517 Magazine Wins 2022 Marcom Platinum Award

From the start, the idea of 517 Business and Life was meant to serve as a reflection of the Greater Lansing community and all of its triumphs and glories.

M3 Group began the monthly publication in the midst of the pandemic, with the first issue hitting mailboxes in June 2020 following the merging of Greater Lansing Business Monthly and Capitalize Area Women’s LifeStyle Magazine.

Publisher Tiffany Dowling, president and CEO of M3 Group, noted in that inaugural issue that there isn’t a major separation between work and play in the region, and the new publication was meant to showcase how those areas intersect in our lives.

“The human spirit has the instinctual drive to survive and carry on with life in the face of tremendous obstacles and setbacks,” she wrote in June 2020. “I’m already so proud of our region coming together to support each other.”

Now others have also taken note of how the residents and businesses of Greater Lansing unite to elevate the region and obtain footholds forward in building stronger industries, communities and culture.

517 Magazine was recently named a 2022 Marcom Platinum Award winner for print media publications. The MarCom Awards honor excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals.

Since its inception in 2004, MarCom has evolved into one of the largest, most-respected creative international competitions in the world. Each year approximately 6,500 print and digital entries are submitted from dozens of countries.

The Platinum Awards are the highest honor handed out by Marcom. Entries receiving scores between 90-100 points are Platinum winners. Entries with 80-89 points are Gold winners. Entries scoring from 70-79 receive an honorable mention.

“Publishing a business and lifestyle magazine for a community you love is a real joy,” Dowling said of the Marcom recognition. “From a very young age, I’ve always wanted to tell stories and learn about people. What do they care about? What makes them do what they do? This medium allows us to see what makes our region great. Whether it’s a focus on businesses that strive to employ our neighbors, to those who relentlessly give back in support of those who need it, to information that can make an impact in how we live, it’s our pleasure and responsibility to provide that important insight.

“When I hear from people, they are excited to see neighbors and people they know in the pages of the publication. It’s an opportunity to connect with individuals on many levels and we are proud to know that members of our community look forward to reading the pages each month,” Dowling added. “I’m extremely proud of our organization’s commitment to this work and thankful that I found a team that believes in storytelling as much as I do.”

A dedicated team of writers, editors and designers work on 517 Magazine each month to tell the stories of the area’s businesses, residents and communities in unique and compelling ways. The coordinated effort is conducted under the guidance and direction of managing editor Mary Gajda.

“I’m just so proud of our team,” Gajda said. “From our creative visionaries to our writers and copy editor, you would not believe the amount of love we put into this publication. I’m happy to see it getting recognized, and I’m excited to see what comes next.”

For more information on 517 Magazine, visit 517mag.com. To find out more about advertising in the award-winning publication that reaches tens of thousands of readers each month, visit 517mag.com/advertise.