6
ROUNDABOUTNEWS
TAKINGTHEROUNDABOUTFORWARD
As you all will have noticedwehavemade some fairly substantial and significant changes to the look of the
Roundabout sincewe assumededitorial responsibility.We verydeliberately focussedour initial attentionon the
cover of themagazineby firstly introducing a colour front page, with corresponding colour adverts on the back
page, and by then extending the colour adverts to inside the back page. This then enables us to use the inside of
the front cover page for additional colour photos and articleswhen required - aswedid last month. So far the reac-
tion to the changes has beenalmost 100%positive and for that we are verygrateful.
Nowwewould like to turnour attention to the insideof themagazine - but I need to emphasise that this is an
evolving consultative process! TheRoundabout is a communitymagazine, andwe verymuchwant that to contin-
ue. So therewill always be space for input from ourmany local groups and societies - especially the ones that
haveminimal input at themoment. However, in order to include other relevant and interestingmaterial in themag-
azine, itmay sometimes transpire that articles cannot always be included (and I think thismay comeas a relief to
someof our regular contributors!). Ideaswe are currently considering (or have alreadyused) include letters to the
editor, puzzles for adults and children, competitions, travel articles, book reviews, local people, short stories anda
children's page.Wearealso keen tohave snippets of local interesting information or photos spread throughout
themagazine. Sowhilst we have some idea for this new content wewill alwayswelcome suggestions.
Theother very newelement in the life of theRoundabout is thewebsiteand I am sure youall now know that the
address to find it is
www.buckdenroundabout.info
. Everymonth the latest editionof themagazine is published
there, and there is a growingarchive of previous issues. Upcomingevents are listed in the calendar (any included
in themagazine are added to the calendar) andwe are keen to include asmany listings as possible far into the
future to assist thoseorganising events and looking to avoid date clashes. In addition in the announcements sec-
tion there are oftenarticles that arenot included in themagazine (for space or timing reasons) and extended ver-
sions of articles that are included. Our onlinepresence also includes FaceBook andTwitter - try followingus on
those to receive updates.
Also on thewebsite is the forumwhere discussions canbe had. Thiswill hopefully become agreat place for peo-
ple to visit to discuss issues relevant toBuckden, but wedo need your help tomake that happen, so please visit
thewebsite and register for the forum.
Lastly regarding thewebsite I would like to invite all administrators/secretaries/chairs of local groups and societies
touse theRoundabout website.Weare planninga clubs/societies section andwewould like asmany tobe includ-
edas possible - either byus providing anarticle and link to your current website, or by providing youwith some
pageswithin the club/societies section if you donot have awebsite.
Finallya couple of quick points. Firstlywith regard to upcomingeventswe are recommending that events covering
themonthof the issue plus the first week of the followingmonthare included - in case there are delays indistribu-
tion. Finally I’d like to re-iterate the fact that thedeadline for articles and notices to be included in the Julyedition
of the roundabout is earlier than usual. All content needs tobe receivedby theeditor no later than
Thursday5th
June
. Any questions or comments please contact us at
editor@buckdenroundabout.info
Join theRoundabout team!
Would you like touse your administration experience to volunteer in the village? Whynot join
theRoundabout distribution team as distribution coordinator?
This is not an onerous task - it would involve:
keeping the list of street distributors up todateonanExcel spreadsheet
recruiting newdelivererswhen needed
counting out and delivering packs ofmagazines to the street distributors on distributionmorning (usually the
last Thursday in eachmonth)
meetingwith theeditorial team onemorningpermonth (usually a fortnight before distribution day).
If youare interestedandwould like to findoutmore, email your nameandphone number to
editor@buckdenroundabout.info andLesleyorWendywill phone you for a chat.
