In our final edition of The Maine Valley Post before the Christmas holidays we told you that we’d be back in mid-January and there would be changes. One of the changes involves the creation and launch of our new website at www.mainevalleypost.com This is, I believe, a positive improvement in keeping our loyal and growing band of readers up to the minute with what’s happening in our area of coverage. We will be providing links to all the happenings of the day in other places too of course. However, the daily news of our locality will be what drives us and the site. News collecting today no longer waits for a weekly publication – be it printed or web-based. The Maine Valley Post as we know it, since its launch at the end of August, had been modelled on the weekly newspaper formula. That was my idea – or fault – if you like. I have allowed myself, through greatly appreciated advice of many friends, to be persuaded that this is indeed ‘the way to go’ in the wonderfully furnished technological world of today. I have been sent links to and advised to view similar publications in many parts of the world. I’m converted and dragged another step away from the Cow Gum and the scalpel, the calendar and the clock. I know from experience of the days of the absolute newspaper deadline, how tormenting a late news item is for both the contact and the correspondent. Now those days are gone and I, like many of my generation, are left looking around us in wonder at the sheer speed of the information age – with all its potential – good and bad. The new website goes live this afternoon on Wednesday, January 8-2014. The Maine Valley Post as we know it will continue – but on a monthly basis. The columnists and the content will be more or less as they were with one or two changes here too. Our first monthly issue will be on Thursday, January 16th. In that we look forward to bringing our readers on a photographic journey through 2013 and whatever else is going on at the time. We always appreciate feed-back from readers and genuine advice is a gift for keeping us on course. I’d like to thank our advertisers, contributors and readers for launching and keeping us afloat during 2013 and hope that you’ll be there with us in 2014. We intend to be there with and for you and, with your help and support, we can do just that. Happy New Year…John Reidy
