EDITOR’S LOG
Print or Electronic?
Integrating delivery of content
MARY JONES
Today, people seeking information have more sourc- es than ever before. With the Internet, e-mail, elec- tronic newsletters, digital magazine technology, and
now the introduction of electronic “paper” on devices like
Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s e-Reader, it’s clear that traditional books, magazines, and newspapers no longer have
an exclusive hold on delivering words and images. For an
association like EAA that values providing knowledge and
information to its members, this new technology opens
additional ways to deliver what members want.
As Tom Poberezny highlighted in his Position Report,
you’ll notice an evolution of content in EAA Sport Aviation. Imagine a microcosm of “Oshkosh” arriving in your
mailbox and inbox monthly, weekly, daily. While most
members may spend the majority of their visit to AirVenture Oshkosh in their particular area of aviation interest,
most also explore the whole venue at one time or another.
If you love aircraft, you’re anxious to see it all! That’s what
we’ll offer you through the pages of EAA Sport Aviation
each month.
However, we also know that members who have a particular aviation interest can never get too much information on that subject. So we’re using the opportunities that
new technology offers to provide members with more
in-depth information. To that end, EAA is pleased to
announce a new monthly electronic newsletter focused
squarely on the needs and desires of homebuilders. We’re
calling it Experimenter, a name that has great significance
to EAA because it was the name of EAA’s first publication. Just as he did for that first Experimenter in 1953, EAA
Founder Paul Poberezny has written an introduction for
this initial homebuilders e-newsletter.
If EAA has your e-mail address, watch for this inaugural e-newsletter in your inbox the week of January 19.
Then, it will be your choice to “opt in” to keep receiving it
monthly. If we don’t have your e-mail address and you’d
like to receive Experimenter, contact EAA’s membership services staff to add your e-mail address to your membership
file. Call 800-564-6322 or e-mail Membership@EAA.org.
Experimenter will be brimming with the grassroots, how-to content that homebuilders seek. Patrick Panzera, editor
of CONTACT! magazine, will assist us in the production of
this newsletter. He will work closely with Homebuilders’
Community Manager Joe Norris to develop the content.
Experimenter will join EAA’s cadre of electronic publications. Those include our general electronic newsletter,
e-Hotline, which provides aviation news and information
on a weekly basis as well as the four other monthly electronic newsletters EAA produces—Aviation Insider, which
serves Young Eagles; Reach for the Sky, which provides
information to those interested in learning to fly; Bits and
EAA is pleased to announce a new
monthly electronic newsletter focused
squarely on the needs and desires
of homebuilders. We’re calling it
Experimenter.
Pieces, which covers issues of interest to Canadian EAAers;
and Chapter e-Gram, which highlights news and information applicable to chapter leaders. Each enjoys continuing
growth every month as more members sign up to receive
them.
If you’d like to receive one or more of these e-newsletters, go to www.EAA.org, click on the Multimedia tab, and
then on Newsletters.
In essence, then, EAA Sport Aviation is the hub for a family of EAA print and electronic publications that provide
knowledge and information to members. And we are constantly integrating print and web and video. Many of our
feature articles now have a companion video that’s available online at EAA.org. This month, we’ll also be featuring
an online companion article to the Trick Air Skis feature
(page 40) that will discuss the process of moving from a
supplemental type certificate (STC) to a parts manufacturing approval (PMA) for that more limited audience.
Printed magazines, websites, electronic newsletters,
videos…and soon an online community that will make it
easier for members to communicate with one another…
are part of what EAA offers now and continues to develop
as we strive to meet members needs.
