Letter from the publisher

Dear Observers,

I am always amazed at how fast the year goes by. Even harder to believe is the fact that the Observer turns 24 this year. As I look out to the year ahead, I am really excited about several things coming your way.

Right out of the gates we have the mayoral elections, where both Maitland and Winter Park are contesting their mayor’s job. Usually held in March, the elections have been rescheduled to coincide with Florida’s Presidential Primaries on Jan. 31. In this election year, the Observer will continue to have detailed election coverage of the local races affecting your lives and community. That coverage starts now with detailed analysis and coverage of the mayoral races and will continue throughout the year as we build toward the general elections in November.

Second, please join me in welcoming our newest team member, Jannett Roberts, to the Observer team. Jannett, who led the sales force that brought Winter Park Magazine to local prominence, has joined our team as business development director and associate publisher.

I feel very fortunate to now have Roberts on the team. She is a polished and knowledgeable marketing professional who will help us implement fresh and innovative advertising platforms.

Later in the year, I hope to introduce you to our Ovations Awards. This unique blend of social media and event marketing turns the “readers’ poll” into a community celebration of what makes Winter Park the best. Be on the lookout for your chance to rave about your favorite things to see, eat and do in Winter Park.

Lastly, I may be most excited about our upcoming readership survey. We last polled area residents for their thoughts and ideas on news and media consumption in 2009. This is our version of the census, where we get valuable feedback and data from readers and non-readers alike. We take this feedback very seriously and our product becomes molded by your comments. Surveys are set to be distributed in early February.

Our reporting, reviews, bulletins, columns and more are only made possible through the valuable support of our advertisers and subscribers. And for that support, I want to say thank you.

As you can tell, our theme for 2012 is engagement. Through “best of” polls, readership surveys, interactive social media, this paper will be interactive — a product of the community. I encourage you to join the conversation at http://www.facebook.com/WPMObserver

To the year ahead,

—Kyle Taylor

Publisher