Office Talk with Raleigh Magazine

Ten bars, ten cocktail heavyweights, and one seriously spirited night. Raleigh Magazine’s Cocktail Classic returns to The Exchange Nov. 14, and we’re spilling everything you need to know before you go. Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam talk dress code, safe rides, can’t-miss pours and how to cast your People’s Choice vote. Plus: live mixology demos, elevated eats, a bubbly room and a few surprises worth exploring between sips.

• 10 Reasons Cocktail Classic is a Must-Go
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• Follow Along

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Your license plate could be getting more screen time than you are. Flock cameras help police find stolen cars and missing people, but their growing presence in Raleigh raises questions about who’s tracking your movements and who can access that data. Gina Stephens and Melissa Howsam talk public safety, privacy and the fine print of living in a world that’s always watching.

• All Eyes on Flock 
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Gen Z wants flip phones, digital cameras, paper maps and a life less online. But can you really recreate the analog ’90s when the internet is always one person—or one emergency—away? This week, Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam unpack why a generation raised online is desperate to log off, what they’re actually nostalgic for—and why voluntarily ditching your iPhone isn’t the same as growing up without one.

• Going Analog: Living Like It’s 1992 for a Weekend
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Raleigh’s long-promised hotel boom has officially arrived. This week, Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam unpack the new wave of stays reshaping the city—from the just-opened Hotel Indigo and Village District’s Oberlin to the massive Omni and forthcoming Westin—and why Raleigh’s growing hotel inventory is about much more than where visitors sleep.

• Raleigh’s Hotel Boom Is Here
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Want to taste your way through Raleigh's cocktail scene in one night? Cocktail Classic returns Nov. 14—and tickets are officially on sale. Tune in for what's new this year, how you'll get up close with RM's Best Bartender nominees and when voting for Raleigh's best bars and bartenders begins.

• The Cocktail Classic
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You paid hundreds of dollars for the ticket, so why are you watching the concert through someone else’s phone screen? Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam talk concert etiquette and the little things we can all do to make live music better for everyone.

• How to Not Be That Person
• Good Content Lives Here

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Downtown Raleigh is full of ambitious renderings—but some of the city's biggest redevelopment sites remain empty years after businesses packed up and left. Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam unpack why major projects stall, who gets caught in the middle and what these vacant blocks say about the realities of growth in Raleigh.

• Why Raleigh's Biggest Development Projects Are Sitting Empty
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Raleigh has added roughly 150,000 residents in the last 20 years—but today RPD has essentially the same number of officers it did in 2006. Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam unpack the department's 93 vacancies, rising response times and a surprising retention problem that's sending Raleigh-trained officers to neighboring towns. As the city races toward its next quarter-million residents, can its police force keep up?

• Growing Population. Shrinking Police Force
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After a year of anonymous meals, revisits and spirited debates, Raleigh Magazine's 2026 Best Restaurants issue has arrived. Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam take listeners behind the scenes of one of the city's most anticipated editorial projects, reveal a few of this year's winners and explain what separates a good restaurant from one worthy of the Best Restaurants list.

• RM’s Best Restaurants 2026 Revealed
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Starting this September, the City is replacing seasonal loose-leaf vacuum collection with enhanced weekly yard waste pickup. Raleigh Solid Waste Services Director Shikha Gupta and Senior Communications Analyst Ellen Mathis join Publisher Gina Stephens to explain why the change is happening—and break down your three new options: bin it, bag it or leave it.

• (Don’t) Just Leave It
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