Publications
As a former sports editor and news editor, I've also designed several newspaper sections, but I have included here only the newsletters and "mini-magazines" that I have been responsible for producing during my public relations and marketing career.
USTA
CrossCourt Magazine
When I joined the United States Tennis Association's Missouri Valley section staff, I soon realized that the section's members were not receiving a whole lot of news about the players and in events in their own section, which encompassed Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
They needed a "local" alternative to Tennis and USTA Magazine, two publications focused almost entirely on the world's professional players. And a member survey confirmed that wnat the section's customers wanted was a magazine that had a focus "closer to home." Therefore, I created CrossCourt, a quarterly publication that started has an eight-page newsletter and grew to 12 pages with the final issue I produced for the section.
USTA
Yearbooks
The USTA Missouri Valley Yearbook serves several purposes, including:
> A year-end review, with final annual player rankings.
> A directory with district contact information.
> Promoting USTA events and local tennis events and facilities.
> Showcasing USTA award winners.
Prior to my joining the staff, the publication was devoid of local photographs, featuring generic images on the cover, and lacked a uniformed design.
KCATA
Inside Lane
I created this monthly eight-page newsletter for the KCATA to serve primarily as an employee-recognition tool, but also to "spread the word" about service changes, agency goals and mass transit trends.
To keep print costs down, Inside Lane was printed in black-and-white, with the exception of one issue about a new Metro color scheme being adopted. Therefore, my ability to create eye-catching b/w designs was put to the test, with my background in newspaper layout proving beneficial.
I concentrated on making Inside Lane a feature-oriented mini-magazine to complement a weekly two-page newsletter circulate to staff to keep them apprised of the latest "breaking news."
KCATA
Next Stop
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority began publishing this newsletter in an effort to "get the word out" about the agency's achievements, goals and challenges to people who did not use mass transit service. The mailing list included elected officials—from mayors, councilmen, county commissioners to United States representatives and senators—civic leaders, environmentalist, disability awareness advocates and journalists.
Next Stop was published on a quarterly basis. I inherited the template, which, frankly I never liked in no small part because the blue-gold color scheme did not match The Metro bus systems colors.
KCATA
Riders' Digest
This monthly newsletter was placed directly on Metro buses for the KCATA to "speak" directly with its customers. While Inside Lane was a feature-oriented eight-pager. Riders' Digest was a folded legal-sized document, front and back. Therefore, a lot of content had to be crammed into a realtively small space that still had some "eye candy" to go with all the information.
Many Riders'Digests featured trivia contests and other engaging content. This issue, however, focused on an upcoming ballot measure that would determine if severe cuts were to be made to transit service. I had to create a newsletter that would "educate" the reader without "adovacting" for a "yes" vote.