Section 36 Forevers has another visitor! Kate Symons is the creator of the website “The Pageant File”. If you’re interested in Pageantry, and especially the Miss New York Organization, you may already be familiar with her work. If you’re not, hopefully this will be a great chance to find out more. I was excited that she was willing to visit with us to discuss her website, how she got into the genre, and where she hopes to go from here. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this as much as I did.
So, let’s see what happens when Kate Symons visits Section 36 Forevers!
What made you start The Pageant File?
The PageantFile started as a pageant recap blog. I was spending a lot of time in the audience as my sister competed, and I would write up the results. Then I started to put effort into researching the contestants beforehand, to make predictions posts. From there, a lot happened all at once. My researching became an obsession, and I wanted to learn more and more about the legacies of the local Miss New York pageant scene, and my blog was a great place to collect and share that information. I also started posting articles with tips, and interviewing titleholders. Then as social media became more popular, I starting Facebook to post live results and collect service photos, I live Tweeted from the audience, and Instagram became a titleholder spotlight. The blog used to have a different name, and included more than just pageantry. As the pageant related content grew, I decided to break it off and give it separate blog. But needed a name. At that point, someone made a rude comment one of my posts stating I was unhealthily obsessed, and called me a derogatory term. It wasn’t nice, but it made me think about the suffix “-phile”, meaning a strong fondness. I spun it to File, to add extra emphasis on the writing/recording aspect. The PageantFile stuck, and has been the name for almost ten years now!
What is the focus or mission of The Pageant File?
I’ve bounced around with a lot of different content before really finding that my mission is highlighting and preserving the local titleholders who are often lost in the shadows of the state titleholder. After moving from NY, I was not longer able to recap from the audience, and I thought TPF would dissolve. But, apart of pageantry, I have a lot of experience in personal branding and marketing. I work with small businesses (like doulas, coaches, photographers, etc) to market themselves as more than a “shop”. One day it clicked that I could share that same concept with titleholders to promote themselves as public figures. I may not be able to coach the ladies on stage, but I can definitely give valuable insight and tips for their online presence.
I love your Instagram content, including your titleholder profiles. What’s your strategy in merging social media with the The Pageant File website?
Right now the website is pretty stagnant. For a while I was giving the recaps, but I can’t do that now. I had been building profiles with titleholders’ bios and awards, but after five years I had hundreds to maintain and it was overwhelming with the constant changing of headshots and information. So I dropped that. I also decided that I wasn’t the best person to give general competition tips, there are so many websites that do that better. So instead I decided to focus the website on the legacy preservation aspect. I update the class lists and local legacies pages 2-3 times per year, before and after local season, and with the state winner and awards.
What short or long-term goals do you have for The Pageant File?
Some titleholders had reached out about design services- autograph cards, program ads, program books. But as the saying goes, “give a (wo)man a fish, and she eats for a day, but teach them to fish and they eat forever.” So even though I love to design, I am much happier teaching the ladies to make their own graphics. I would love to host a branding course that touches on digital design, so they can make their own content. Then also establish themselves as a public figure outside of their current title, like platform workshop development, social media management, sponsorship and collaboration outreach, and even building a brand board with personal logo. I’m also debating opening an online shop with printables for their pageant binder, design templates that titleholders can use to build their own content, and generic “a la cart” content they can use. No big custom projects, mostly digital items they can download immediately after purchasing.
What has surprised you the most about running The Pageant File?
One of the biggest surprises has been just how much people respect my feedback. Back in the beginning, I wrote a blog post with a blow by blow of all the contestants’ talents. One specific contestant had a very long “opening” to her talent. Since talent is only 90 seconds long, I wrote that I felt she wasted too much time in the beginning. I didn’t even know she read the blog, let alone cared what I had to say. But the next pageant, she switched up her opening and ended up winning. Obvious I’m not taking credit for her win, but that moment I realized that my audience perspective is valuable. Just because I’m not a titleholder doesn’t mean I can’t see places to improve.
What has been the most challenging aspect about running The Pageant File?
The biggest struggle has been finding my niche. I don’t want to market this blog in a way that competes with other websites. I don’t want to misrepresent myself as an expert in an area I am not. I also don’t want to pour my time and energy into a blog that is only valuable to 20 girls each year. So finding that balance between New York’s specific content and valuable marketing content that anyone can learn from. Also, before shifting my articles’ focus, I struggled with keeping a balance of giving an honest opinion feedback of the competition, and being tactful with how I felt about contestants’ performances. Unfortunately some ladies didn’t like my thoughts about them, which never meant to be disrespectful, but I needed to find that balance at that time.
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I personally think she’s done a great job of finding that balance. Hopefully you do too!
As always, I want to give huge thanks to Kate for doing this interview. I’m so glad we were able to make it happen. I also want to thank her for providing the pictures to accompany the interview.
If you’re looking to learn more about (or follow along with) Miss New York local titleholders, I definitely suggest you use The Pageant File. Whether that's the website, or Instagram account. They’re great ways to keep track of the titleholders that might not otherwise get the attention they deserve.
And, if you talk to Kate don’t forget to tell her you saw her on Section 36 Forevers!
Thanks again Kate!