Change is unavoidable: but let’s do it carefully
THIS MAY MARKS our 14th anniversary of publishing a high quality, paid circulation magazine in a tough industry in a tough market, and sometimes in tough economic conditions.
We’ve joked that we should have called it “Bumblebee” magazine—because conventional aerodynamics suggest that, on paper at least, bumblebees should not be able to generate enough lift to fly.
On paper, we should not have been able to generate the necessary critical mass in a market as small as this one to remain off the ground very long either.
But bumblebees do fly: the extra lift necessary is generated by the flexibility of their wings…
And we here have been flexible as well, extending our wings into other activities related to extending our brand—most notably the Saltscapes East Coast Expo (April 25-27 at Exhibition Park, Halifax) which has been a huge success, thanks to you.
And we’re blessed with a talented and dedicated staff who go home when the job’s done, not when the clock says so.
But the one constant element in all of our lives is change. Even in these past 14 years, the pace of change has been dramatic, particularly in the area of electronic gizmos.
Some elements of the print publishing industry have been hit hard by the internet—but not consumer magazines like this one in niche markets: those remain strong. Our success, however, depends fundamentally upon our ability to continue to offer you precisely the correct content in this publication. Everything else is built upon that premise.
They say: “don’t mess with success”, and “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!”…
But we do intend, during the upcoming 12 months, to review our content (and perhaps even some elements of design) with a view to (not fixing but) freshening and improving it.
Our modus operandi has been simple from the outset—ask people what they want, then give them more than they expected in a professional package at a fair price. We asked thousands of you at the outset with survey mail-outs and meetings and focus groups. That ethic remains unchanged.
And so we invite you, by whatever means (although This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will work just fine) to comment freely on what you like or dislike, what you would like to see more, or what may be missing, from your perspective, from the pages of this magazine.
We are particularly interested, for instance, in whether we should involve ourselves in interpreting some of the more pressing issues of the day and give you a serious sit-down read here and there.
Reader feedback is golden. Every scrap of it is scrutinized.