“Think in a whole new direction.” That’s always been one of my favorite Go West taglines. As a writer and strategist, it’s pretty much what I do every day: reroute ideas, flip concepts, and search out innovative, creative ways to connect with the many branches of our UWG family. And it’s exactly what Perspective Online is all about.
A couple of years ago, we took an exciting step forward by creating a web-based outlet for Perspective, our alumni magazine. It was an important advance and one that helped us reach new readers who wanted to know what was happening at UWG. But we dream big around here and we wanted more.
We envisioned a gathering place where alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff, online students, and all our other audiences could come together to celebrate West Georgia. We wanted a platform for showing off the amazing accomplishments of the people of UWG, past and present. And we needed a way that would reach through space and time to allow conversation between and among all those far-flung folks.
At the same time, we were reworking the print version of Perspective to be more dynamic, more engaging, and a little more like the kind of lifestyle magazines people love to read. And then it hit us. Why not create an interactive online lifestyle magazine?
We could feature so many more stories than our news site (which is really intended for the press) could possibly hold. We could upload class notes within days rather than having to wait for the twice-yearly print publication. We could add photos, videos, blogs, and more. We could create a way for our people to tell us their stories, send us their photos, send us feedback on our content, and easily share interesting articles with their own friends and family. We could even toss in a couple of just-for-fun questions and polls to get people talking. The possibilities actually were endless. Easy? No.
Exciting? Absolutely! And so, that’s what we did.
We hope you’ll check back often to read about what’s new at UWG. We’ll be updating content regularly and we have some pretty nifty ideas for the future. So bookmark us and share us. And please take the time to tell us your stories, contribute your ideas, and express your views.
It’s a lifestyle magazine, after all. And the lives we’re covering are yours.
Maggie Worth is director of strategy and special projects in University Communications and Marketing.
