenbein: If it’s helpful to that particular member, because one thing that I have learned is that weight loss is a very individual thing, that what works for somebody may not work for somebody else. So that’s why we like to have a different variety of options available for people.

Samir Husni: And Dave, let me ask you about how do you take all these, I mean what Rick said, what Barry said, how do you design a publication for members as opposed to the general audience out there, or is there no difference?

Dave Zylstra: No, that’s a great question. I do definitely take into account our members. Our members are basically our core demographic, trying to think and trying to tap into their minds what they want to see.

So I actually, when I started, I sat down with my folks who are kind of a little older than our core demographic, but I sat down with them to see what magazines they’re reading, what they’re looking at, and what they want to see, and use that and glean some of that info to try to put that into the layout of the magazine. Also, using past issues, seeing what we’ve been doing, trying to update a little bit a more current design aesthetic. But really just hopefully trying to tap into what our demographic wants to see in the magazine, and hopefully inspire them to want to keep flipping the pages and keep reading it.

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Samir Husni: Rick, hearing what Dave said about listening to the members, and you just did a survey which had a big, huge response from the members. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Rick Danforth: I was not surprised at the response as much as Jim was, because our members are very, very engaged, and I know that because every time I would meet members out at various events, the first thing they would say is, thank you for TOPS News. And I say, that’s okay. I tell them about the staff, and how Barry and Dave put it together.

I just stay out of their way. I provide content, and I get out of their way. But they say, this is the best issue ever, and I’m thinking, yeah, you’re right. I don’t know how they’re going to top this, and each time they keep on topping the previous one. So that tells me our members are engaged on what Barry and Dave are doing.  As far as Barry making decisions on what goes in the issue, and how Dave portrays it so that it’s appealing to their eyes and catches them, and they can have that, bring that magazine to a meeting to help their discussions.

Samir Husni: So has it been a walk in a rose garden?  Any challenges, or it is just a walk in the rose garden?

Rick Danforth: Nothing’s perfect. There’s always challenges, for example, our Canadian members saying, how come there weren’t enough Canadian stories in this particular issue? But there’s that balance that we try to provide all the way across. Another challenge if it’s a special theme issue that we might not have a Canadian angle into it. Others probably want more than six issues a year, but that’s our program right now.

But no serious challenges that we couldn’t fix.

Samir Husni: Barry, if you look at the images, the cover,  I know it’s a reflection of the members, but is it in any way, shape, or form a hindrance? For example, like entering a national magazine awards, or competing with the magazines that are out there that put a different image on their cover?

Barry Gantenbein:  When Dave talked about listening to our members, we rely on them for a lot of story ideas, and also for photos.

A large element of TOPS News is the member contributions. So that does definitely affect the scope of things, and the way we approach things. As far as the covers, we again talked about balance, and we try to have a balance.

We want to have balance between basically food, which is a huge part of the magazine, obviously, and then member photos. So we try to balance that, and balance where people are from. Like Rick had mentioned, our Canadian members, we always try to have at least one Canadian member featured in every story.

And then as one way to let our Canadian friends know that they are in the magazine, we started putting a red maple leaf in the TOC next to the Canadian stories. So when people say, hey there’s no Canadian stories, we’re like, there’s three in there. I can tell you that right now just by looking at those little maple leaves that are there.

So I think balance is a good way to describe what we’re trying to accomplish, and our approach to the magazine. It’s a balancing act. And do you consider TOPS News as a pioneer in the reader-generated content? Oh, I don’t know.

Like Dave said, my main goal is to provide information and make it entertaining. It has to be interesting. Dave and I both came from newspapers, and that overriding approach to newspapers was — no boring stories. There has to be a reason to engage with the magazine, and that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with every issue is to engage our members as fully as possible.

Samir Husni: And Dave, do you think this is easier or harder? I mean, having to deal with submitted photography, having to deal with submitted articles and…

Dave Zylstra:  It’s harder. It’s been a challenge because not everyone understands high resolution. Not everyone understands what makes a good photo.  And then, so just like accepting photos, sometimes it is a stab to the heart a little bit, like, couldn’t you have not taken that photo with all the stuff in the background.

So, but it is what it is, you know. We don’t have the budget nor the resources to go out and have professionals take every photo we need. So we are at the mercy of our members.

So it does.  Definitely it is a challenge sometimes working with what we are sent. It’s a challenge I fully accept. At first I was like, oh man, what am I going to do with this? Because coming from, like Barry said, newspaper backgrounds, we’re using nice professional photos.

So coming here, at first, it was definitely a challenge. I mean, it still is a challenge. But I can only use what I have. I try to make them look good.

Barry Gantenbein:  And also Dave serves as our staff photographer. Dave is an excellent photographer. We have members come in for, workouts in the magazine. We’ll have members come in to do the workouts. And Dave will be the photographer for the workouts.

Dave also is a photographer for the food shoots, for the recipes. So, when we have our transformations issue, where we honor the members who lost the most weight, we will hire professional photographers to take their portraits. So it’s a mixture of submitted stuff and professional photographs.

Samir Husni: So, Rick, Barry and Dave came from a journalism background and newspaper. You came from a microbiology background. How do you fit in the organization, you’re the president of this company, but what led you to be part of this organization?

Rick Danforth: Well, first, I was a member. Well, this week, I’ll be a member 23 years. And as I got into the organization and saw the benefits of it, it really helped me a lot. I lost 30% of my weight and I maintained about a 15% loss because it’s a struggle and it’s a disease. So when I left the world of microbiology, a lot of my friends were surprised.

And I said, why would you be surprised? I’ve been fighting various diseases for other folks. Obesity is disease. Now I got a chance to help a lot more people to battle this dreaded disease.So it was a natural fit for me. And I was involved in town politics and other things and trainings for the laboratory works. So it was a natural fit.I love getting on the stage and talking about TOPS to our members and non-members.

Samir Husni: So if you and I are having this conversation a year from now, what would you tell me that TOPS News with the new advertising acceptance have accomplished in this 2025?

Rick Danforth: A year from now, what I would be telling you is that it would help with our revenue stream so we can provide more services to our members. And that’s the main goal.

Samir Husni: The question that I have to ask always is, is there anything I failed to ask that you would like to ask ?

Barry Gantenbein:  I’m thinking I’m used to doing the interviews, not being interviewed. So this is kind of an unusual spot for me. So that you didn’t ask.

I guess what I would say about the magazine, and that we’ve tried to do, is to make it a little more informal and make it more personal. That’s one thing that our members talk about. They said, since it’s become more personal and we use their first names, it’s Paula. It’s not Mrs. Livingston or Livingston. It’s Paula. And just be, I think that helps to forge a sense of community by making it more informal and more.

And one of the things that I like to explore more themes in the magazine. One of the main themes to me is after a while people figure out what works for them, but then why don’t we do what we know is good for us? We, after a while you figure out what sort of diet and what sort of exercise program you enjoy or works for you, but then sometimes people just don’t do it. Why is that? That’s something that we continually explore.

And I think that’s what makes it interesting because that’s an individual thing.

Samir Husni: So my typical last two questions are more on the personal side. If I come to visit you one evening unannounced, what do I catch you doing? Watching TV, reading a book, cooking, having a glass of wine?

Rick Danforth: You’ll catch me at my desk working. And I’ve been told I’m doing that too much. They just want me to slow down a little bit. I eat with my wife.

Barry Gantenbein:  I’m really lucky to have a wife who’s an excellent cook. So if you showed up in the evening, you’d probably be served pretty nice meals. I like to read and I would probably be reading later in the evening.

Samir Husni: And on paper or tablet?

Barry Gantenbein:  Both. I do, I use a tablet, but there some books that I just like hard copy. If it’s got a lot of pictures, I like hard copy. If it is a novel, I can definitely read it on a tablet.

Samir Husni: Dave?

Dave Zylstra: That’s a great question. I have a lot of interests. I’m doing a lot of things, but on the average night, I’m usually cooking for my family.

I have two teenage daughters and I kind of am the house chef. So, with two teenage daughters, I feel like their childhood is fleeting and our family is fleeting.  I’m trying, my wife and I are making a very concerted effort to spend as much time with them as we can right now.

So spending time in the kitchen with food and dinner. And then I do a lot of painting, so there’s a good chance I’ll be doing some painting after dinner. Maybe watching a movie with my wife. Pretty domesticated at the moment.

Samir Husni: My final typical question is, Rick, what keeps you up at night these days?

Rick Danforth: Wow. I worry a lot. So I’m always trying to figure out different scenarios where if this problem hits, I got this thing. So it’s just making sure that everybody has what they need to do their job.

And you know, the expression is lonely at the top. I got support, but it does still keep me up at night.

Barry Gantenbein:  I would say just trying to figure out how to get things done. We have limited staff, so I rely on a lot of freelancers and friends of friends to do things for us. I’m always trying to figure out how we can get a story written or who can write a story for us or I joke that every single person that I know eventually ends up working for the magazine in some aspect, and that’s actually pretty true. We just signed a guy who’s a science writer, and he’s a former coworker of mine from newspaper days.

We signed a therapist to write for us, and she’s a friend of my wife. We’ve got an illustrator who went to high school with my daughter. These are the freelancers, and we’ve got just people that are friends of past staffers that believe in TOPS and work for us.

I’m always trying to figure out. I’m like a talent scout trying to figure out who can write and who can illustrate and who can help us out in any way and is willing to do it for little money. So that’s what keeps me up at night.

Samir Husni: What keeps you up at night, Barry, is TOPS.

Dave Zylstra: I love that.  It’s always on Barry’s mind. This might sound bad, TOPS doesn’t keep me up at night.  So that’s my answer is two teenage daughters.

You know, we recently, my older daughter is a junior in high school, so we recently started talking about college and basically financing college. It’s usually some type of money type of concerns, which I think is pretty standard, and very specifically like money for college. My younger daughter is talking about going to parochial school, so she did get some scholarship money for that, but also, so usually it’s some type of money.

And  I should just say, my folks are getting up in age and their health isn’t the greatest.

Samir Husni:  Thank you all for this conversation.

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