Hi folks.
Or should I say, bye folks?
After a little more than a year of being “The New Steve Smith,” I’m passing the mantle along. I won’t kid myself, believing anyone will be earnestly calling my replacement “The New Jon Pic.” Nor should they.
I’ve been offered a position in the marketing department at Butler Community College and gladly accepted.
Without getting too bloggy, there’s something I can’t really explain about the campus at Butler; it’s got a peaceful quality that puts me at ease as I walk around.
The two years I spent there as a theatre and journalism student were two of the best of my life. I recognize that I was in college and was experiencing the freedom of youth at the time, but I’m hoping some of that kinetic energy will bleed into my new endeavor there.
They say you can’t go home again.
Well, I don’t know who “they” are, but I can tell you already that I don’t like them.
For the next few days, I’ll be trying to pass on my meager amount of experience to Robin Nixon, who will ostensibly be taking my position.
Robin has worked in the Times’ composition department, toiling away on ad design for the last year or so, but has intimated to me on a few occasions that she’s long harbored a dream of writing – though not necessarily for a newspaper. With luck, her yearn for creative writing can translate into an ability to craft stories that continue to chronicle the lives of El Doradoans.
I have no doubt that Robin, Times editor Julie Anderson and staff writer Seth Clements will continue to work toward making this newspaper better. I am certain, as I wrote in my last column, this organization will still want to hear from the readers.
Feedback is vital in the success of this newspaper. If you read it daily and love the new look and enjoy each story you read, that is fantastic. Compliments are appreciated.
If you haven’t touched the Times in years, we want to hear from you, too. Ask yourself what would make you pick it up again. Then talk to us.
