Hudson Business Coalition is proud to release the 2022 edition of the ‘Welcome to Hudson NY’ Walking Guide. This release marks the 10th edition of the Walking Guide since 2011, and is the culmination of a combined hundred hours of work by HBCi’s all volunteer board.
For the first time, we’re offering a behind-the-scenes look at the extensive production process that goes into each edition of the Walking Guide. Enjoy!
Pre-production
Work on each successive Walking Guide begins practically as soon as the latest edition drops. We work year-round to track which businesses move in and out of town, and document those changes for the listings in each year’s Walking Guide, as well as the VisitHudsonNY.com online directory. Every business in Hudson with a physical presence is listed in the Walking Guide and the VisitHudsonNY.com— we do this for the benefit of the entire Hudson business community.
Because the Walking Guide has a year-long shelf life, we also do everything we can to include soon-to-be-opened businesses. This year’s edition includes listings for Westerlind, The Social Type, Luxe Optique, The Hop Shop, and Merchant’s Social— all businesses that are coming soon to Warren Street, as of time of print.
Production
Production on the Walking Guide this year began in late February, to ensure a street date that’s in time for Memorial Day weekend, which is of course a popular weekend for overnight guests to Hudson.
Over the next several weeks, HBCi board member (and proprietor of DISH Hudson) Peg Patterson worked at her in-home design studio to make extensive updates to the content and design of the new edition. The entries in the Walking Guide are helpfully ordered not just alphabetically, but block-by-block, making it a real resource for those traversing Hudson’s business district on foot.
In this year’s release, we republished the map from last year’s edition, hand drawn by Seth Williams of Flying Eye Press, full of personality and quirky charm.
Cover
We proudly unveil the new cover of each year’s edition of the Walking Guide, and each year features a similar motif— a model, in profile and in motion, walking down the sidewalk on one of Hudson’s city streets. We try to pick a model and location that best exemplifies the true spirit of Hudson’s creative spirit and energy.
This year, we asked Hudson resident and personal trainer Wesley T. Brown to act as our cover model. When we approached Wesley to see if he wanted to appear on our cover, we were overjoyed to learn that he was not only familiar with the Walking Guide, but keeps several copies in his own home for when he has friends and family stay with him and his partner.
“I was flattered and honored to connect with Hudson Business Coalition about the cover of the Walking Guide,” Wesley said. “I knew exactly what they were talking about when we first spoke about it because I had picked up a copy of last year’s edition when we first moved here. The Walking Guide was the first tangible token I got to welcome us to our new town. It didn’t feel like touristy fluff; it felt like something people poured a lot of love and care into to highlight what the city offers. I think of it more as a welcome guide to Hudson. The more I learned about the production and how much this means to the community, I found it really special to be part of such a collaborative and unifying project on both a business and social level.”
Although he’s only lived in Hudson for a year, Wesley already considers himself a true Hudsonian. “My partner and I have lived in Hudson for about a year (with our puppy!),” he told us. “And until we got here, I was yearning for a place where I could lean into my creativity, the solace of nature (and food!) without feeling exhausted like I often did in New York City. This small community reminds me of the southern hospitality I grew up with more freedom to fully be myself. Hudson brings out the person in me who I’ve always wanted to be, and seeing a few thousand people showing up as their truest selves makes me know we found the right place to live.”
Wesley was styled by HBCi board member and owner of Hudson Clothier, Mary Vaughn Williams, who appointed him handsomely in a jacket by Artists in Orbit and with a tote bag from Chester Wallace.
The cover was shot and edited by Hudson photographer Allison Valiquette. While we selected an eye-grabbing location on Warren Street for the shoot, Valiquette edited every detail of the photo to ensure a flawless finish. See for yourself— flip between the before and after below:
Printing and Proofing
The Walking Guide is printed each year by The Standard Group in Lancaster, PA. Production this year was especially complicated by the global paper shortage, but The Standard Group was able to successfully fulfill our order with high quality stock, a soft touch AQ finish on the outside cover, and eco-friendly ink.
After sending files to the press, we received back a hard proof of the entire Walking Guide, to evaluate color reproduction, print quality, and more. We’ll work with the printer to make additional tweaks to ensure a final product that’s near-perfect.
Release
Finally, several weeks after approving the final hard proofs, we received back 10,000 copies of the Walking Guide in a shipment from the press. We hand deliver these to Hudson-area retailers and galleries; hotels, inns, and B&Bs; restaurants, cafes, and bars; and cultural institutions. The Walking Guide can also be found at the Hudson AMTRAK station and the visitor center at the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce at 1 N Front St.
We’ll also mail hundreds of copies of the Walking Guide this year to individuals from around the country who request them through our website. This includes those planning visits to Hudson for themselves and their families, as well as those hosting events like weddings and birthdays in Hudson who wish to share the Walking Guide with each of their guests.
And thus, a new Walking Guide is born!
Thank you to the advertisers who purchased placements in this year’s Walking Guide to help underwrite the production cots. And thank you to the affiliate sponsors who support HBCi and our mission year after year: Columbia Economic Development Corp.; Hudson Development Corp.; the City of Hudson; Columbia Memorial Health; and Columbia County Tourism.