Community Magazines and Activity Guides

What this covers

A community magazine and activity guide tells residents what their local government offers each season. In its combined form, a seasonal magazine runs alongside a recreation catalog: classes, programs, registration information, facilities, special events, library programs, arts and culture, community resources, and agency news. It is typically mailed to households and posted online.

A parks and recreation department usually owns the program listings, while the communications or public information office owns the magazine content, cover, and schedule. Libraries and other departments contribute pages, each with its own deadlines and approvers.

The difficulty is that this is a series produced against dates the agency cannot move. Registration opens on a set day whether the guide is ready or not. The listings are usually the most error-prone part of the book and change until the last moment as classes are added, canceled, or moved.

How we do it

• Build the series template first. We set up parent pages and paragraph, character, object, table, and cell styles for the cover, departments, features, listings, and ad pages. Recurring departments such as the events calendar and how-to-register pages keep fixed positions.
• Flatplan to a page count. A saddle-stitched book is made from folded sheets, so it must page in multiples of four. We agree on a target page count, assign every page in a flatplan, and keep a running page budget. When content runs over or under, the agency decides early whether to cut or add content, change the page count by a multiple of four, or move material online.
• Export the listings, do not retype them. Listings usually originate in the recreation registration system: class names, activity codes, ages, dates, times, fees, and locations. We define a repeatable export with recreation staff, map each field to a style, and set listings by import or data merge where the structure allows. Retyping puts errors into the fees and codes residents use to register.
• Check the export before it reaches the page. Many errors and delays start here: missing fields, inconsistent location names, programs not yet entered, or a report run before final edits. We check each export against the prior issue, return a discrepancy list to program owners, and set one final export date.
• Run one calendar for the issue. We work back from the registration opening, board or council meeting, and in-home dates to set deadlines for content, the export, proof rounds, sign-off, print files, and online posting. Each approval gets a named approver and a date.
• Proof by owner and log corrections. Each department reviews its own pages, and the agency's named reviewer consolidates their comments and resolves conflicts before returning them; advertisers approve their own ads. Corrections are logged so changes after sign-off are visible.
• Build print and online editions from one file. We set reading order, export tagging, and alternative text in the layout so the online edition is not rebuilt after print. Prepress, ads, photography, and accessible PDFs are covered on their own pages.

What you receive

• A series template in Adobe InDesign with parent pages, styles, and a written guide to its use.
• A flatplan and page budget for each issue, kept current through production.
• A listing export specification mapping registration system fields to styles, reusable every season.
• Proof sets for each round, with a correction log and sign-off record.
• Print-ready PDF/X files and an accessible online edition, tested as described on the digital editions and accessible PDFs page.
• A packaged issue archive with layout files, IDML, linked images, and a record of fonts and image licenses.

Considerations for public agencies

• Accessibility applies to the online edition. It falls under the ADA Title II web rule, which adopts WCAG 2.1 Level AA; the digital editions and accessible PDFs page covers the rule, its exceptions, and compliance dates. The exception for preexisting documents does not cover documents still used to access a service, so treat a current guide as in scope. The duty to provide effective communication, including alternate formats of the print edition, applies regardless.
• Each issue is a public record. The published issue, and often its proofs and approvals, may fall under the agency's retention schedule and public records requests. Confirm retention periods with the records officer.
• Ownership and licenses belong in the contract. The contract should state that the agency owns the template, layouts, and issue files, and list what is licensed rather than owned. How font licenses affect handover is covered on the production calendars, proofing, and file handover page. Participant photos, especially of minors, should follow the agency's photo release policy.
• Language access. Confirm which languages the agency's language access obligations require, as outlined on the publication layout and typesetting page, and budget pages and calendar time for translated content.
• Procurement terms for a recurring book. A multi-issue contract should define how page count changes, added proof rounds, and late content affect cost and schedule, and whether printing and mailing are included. If the guide carries paid advertising, have counsel review the ad acceptance policy before sales begin, since limits on ad content in a government publication can raise First Amendment issues.

Starting an engagement

An engagement begins with a review of recent issues, the agency's brand standards, the current registration system export, and the season calendar. From that, HQT proposes a series template, a first-issue flatplan, and a production calendar for the agency to approve before content is collected.

Frequently asked questions