nostradamust
I am now saving "whats new" web pages as pdfs, but not everyone has full acrobat software to do that, not to mention it is easier and slightly nicer in appearance when we got the pdf straight from cakewalk. cakewalk is literally delivering the same exact info on the web page, just now removed ONE LINK to a pdf version of the same info. Is it really that time consuming for your staff to make the pdf from exact same info already on the what's new web page?
annoying.
Please note that the decision to release the eZine on PDF was mine. I don't believe the company
ever intended to shift the release notes process over to PDF. My contention at the time was that something more like a magazine than the usual release notes done by other software companies would be welcomed by the community, and provide Cakewalk with a competitive advantage.
However bear in mind that no one at Cakewalk itself had, or has, a publishing background. No one there had the benefit of being involved with reader surveys that for decades, gave me information on what consumers wanted. The eZine was totally virgin territory for the company; it was basically me sitting in Nashville collecting material and putting it together (and Noel explaining things to me that I was too stupid to figure out, so I could in turn explain them to other mortals). What inspired me to do it was the monthly releases. It just seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up to build a monthly publication around the releases.
Ultimately, all's well that ends well because Cakewalk is intrigued by what I want to do next, is much more participatory, and there's a degree of excitement that didn't exist with the eZine. A lot of it is still on my shoulders and frankly, I hope I can pull it off! But I figure if I dream big, then getting only halfway there will still be cool
My current plan is to see how far this new concept can be taken over the course of a year, and like the eZine, it will not spring into life fully-formed, but will evolve. I'm optimistic.
I think the bottom line is that it's good the eZine went away, because if it hadn't, I'd still be doing the same thing...and I believe we can do better.
Again, thank you so much for your support and kind words. Now when I'm working until 3 AM on a Saturday night to hit a deadline, I won't be doing it for some abstract reason but because I know I'm doing something of value to the community.
And let me add one more thing: I'd sure like more community involvement. I know some of you are doing interesting projects with SONAR. I want to continue with "Anatomy of a SONAR Project," but I don't want it to be all about me...I want it to be all about us. Please PM me if you have a project you'd like to see covered.