July 12, 2025 | This article appears in Volume 61, Issue 1
We are extremely pleased to announce the relaunching of the ASP Newsletter, now in a web-only format. I hope you will enjoy this newly imagined presentation. It has been almost a year since we published our last Newsletter, and that time was spent working on developing this new format and was not an easy task. I appreciate all the time and effort so many people have put into this Newsletter makeover.
When I first became editor-in-chief of the Newsletter in 2006, the ASP Executive Committee decided to transition from a printed paper publication that was sent out to members via the postal system to a PDF version that was sent by e-mail. This seismic change generated a lot of discussion among members and some resistance. In the end, that design change freed up financial resources that had gone into postal fees to use to upgrade the publication. Now we face a similar situation, where the Newsletter will no longer be available in PDF format, but rather, will reside entirely on the website, with articles published as soon as possible, distributed individually on social media, and ultimately these posts will be gathered together quarterly and sent to members using an e-mail marketing platform. The goal of this change is to make articles more accessible on social media and to eventually bring down layout costs. When the ASP Executive Committee announced this goal last year, the effort it would take to achieve it was not clear to many of us.
These changes were spearheaded by ASP Newsletter Committee Chair, Dr. Craig Hopp, a dedicated and fearless leader, and the committee members, including Gordon Cragg, Melissa Henckel, Christine Jankowski, Arvie Grace Masibag, Dayani Sarath Parakumge, Patricia Van Skaik, and Dongdong Wang. We looked into how many other professional societies handled their newsletters, and we soon came to a consensus that the web-version of Chemical & Engineering News was a great model for us to follow. To implement this change, we turned to a professional web designer, Amy Henckel, who helped us to visualize and implement this reworked newsletter. Amy has been a terrific collaborator and shown great vision and patience as she has designed this new environment for us.
One of the sad outcomes for me has been the loss of Nancy Novick, who has handled the Newsletter design and production for over a decade. Nancy came up with some beautiful original designs for the Newsletter and helped us to implement the ASP branding that happened before the pandemic. She taught me the importance of strong photographs to drive readers to stories. No task was too large or small for her to imprint a strong design element. Some memorable articles that she contributed to include our 50th Anniversary Newsletter (Volume 50, issue 4) and the coverage of ASP members in Ukraine at the start of the war in 2022 (Volume 58, issue 1). Thank you, Nancy, for all you have done to make the Newsletter a better publication.
As we move forward, I am still learning a lot about this new approach to publishing. Fortunately, I am still aptly assisted by Patricia Carver, who does an extraordinary job proofreading and copyediting. She is also the point of contact for most of our authors, which she does with patience and grace. Thank you, Trish, for all you do to keep this publication moving forward.
Finally, the ASP relies on volunteers for many of its functions, including the Newsletter. If anyone wants to help with the Newsletter, please contact Craig Hopp or me. Also feel free to provide us with any feedback on the new ASP Newsletter web design.
I hope to see many of you at the ASP Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids. Happy summer!