Newsletter Editor Annual Report 2022
submitted by Jacey Kepich
Current Roster
- Jacey Kepich, 2025
List of Previous Goals and Progress Made
- Produce six bi-monthly newsletter issues throughout 2022.
- Progress: As of 8-19-22, three newsletters have been posted to the website. The fourth (July/Aug) is in draft mode, delayed due to slow contributor responses during the summer. Two more issues are planned for the remainder of 2022.
- Identify and communicate appropriate submission deadlines for each issue.
- Progress: I typically propose and adjust deadlines for individual contributors, which are occasionally met. I could consider posting submission deadline on the website and/or to MLA-L, but in general, one-on-one correspondence has been the best way to solicit content and remind contributors.
- Feature at least one interview in each newsletter (oral history and/or ‘five questions’) to help members get to know their colleagues; this contributes to the strategic plan by expanding membership opportunities at all levels of the association and raising awareness of member contributions throughout MLA.
- Goal met: Issue no. 213 (Jan/Feb) featured a 5 Question Interview with Hang Nguyen, Issue no. 214 (Mar/Apr) featured MLA citation winner, Randye Jones, and Issue no.215 (May/June) included a Five-Question interview with Greg Sigman. A three-part oral history interview is planned for nos. 216, 217, and 218.
- Explore opportunities to highlight and/or engage members of other arts organizations for interviews or articles, per MLA’s goal to pursue collaborations for education and advocacy. For example, Issue 209 included ‘first-time attendee’ reflections from TLA members who attended our 2021 virtual meeting.
- This is a goal I’d like to continue for 2023. During and after MLA’s 2022 conference, I followed up several times with the coordinator for first-time attendees. We had both hoped to feature first-time reflections from mentor/mentee pairs who had indicated interest in sharing their experiences. But as of April, the coordinator had not received further response from attendees. One individual did contact me separately in July, and her reflections will appear in the July/Aug newsletter. The upcoming MLA/TLA meeting in 2023 may provide opportunities for additional newsletter collaborations.
List of Future Goals
- Work with our web manager to implement a newsletter submission form and update website instructions for submitting content, per MLA’s goal to strengthen communication.
- Explore opportunities to highlight and/or engage members of other arts organizations, such as the Theater Library Association, for interviews or articles, per MLA’s goal to organize strategically/cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with other organizations.
- Expand role to include posting to social media (Twitter, Facebook) and maintaining the MLA blog based on current Publicity Officer vacancy, per MLA’s goal to organize strategically, strengthen communication, and develop/retain membership by promoting/advocating for our profession.