I’m writing this column on my one-year anniversary of being the editor-in-chief here at Imprint. By the time you read it, I’ll be in the first days of my new contract because, as we announced in the paper last week, I’m coming back, baby!
I feel like my last column of this crazy, tumultuous, unbelievably exhausting year should reflect on how far we’ve come. We can leave the future plans for the next one (which also gives you time to send in your letters about what you want to see over the next year, all ideas will get a shout out).
So how far have we come? Well, if you’ve been paying attention, you would notice that Imprint has continued to build a great online presence over the past year. The introduction of a social media editor to our editorial board (especially this term) has revolutionized our ability to reach students. Our website hits have increased by 52 per cent and our reach on Facebook and Twitter has increased many fold (I don’t have statistics, but I can say our recent measles story had a reach of over 3,000 on Facebook, which is fantastic.)
Other highlights of the past year include our Feds election coverage, particularly our media debate. Similarly, our roundtable videos with each Feds team went over well and are likely something we’ll continue into the future.
Non-editorial aspects of Imprint have also been fun this year (this is the part where I try to entice volunteers to come in, bear with me). Volunteering at Imprint is a great learning experience. We ran workshops, took a tour of The Record, and sent some volunteers to the Canadian University Press conference that included speakers like Ezra Levant, Aliya Jasmine, and Don Iveson, the mayor of Edmonton.
Imprint is also a great place to make friends, a love connection (the tally during my time here is three), or a solid bromance (I can’t even count them all).
With that said, Imprint still has plenty of room to grow. No matter what goals we meet, we can make new goals, strive further, and try harder.
We have certainly had our ups, but I won’t breeze past our mistakes. Yes, we screwed up more than one infographic this year. It happened and I’m sorry. We haven’t filled our vacant (and brand new) video editor position, meaning we haven’t done nearly as many news videos as I had hoped when I started.
Most of all, there are still students out there that can genuinely ask, “What is Imprint?” Those students are the ones I have failed over the last year but they’re also the students I will be focusing on over this next year. So keep an eye out, Imprint will be on a mission. And once that mission is accomplished we’ll ask that ever-sacred question… What’s next?
