Washington Blade to produce Pride Guide

Capital Pride goers use the Pride Guide to navigate the busy several weeks of events. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Capital Pride, the entity responsible for organizing D.C.’s annual LGBT Pride celebration, and the Washington Blade announced in a joint statement on Tuesday that the Blade will produce the official 2012 Pride Guide publication.

The Pride Guide is a glossy magazine-style publication consisting of more than 180 pages that includes, among other things, the schedule, participants and performers of the annual Capital Pride festival and parade. It also includes a listing of the nearly month-long series of Pride-related events that precede the parade and festival along with articles about other Pride-related subjects.

Under a proposal submitted by the Blade and accepted by Capital Pride through a competitive bidding process, the Blade will produce an official Capital Pride mobile app to help guide attendees to Pride events in addition to the traditional printed Pride Guide.

This year’s effort will also include expanded distribution of the Pride Guide to Richmond, Philadelphia, Rehoboth Beach, Del., Baltimore and other locations.

“The Blade is excited to work with Capital Pride on this year’s Guide,” said Washington Blade publisher Lynne Brown. “Producing the Pride Guide is another terrific way to serve our local readers and the local business community and we’re already hard at work on it,” Brown said.

“Capital Pride looks forward to a successful collaboration with the Blade,” said Ryan Bos, Capital Pride’s executive director. “As more and more visitors look to social media and mobile devices for information, we appreciate the Blade’s attention to creating new, innovative ways to reach our audience.”

In a newly adopted procedure, Capital Pride last year issued a request for proposals from publishers interested in producing the Pride Guide. The Capital Pride board voted late last year to accept the Blade’s proposal.

The proposal calls for several new components, including the mobile app and a spring party to unveil the Pride Guide, which will be distributed in May, according to the statement.