Somehow I found myself becoming the editor of The Sheboygan Yacht Club’s newsletter aptly named The Bow ‘n’ Stern. It’s a convoluted story, but here I am finding myself spending many hours each month working on the publication. The “old” publication was published using Microsoft’s now-archaic Publisher program and I felt there had to be a way to pep it up a bit from what was considered the norm. Luckily, I have been subscribing to Adobe’s Creative Cloud products for years, primarily using Photoshop and Lightroom for my amateur photography hobby. Adobe also has a product called InDesign that blows any publishing software out of the park! The only downside was I had never used it and the learning curve is somewhat steep.
I spent a total of at least 20-30 hours in April watching informative YouTube videos and reading online manuals on how to use InDesign as well as formatting and designing my maiden publication for the month of May, but it paid off in the end. I now have established a new template for the newsletter and hope those future newsletters will only require 5-7 hours to create. It’s a long process, but I do find it enjoyable to some degree.
Below is the original Bow ‘n’ Stern we have had for many years.
And this is the new newsletter that I just finished. You can also read it here:
Below is the “From the Editor” section of the first newsletter which really does a better job explaining just how this all transpired.
A few weeks ago, while lazily lounging at the club bar on a Wednesday evening, feeling slightly intoxicated with one of John’s excellent extra-stiff margaritas in hand, I was waiting for my family to arrive for dinner. As I sat, Tom Atkins approached me for what I thought was a casual conversation about the deck renovation and other current club events. It really was a very pleasant conversation! As my family arrived and we were preparing to enjoy another excellent dinner in the dining room, I closed out at the bar and asked John to put Tom’s beer on my tab. It was only after I bought Tom his beer that he became slightly more animated, and our small talk quickly transitioned into another more directed and seemingly rehearsed topic.
“Well, Dan,” he said with a smile, “I probably should have asked you this before you bought my beer……” I set my excellent extra-stiff margarita on the bar, sobered up immediately, and listened to what he had to propose. It turned out that Tom wanted to know if I would consider working with Ron Abler in his role as editor of the Bow ‘n’ Stern. Tom hoped that in time I might transition into the position so Ron could step back and enjoy the good life. Initially reluctant, not understanding the extent of the assignment, I hesitantly agreed to meet with Ron and see just what the job entailed.
I met with Ron a few days later and started learning the ropes with Ron’s patient guidance. After about an hour of discussion, I finally decided I would attempt taking this project head on.
In medicine we always referred to the first-year medical students and residents in training as “scut monkeys”, forced to do mindless work by their supervisors. This was a term and position I was all too familiar with back in the day and I asked Ron to let me serve as his “scut monkey” during the transition. I would do as much of the editing as I could and towards the end of the month, I would present it to Ron for his final critique and hopeful approval.
A heartfelt thanks goes out to Ron Abler. He has spent countless tireless hours writing and editing content, taking photographs and distributing The Bow’ n’ Stern and has done it every month for over five years. He has served as editor of at least 65 newsletters for our club! It will be no small task following in Ron’s footsteps and dealing with the inherent challenges of writing and compiling a monthly newsletter, but I am willing to give it my best.
With that being said, I plan to fulfil my role as editor by asking for your assistance in improving our newsletter. I need members to send photographs of your daily experiences while at the club or on the water. I would also ask members to consider writing about club events in which they participate. I am also considering writing member spotlights and adding additional informative content over time. The more content created by our membership, the more informative and engaging our newsletter will be. If anyone else has other ideas about what you want to see in the newsletter, please let me know.
Finally, for those of you reading this on your phone, you have already noticed a change in the way the newsletter is being presented to you. The reality is that now over 70% of emails are read on our ubiquitous mobile devices. Unfortunately, newsletters formatted as PDFs are very challenging to read on a small hand-held screens, especially when the other hand is holding one of John’s excellent extra-stiff margaritas. Luckily there are now ways to create digitally formatted email newsletters that can be precisely formatted for our devices, and I have decided to embrace this new format as a trial. For now, the formatted emailed version will be an abridged version of the newsletter, only containing general information, photos and news about our club as well as the Board and Membership Minutes. All other content will still be available in the PDF newsletter in its entirety which is easily accessible right from your device.
For those of you on your devices, you will note several labeled blue buttons you can push to open the inclusive PDF version of the Bow ‘n’ Stern. From there, you can navigate through all the pages as well as download the newsletter as a PDF. You can also always find this and all the newsletter archives in PDF format on the members-only portion of the website like we have been doing since 2009. My intention will be to continue providing the newsletter in two formats; the new abridged digital online format you see here and the traditional PDF format with the entire newsletter via a link like you have always been accustomed.
I have also included buttons that will allow you to open the lunch and dinner menus from within the formatted email newsletter. In the future you will also have the ability to click on certain special club events and have the information saved directly to the calendar on your mobile device.
There are still around 55 black and white newsletters that are printed and sent to members on a monthly basis, and this is a time intensive and costly endeavor for our club. Hopefully over time, we will be able to continue the transition away from a printed product and towards a completely digital newsletter that you can open as a PDF file or as a formatted email on your devices. If any members receiving printed newsletters are willing to receive it digitally, please let Kori know.
I hope to continue improving our newsletter’s overall presentation and functionality and look forward to your guidance and assistance with the process. Please contact me by email with pictures, articles or other items you feel should be included. Or feel free to call my cell (listed below) with your ideas and critiques. I have created a new email (editor@sheboyganyachtclub.com) that is easily remembered for all of your submissions, questions or comments. And of course, I can almost always be found in person sitting at the bar most Tuesday nights, with one of John’s excellent extra-stiff margaritas in hand.
Oh, and Tom Atkins drinks Pabst Blue Ribbon, in case you decide it’s a good idea to buy him a beer, but you may want to think twice….
~Dan
