By now, holiday packages have been reduced and recycled, the incorrectly sized clothing has been exchanged and, for many, the annual Battle of the (Holiday) Bulge is underway. Yep, it’s a whole new year.
Time to get busy. That’s exactly what we’re doing here at the Outdoor Wire Digital Network.
We’ve cleaned up servers, hopefully corrected any “buggy” code and are hitting the ground running. Like everyone else, January hits us like a tsunami. It’s a few days of panic followed by a few weeks to sprints from trade show to trade show.
It’s a new year and time to get busy. That’s music to my ears.
Like others who enjoy what we do, down time weighs on me. Sure, I crawl across the finish line in December, determined to rest and recuperate with a few days free of deadlines, breaking stories or worries over covering the next breaking news thing.
Three days later, I’m climbing the walls.
There’s a big difference between vacation - planned time off without working- and the explosive decompression of no wires, no deadlines and no contact with the industry. Everyone else, it seems, is either participating in the holidays or sequestered in their offices sweating out the details of January’s blizzard of busy. I’m staring at my computer wondering why I don’t have something to do.
Today commences my twenty-fourth jump start. This time, my coming back up to speed comes with the realization that I may be coming back up to speed, but I’m not revving as quickly -or with the compression- of the past.
For the record, I’m glad to be back. I’m always glad to be back. Especially when we’re adding new things to our already varied mix.
On Friday, our newest service Shooting News Weekly will officially launch. Our new editor, Dan Zimmerman, will head up our first truly consumer-focused news service. In addition to heading SNW, Dan will be bringing along some solid new voices for our writing cadre. His won’t be the only new byline you’ll see in the network. Others will be joining us later this year. You’ll likely recognize their names, too. In case you don’t know the name, Dan has been managing editor of The Truth About Guns website for more than a decade.
All these changes are part of keeping the promise I made years ago: we’ll keep you posted. They’re also part of the realization that it’s past time to add new, younger voices to our mix. I’ve been around long enough to realize being experienced isn’t the same thing as being current, so we’re adding new voices. Our expansion plans began quietly last year with the addition of longtime friend (and occasional writer) Paul Erhardt as our Managing Editor. Paul, Dan and all our editors will make it possible for me to spend more time actually working on some of the major stories and issues that concern each of us. The first feature of 2024 by Ken Perrotte is typical of the type of stories we’re planning to tackle this year. Next week’s kickoff of the long-awaited courtroom battle between New York Attorney General Letitia James and the National Rifle Association is another.
All part of that promise: we’ll keep you posted.
— Jim Shepherd