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 | From The Editor... New format looks to increase participation So some of you are probably looking at this and thinking, “Now, what?” Just when you were getting used to seeing those wonderful pictures on the cover, our newsletter has changed again. The good news is the DS committee has established a new format for communicating the events and news of Nahalat Shalom, so some permanence is on the horizon. This month’s DS is a transitional newsletter, meant to acclimate our members and readers to the upcoming format changes. As we’ve experimented with different mediums, editorial content and styling for the Desert Sage in the last six months, we found some things that worked very well and got good feedback, while other ideas were unworkable or not well-received. I also discovered that time and technological constraints, as well as irregular community participation, made it difficult to produce a dynamic and quality publication on a monthly basis. We resolved these issues by choosing a format that would include an artistic tabloid published bi-monthly. This longer issue would include community news and event listings covering a two-month period, as well as staff columns, features and art. It would be distributed at the beginning of the two-month period it covers. On off months, NS members will receive a “Desert Page,” which will consist only of a calender and important last-minute announcements. Publishing every other month will mean a bit more planning ahead, but we hope these changes will encourage more people to participate, since the pressure of writing a monthly column will be eliminated. It will also allow me, as editor and designer, to take my time in creating each Desert Sage, rather than just rushing from one month’s newsletter to the next. And it will reduce our printing costs; as the newsletter format is expensive to print, fewer pages means less money out. DS will, of course, continue to evolve as our community grows, but this format should be in place for the year ahead. Upcoming Sage issues will feature part two of Ann Fox’s interview with Abdul Rauf Campos-Mayquetti, interviews with NS member artists, more youth voices, movie and book reviews, poetry and, hopefully, perspectives from Israel. If you don’t see something in the Sage that you believe ought to be there, e-mail me at NatanaMoon@aol.com. With your help, I’ll do my best to create as extensive and inclusive a publication as possible. As always, I look forward to hearing from you. Nicole Deutsch | |||||||||
