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RiplFX celebrates birthday
By John Behling
Published:
Monday, January 20, 2003
Media Credit: Amanda Degen
Panoramic Blue performs for the crowd at the Red Carpet. They performed along with Crazy Betty and Search for George during RiplFX�s second birthday party Thursday night.
Thursday night the Red Carpet was packed wall to wall, as live music overpowered conversation, alcoholic beverages outnumbered people and someone distributed condoms by the handful, flinging them into the crowd.
This may be considered typical for a Thursday at the Red Carpet, but it definitely wouldn't be considered typical for a second birthday party. RiplFX magazine, a free publication covering events in the St. Cloud area from music to theatre to sports, turns two years old this month.
Over the past two years the magazine has doubled in size and within the next couple weeks will be expanding into the Duluth and Fargo areas. And it won't stop there according to CEO Dominic Nelson. Over the next three years he plans to bring RiplFX to cities all over the Midwest, targeting communities similar in size and makeup to St. Cloud. Each branch will be complete with its own Website, providing an additional resource to compliment the monthly publication.
"(RiplFX was founded) in order to create something for the general public to know about the variety of things that are going on," Nelson said. "I was tired of hearing that there was nothing to do in St. Cloud, that SCSU was a 'suitcase college.'"
Just as many publications experience, RiplFX has dealt with their share of various blunders and catastrophes. To elaborate on the difficulties, vice president Kirk Erickson has much on which he could comment.
"It's been tough to avoid being labeled as just a college magazine. What college magazine covers theatre? What college magazine covers all local sports? It's tough to get people to realize what we're really about."
Thursday night, it seemed pretty obvious what RiplFX was about, as a large crowd came out to celebrate the anniversary and to hear performances from Search for George, Crazy Betty and Panoramic Blue. Music is strongly emphasized in RiplFX with almost every issue featuring a band interview and a selection of cd reviews.
"RiplFX has been incredible to us," Mark Dahm of Search for George said enthusiastically during a brief interview after the band's performance.
'They've been a great push for us into the Fargo area," Dahm said.
Search for George, who was missing most of their band members, put on a special acoustic performance.
"I think there is a little more focus on live music then there (has been in the past). Also, bars are beginning to recognize and give more attention to the 18-20-year-old demographic, although (there's) still not enough," Erickson said.
"I'm optimistic about the way things are going. There have been some change in ownership of venues. There's also the new addition to the Red Carpet along with the renovation of Rum Runners. The overall quality of nightlife is improving, but we aren't exactly where we need to be yet," Nelson said.
Taking a look at RiplFX's accomplishments thus far, it seems the magazine will play an active role in St. Cloud, reaching its full entertainment potential.
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