Thanks to everyone for their views, positive and negative, on the new look and feel of Wooden Canoe. Change is never easy, but please know that the new editor’s goal is simply to provide the WCHA with a visually exciting publication that continues to be filled with stories, news, tips, techniques, destinations and more that are of interest to the wooden canoe community.
Both the frustrations and the excitement expressed here and elsewhere are understandable. I personally find the new version of Wooden Canoe to be a beautiful product that takes the WCHA to a new high. That said, in a large and diverse group such as ours, there will always be differences of opinion. All comments are valuable and they help shape how we continue moving forward. Let me address a few issues that I have some knowledge of:
Format: The choice of the new format was solely about visual presentation. I don’t think we save any money by making the journal more squarish than tall (the printer doesn’t charge by the square inch), and even if we did save, that possibility never entered into any decision making. The editor simply wanted to create something that is visually exciting and that didn't look like every other magazine and catalog that comes in the mail. I personally think it works well. For example, when I looked at the spread that starts the story of the Danube canoe, I was stunned by its appearance, and part of this lies in the format of the journal which allowed for that broad image spread. Regardless of my personal likes or dislikes, the format choice was about making the WCHA’s publication stand out as something special. Your opinions may or may not change (that’s okay), but that’s the reason for the journal format.
Font size: The editor certainly didn’t intend to decrease font size to the point of unreadability (what editor would?). In some places - like the donor list - a choice was made to decrease font size in order to get everything to fit, but in any case the new journal format had nothing to do with choice of fonts. Font style choices, elimination of much of the white space that we once had, and other design considerations were done to enhance the look of the journal, but there was never any intent to make the journal less readable. Quite the opposite. In any case, font sizes and text/paper contrast are being addressed now in anticipation of the next issue.
Plastic wrap: Like many of you, I am very concerned about plastic in the environment. In my professional life I have personally done extensive, hands-on research on the ingestion of plastics by marine turtles, and the problem is far worse than most of us probably know. The tragedy is real when you collect hundreds of dead hatchling sea turtles each summer and find that every single one of them is literally stuffed with plastic – surely their cause of death. So frustration with a plastic-wrapped journal is understandable, and the editor is investigating other options right now. As for this current issue, please recycle the wrapper if possible. I believe that almost everywhere plastic films are recyclable; we recycle every scrap of plastic film that comes into our home.
Print vs. digital: The Board has for years discussed the option of going to digital publication of Wooden Canoe, either partially or fully, but for multiple reasons there has not yet been a decision to do so. One of the most important reasons, as mentioned previously here, is that many of our membership simply want a print journal. Electronic distribution under present conditions could eliminate one of the most important member-specific benefits – the hardcopy journal - and it could lead to the downfall of the WCHA. That is, if we post the journal electronically here, then everything we offer (website, journal, forums…) would freely available to the public. With no incentive to actually join the WCHA, income would cease, expenses couldn’t be met, and the WCHA (along with the journal, website and everything else) would be gone. Some have suggested making a “members only” section of the website where we could place things like an e-version of the journal, but others have successfully argued against that. But like everything else, this remains an option.
The WCHA and the journal are evolving as the world around us continues to change. Navigating change while preserving the history of our organization is challenging, so everyone's input is valuable. There is no intent to change our mission or values; Wooden Canoe is simply our print means of communication and we all want it to be the best it can be.
