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| Paul O. Swartz |
Since the advent of electronic (on-line) publications, and their growing popularity, many organizations, government agencies and businesses have grappled with the decision whether to abandon their printed newsletter in favor of the on-line newsletter or continue providing both versions.
We have all witnessed the transition as more and more entities, especially government agencies, have phased out their printed newsletters. They made the transition as a way to potentially reach larger audiences on-line in a more timely fashion and to eliminate printing and mailing fees.
My staff and I have also periodically debated this issue over the years. And until just recently, I was adamantly on the side of providing both versions for a number of good reasons. But with the ever-increasing costs associated with our printed newsletters and the difficulty of trying to maintain both versions with such a small staff, I felt the time had come for me to make the prudent, but very difficult decision to provide the on-line version only. This change will take effect beginning in 2006. As such, this winter issue will be our final printed edition.
I resisted this decision for the longest time, as did some of our commissioners, because we value all of our readers. We know many of you still prefer to receive and read our printed newsletter. We also realize we may lose some of you, our loyal Friends and Guardians, as readers because you may not have ready-access to the internet or you just don't care to read a newsletter on a computer.
As the person who made the decision many years ago to start the Commission's newsletter, this was, by no means, an easy decision to make. I truly hope you will make the transition with us and follow our progress as we continue the work of protecting your watershed for today and tomorrow.
If you have not joined us on-line yet, please see below for instructions on how to sign up. This October, we unveiled significant enhancements to our on-line newsletter. So please take the time to visit the site, and by all means, let us know what you like or what additional improvements or features you would find helpful. You can reach our editor, Susan Obleski, at sobleski@srbc.net.
