Important Announcement to concerned Armenians

Dear fellow Armenians, this is the final A-List Email Community Announcement & December 2009 will be the FINAL ISSUE of the Armenian Life Magazine... It was not an easy decision to make... Permanent and emotional ones never are.

When a couple of young Armenians with the vision and leadership of our Editor Avak Bedikian got together and began this amazing journey some 5 years ago, our mission and purpose was so clear, so natural... to promote & unite the Armenian community through information and communication with a quality, independent, unbiased magazine publication that we can all feel a part of, regardless of our background, the language we speak or our beliefs.

We began the process by reaching out to thousands of Armenians who have disassociated themselves from community life, to link disconnected Armenians from across Victoria to each other, to promote the organizations & allow them the opportunity to reach Armenian households, to acknowledge individuals who have made great contributions, to record our presence in the society we live in, to reach out to our youth with the language they best understand, to educate the wider Australian society about our ancient history and rich culture, to enlighten our political leaders about Armenia and Armenian life, here in this great country of Australia.

As a non-profit publication, for the first 3 years, we were able to reach over 1,500 Armenian households FREE of charge three times a year with 1,300 of them being in Victoria. It was in our 4th year that we were reluctantly forced to introduce a small yearly subscription fee of $40 to cover the increasing cost of design, printing, postage & packaging of the Armenian Life Magazine...Sadly, from that point, our readership dropped dramatically from over 1,500 Armenian households to 297.

Now into our 5th year and due to circumstances beyond our control, we have come to the sad and disheartening reality, that with the lack of sufficient financial subscribers, constant unwarranted rumors being spread about the publication & our work, no support, encouragement or genuine interest from the major organizations in Victoria that we promoted...there is no purpose left for the continuation of the Armenian Life Magazine.

But, as the old Aussie saying goes "No matter the obstacles you face, the negative critics you encounter or even the final outcome...it is always better & courageous to stand up for what you believe is right, work for the benefit of everyone & give it your best shot...than to talk, criticize & do nothing."

With no feelings of regret & for the sake of the next generation, we wish the Armenian community in Victoria a bright future!

Kapriyel Bedikian - Associate Editor

PS. A big thank you, from the whole publication team, to all those individuals & Armenian households who supported our work and more importantly gave a couple of young Armenians, the humble opportunity to continue a magazine that we truly loved, for as long as we did........Thank you also to the Australian Armenian Welfare Society here in Melbourne, Armenian Cultural Panoyan Centre & the Garoon Armenian Monthly Magazine in Sydney, for their  great leadership, generous support & encouragement of our work. We sincerely wish that we made you all proud and hope you enjoyed reading the Armenian Life Magazine, as much as we did putting it together.


Finally, as we say goodbye...we are certain that through the Armenian Life Magazine publication...... A-List Email Community Announcements......& the 2008 Melbourne Armenian Cultural Festival, we walk away with a clear conscience, that we gave our best to bring life back to the community!