Randomly Tonia

I had the opportunity to attend a conference last week in Denver and I must be honest, I knew I would learn a lot, but I didn’t expect to have any fun (well, except for the shopping, the food, and the people-watching).

With a conference name like Innovation and knowing so many of our extended team (specifically our own Patrick Cossel), I should have known that it would be anything but boring!

Little did I know, however, that I would be meeting with some of the brightest, most creative and all-around greatest people in the industry. They are part of our larger newspaper family – publishers and editors, writers and designers from Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico and Michigan.

Our team is so much larger than I had imagined and they possess such a wealth of knowledge and experience among them that it would have been overwhelming but for one thing – they were kind, fun, engaging and as eager to learn and grow as I was (and still am).

I garnered so many fresh ideas from our extended newspaper family that I am really excited to try and though we try each week to make the best product possible, the excitement from the conference has served only to renew my purpose.

To that end, you will begin to see some small changes in The Western Nebraska Observer that I hope you enjoy. Even if you don’t, I look forward to hearing feedback about these changes from each of you, just as I look forward to your letters, photos, news tips and submissions for Friends and Neighbors.

Back to Innovation, as we discussed the challenges that we face, and more particularly the strengths of each of our publications, one thing stands out to me as something that I want to pass on to our readers.

You are our team members and your involvement in your local newspaper is enviable! So keep those photos, ideas and letters to the editor coming or stop in to chat, and make sure our newspaper remains what we have always known it to be (despite my little mistakes) – the very best!