As we head toward press time and my last issue (and possibly the last printed issue of Sacra Blue), I wanted to take a minute to say goodbye to Sacra Blue "staff" and readers. I'm sorry to be leaving the group without a successor, but I've stayed longer than has been good for the other areas of my life and I really must attend to them now.
Too many times this job has been frustrating and time consuming, so, as we are currently in the middle of the often chaotic production time, I'm resisting the strong urge to dwell on the negative. Delays from the mailing house causing members to get magazines late - after we've spent too many late nights working to be sure we've met our deadline - delays from contributors, etc. have added to the frustrations of a severely compressed production schedule and an insufficient number of pages to accommodate our many wonderful articles.
On the other hand, I've been privileged to be a part of the hard-working core of volunteers that make the SPCUG and Sacra Blue as great as they are. Visible people such as outgoing president Frank Leonard, Marsha Leonard, Tim Cardozo, Eric Butow, Ken Hopkins, Tom Anderson, Milt Hull and John Crow, who contribute to Sacra Blue with articles or other services.
Then there are the many who aren't as visible to the general membership: Terry Naleway, Crystal Friederich, Gordon Taylor and Gary Sloan bring you the Meeting Report. Crystal also pitches in with Kathy Anderson and Tim Cardozo to produce the monthly Q&A, sometimes with assistance from Brian Smither as well. Then we have our photographers, Mark Naber and Peter Robinson; tech editors Tim, Mike Lamun and Larry Clark; and copy editors and proofreaders Cam Murray, Doug Hohn, Chuck Coon, and John LaTorre. And where would I be without the wonderful help and moral support of Associate Editor Dion Gomez?
I've also been fortunate to "meet" dedicated columnists like Ken Fermoyle, who writes our most popular column (beating out Tech Talk by a mere one vote!), Bruce Boss, Chris Seip, Randall Rich, Steve Davis, Phil Wall and Bob Click. I've learned how much readers love these columnists - and love their Sacra Blue in general. Half of the respondents to the survey I conducted at the end of 1999 said they read Sacra Blue from cover to cover. Even the least popular column is read by half of you. That says a lot about the quality of the articles in every issue.
Curious about the popularity of your favorite column? Here's the top five: Following Ken's Korner and Tech Talk are the Meeting Report and Q&A (tied for third place), product reviews and Prez.Com. That says quite a bit about the high level of interest members have in our own group's activities.
I hope members will continue to stay in touch with group issues through eBlue, in the event Sacra Blue does not return to print. You'd be surprised at what a great job Brian Smither and the eBlue "crew" do. If you don't like reading online (many don't), you have the option of downloading a printed version so you can bring it to your favorite reading room. I highly recommend it!
