Passing the Torch
By Joe Wilcox, Editor

Well the time has finally come. After 4 years I am finally hanging up my editorial pen as the editor of the Tasfaa Times. It all started back in 1999 when then Tasfaa President, Jack Falks, approached my UT Austin colleague, Santa Garza (who was president-elect), on recommendations for an editor person, and the rest, they say, is history.

I was quite content on sitting back, behind the scenes, not getting involved (except for one Fall conference presentation back in ’93, which I did as a favor to the local arrangements committee). After all, I had managed to spend my first 12 years as a Tasfaa member going un-noticed in the larger picture. Well that all changed in 1999, and the last 4 years of my Tasfaa life have been quite involved and busy.

Many changes have occurred with the newsletter since 1999, the biggest and most notable change has been the elimination of a paper product and moving our production exclusively to the web. No more print layouts, no more missed print deadlines, no more mailing labels, stamp expenses, advertising mock-ups, etc. What a change. Now everything is jpg this, format that, html this, and browser compatibility that. Sure, the electronic medium brought many unique problems, advertising was a big one! And do you know what? In spite of these unique issues, this technology has greatly enhanced our ability to produce a quality product and to get it out to a larger audience in a shorter amount of time. In addition, we have greater flexibility with deadlines and revisions. All things considered, a much better process and product from beginning to end.

Other changes were minor; a name change, a shift to a bi-monthly and winter production schedule as opposed to a monthly production, and some column changes. Remember the ‘Do you know?’ column I introduced a few years ago? Where we would give a short bio on Tasfaa members at our member institutions, who folks might not know, as they might not be regulars at conferences, but staff who really made the office run smooth, etc. It was hard to have folks keep sending me info, and eventually this column died. We introduced the Legislator of the year write-ups and most recently we have the ‘Tasfaa on the Move’ and the ‘They Really Said It’ columns. There are many, many ideas I had for the newsletter that just never seemed to make it. Small thumbnail gifs of each author beside their articles, more pictures, links to items of note, formatting changes, heck, even a crossword puzzle, and other things which are too numerous to mention. We lost some value in the newsletter as well. Before the advent of the Tasfaa home page and the exponential growth of the listserv, the dissemination of information on conferences, Tasfaa scholarships, voting and many other important things primarily took place via the newsletter. Registration forms were found in the newsletter, members running for office had their pictures and bios in the newsletter for all to see and now the web has placed all of this a click away on your PC. It was a dramatic change for me to say the least. Having to learn, unlearn and then relearn a process all in the span of a few months. But I came through it all OK.

There are many, many folks whom I have worked with through the last 4 years who have greatly helped me. The staff in the TG Communications department who worked with me during the first few years of my tenure when we had a printed product. They were the workhorses with the print layouts, printing, mailouts etc. Bryan, Craig and Heather, thanks. And then there were many folks in the Tasfaa organization itself who showed their support in so many ways. Some just coming up to me and saying ‘good job’ on the newsletter, and some jokingly referring to me as Mr. Tasfaa, or Mr. Editor. And you all know who you are so I won’t mention everyone by name, but thanks to all of you for your support. And then there were those individuals with whom I had to work closer, as they were members of the Newsletter Committee, Sponsor Relations Committee, and/or they provided regular columns, regular advice or both. Kathy, Debbie, Mariko, Martin, Tim, Sarah, Denise, Deborah, thanks to all of you.

But while I hand over the editorship to another faithful volunteer, this time I will not go quietly back into my behind-the-scenes mode, thanks to the support and confidence that you have expressed in me, I will be serving on the Tasfaa Board for a few more years. And after the board term, who knows. And in keeping with my closing line through these years, thanks for your continued support.