Please, redesign the redesign
Editor,
I’ve not read Connect Savannah in a while as I’m not near a box of issues as often as I used to be. In other words, it’s been a few months. I haven’t even been to the website.
Last night, out of the blue, I had a dream that Morris Multimedia fired you and installed in your place a husband and wife team who immediately set about dismantling everything unique about your publication - redesigning it, filling it with copious advertisements, useless gossip column offal, and general idiocy.
For some reason, I was able to confront them and they left the room in a huff. They were reminiscent of the writer couple John Candy confronted in the 1991 film Delirious. I think their big defense was, “We made it better!”
I awoke, finding this a bit strange. So imagine my shock when I picked up the latest issue at lunch today and noticed the very striking redesign. What happened? I read the issue cover to cover and let it wash over me in its entirety. But I can’t get over it.
While reading it, the boxy structure, lined column breaks, et al., all make me feel like I’m reading an insert that was stuffed inside the insufferable (shudder) Savannah Morning News.
I’m not asking for Connect Savannah’s design to resemble a GeoCities page circa 1998 or to remain staid and cling to designs of years past. But for an alternative publication the redesign is bland and uncreative. I sincerely hope a happy medium can be found between a clean and concise design while still keeping a creative flair.
All this being said, I’m glad the redesign was the only thing real about my dream and that you’re still the captain of the ship (and hopefully will remain so for a very long time).
So now that Connect Savannah has successfully become an ersatz version and combination of a character from the A Nightmare On Elm Street films and a time traveler... (grabs pen) ...I’ll take those winning lottery numbers now.
Jason Bacon
Kudos on redesign
Editor,
I wanted to write to express how much I enjoy the new design & layout of Connect Savannah. Like many people, I was sad to see the old design go, but now find after reading a few of the newly designed issues that I like it very much, and in fact prefer it. It really does look great and read well.
It must have taken a lot of everyone’s time and effort, and ya’ll deserve a huge pat on the back for making such a nice transition—in print and online. Kudos to you!
Savannah is so lucky to have such a great alternative newsweekly – keep up the good work.
Adrienn Mendonca
Paramedics, duh
Editor,
I usually do not vote for the Best of Savannah, but I love to read the results when they come out. This year I decided that when voting came around I would put my two cents in as well.
I could not help but notice that you can vote for favorite Police Officer and favorite Firefighter. This left me with a question that I have been wondering for years. Why is there not a vote for favorite Paramedic? Those men and women are out there everyday picking up and administering care to the sick, dying and crazy people.
Not to take away anything from the Firefighters and Police Officers out there, but when the sugar refinery explosion happened who do es everyone think gave immediate care and rushed those severely burned and injured people to the hospital? Who kept them alive until they got to the hospital?
I am tired of the whole EMS system not getting the recognition that they deserve. They do not just give rides to the hospital. They are the ones that save you when you are in trouble. They are the ones that come when you call 911!
Heather
Editor's Note: Consider it done, Heather.Electronica? Hello?
Editor,
in a time when the Savannah Electronica scene is for the first time ever actually making a global name for itself through Acid All Stars and Bombtraxx Records, why is there no category for Best Electronica Artist? You are aware that there are electronic artists in this town that easily outsell many of the other categories you have listed, just maybe they don’t grab your attention? Institute was just the lead story in Murmur and had about five pages of stuff to say about Electronica in Savannah, so why ignore that entire genre?
Jack Power
Editor's Note: Done and done! We aim to please.Website clarification
Editor,
I appreciate the brief you wrote about greenspacesavannah.org. I am sure it will drive more traffic to us. However, I must have been unclear in the information I provided in my interview.
While myself and my partner were inspired by the enthusiasm at the GreenDrinks events, our site is in no way connected with that organization. We link to each other and we cross-promote each other, but that is pretty much the extent of our formal relationship.
I also wanted to elaborate on what we are actually up to.
Short term, it is to continue growing the site to a critical mass, so we can become a vehicle for making real changes in the Savannah area.
Longer term plans are really an outgrowth of reaching critical mass. They include building other related components in order to implement the changes that people networking on the site want to see happen.
Among other things, this will include something like a local, green-issue version of moveon.org. This wing will notify people of issues, organize rallies, and circulate online positions to be delivered to local politicians.
Another component will be educational in nature. We will use the open source education software called Moodle to create courses for both the college and K-12 levels on green issues.
One of the key features of the site is for any user to be able to create communities within the larger network. This will be the way people can begin to use the site to organize around key issues that they are passionate about.
Within a year, I would like to be in at least the beginning stage of developing the action components and acquire some kind of funding to spread the vision to other cities. I would love to see a networked group of local organizations (GreenSpace Savannah, GreenSpace Asheville, etc.) all over the country.
Finally, it is true that the site is optimized for Firefox. Myself and my partner are strongly committed to the use and promulgation of open-source software. However, after some reflection, we decided to adjust the code so the site will work with Internet Explorer. We certainly don’t want to discourage users based upon their browser preference. Hopefully, by the time this letter is published, the site will be running properly in all browsers.
Todd Luger
Director, GreenSpace Savannah