¿Que Onda RGV?

A new arts and entertainment weekly serves as a good indication of the growing Valley media market. ¿Que Onda RGV? is one of the latest publications to hit South Texas, offering bilingual articles on movies, music, food, sports and other events.

¿Que Onda RGV? publisher Melissa A. Zamora worked as metro editor for the Brownsville Herald before leaving to work for the South Padre Island Convention and Vistiors Bureau. She's still doing that, along with her latest project, as she tells me in a recent email:

We're working hard to make it work. I have a supportive husband and family, two great sales reps and great friends who are there for me emotionally every step of the way. It's not easy.

We're on our sixth [now seventh] issue. At this point, the community is just becoming familiar with ¿Que Onda RGV?, and so far, we've got some much-needed corporate support. ... And, I already received my first hate mail! I love it! Once you get hate mail, you're on your way.

Seriously, I'm spending some late nights working on my weekly, working hard to compete against those darn corporate newspapers. We're encouraging the community to buy from the community, and that's how we're promoting ourselves. We're a local, Rio Grande Valley business. Born here. We're offering a reciprocal relationship to the community -- by helping us grow, we help you grow. ... We're slowly growing -- it's a tough process -- but we're pushing for success. ...

Good luck to ¿Que Onda RGV? May its success open the door for other publications.