Douglas R. Bacon, M.D., Editor

Bells

magine for a moment a group of children 8 to 10 years old, ringing individual bells, each with a distinctive note, to make a musical composition. To add to the difficulty, many in this group of seven youngsters do not read music. When they play in church, usually as a prelude to the service, red robes and angelic faces belie the effort that goes into making the beautiful music. My youngest son, Thomas, at age 9, who identifies himself more as an ice hockey goalie than anything else, is one of the ringers. Standing next to him is another hockey player and friend. These two, who enjoy the rapid pace of the game on ice, easily shift into the discipline of the music. Ringing a bell at the wrong time causes more than dissonance — it can cause the other ringers to completely miss their appointed time to ring, and the music that was once beautiful and organized quickly degenerates into noise.

I was early picking Thomas up the other day. I quietly sat in the back of the sanctuary, listening to Lee Afdahl and Jennifer Taylor direct the youngsters. Their ability as musicians is great, yet their love of the children and their ability to coax the best out of them rivals their musical talent. Each piece is broken down into segments, practiced, and the segments joined into a larger whole. Trouble spots are worked and reworked, and despite the effort this entails, the children have fun. Two Sundays later, the bell choir performed — pulled off flawlessly by this the most junior of our bell choirs. Without my appearance at the rehearsal, I never would have known about the time and effort it took to make this wonderful piece of music come alive. The youngsters look and acted like angels, putting forth music to match their countenance — yet I know this is not the face my son always shows me!

So what does this have to do with anesthesiology?

At the spring meeting of the Minnesota Society of Anesthesiologists, a member came up to tell me how wonderful he thought the ASA NEWSLETTER was. He suggested that my efforts had somehow made the publication better. Quite honestly, while I was thankful that this ASA member was happy with the publication, my efforts alone do not make the NEWSLETTER. In point of fact, I have a relatively minor role. Thinking and reflecting on this idea as I drove home from Minneapolis to Rochester, I knew that I needed to tell my readers about the “bell choir directors” behind our NEWSLETTER and some of the recent changes that have made this a premier specialty publication.

First and foremost, the ASA Committee on Newsletter meets each October at the Annual Meeting. The committee carefully reviews the issues of the past year and a composite of the past three years, and then sets the monthly “feature” theme for each issue of the NEWSLETTER. Subspecialty organizations and ASA committees not chosen for theme issues are then assigned to other areas in the year’s schedule of publication. Finally, new ideas are discussed for possible publication and, more importantly, writers of those features are identified. The NEWSLETTER committee, like all ASA committees, has a wide geographical and interest background encompassing the entire specialty. Thus the NEWSLETTER reflects the ideas and issues on the minds of anesthesiologists across the United States.

The feature theme each month is usually based upon the work of one committee. For example, this issue is based upon the work of the Committee on Annual Meeting Oversight and previews the Annual Meeting in San Francisco this October. The articles are written by committee members about activities at the meeting — just as last month’s issue was devoted to the Committee on Ethics. Writing for the NEWSLETTER is one way the membership is informed about committee activities and issues of interest. Were it not for the efforts of these volunteers, the content of our publication would be poor and the pages blank. As editor, I cannot thank enough all the ASA members — from the Immediate Past President to the Medical Student Delegation — for authoring features published within these pages. I stand in awe of the talent within our Society.

Production of the NEWSLETTER occurs mainly within the ASA headquarters in Park Ridge, Illinois. Gina A. Steiner, Director of Communications, has both direct oversight of the production and the unenviable job of trying to figure out how articles will be perceived from outside ASA. Her insight is particularly helpful in resolving issues that arise between what the anesthesiology community understands an issue to be and how the general public perceives it. A talented writer, Gina’s can-do attitude has helped to improve the NEWSLETTER over the past three years.

The covers of the NEWSLETTER and all the graphics are the work of a very talented artist, David Love, Publication Manager His ideas and their composition have made the publication something people pick up and want to read. His layout expertise allows the articles to flow and the theme become unified. Communications Associate Roy A. Winkler does the hands-on editing, ensuring that there is a uniform style to the NEWSLETTER’s written word. Executive Assistant Karen Yetsky is the “face” of the NEWSLETTER — for it is Karen who tracks all the authors, their articles and the myriad details that allow each issue to be published every month, 12 times a year, year after year. Correspondence with the NEWSLETTER inevitably goes through Karen’s capable hands — making sure that all authors can be reached and, for me personally, that I can correspond with those who wish to make a point about something in the publication.

Finally, each senior member of the ASA staff reads the proof pages of the NEWSLETTER for accuracy. Without this constant checking and double-checking from several different perspectives, each issue would not have the impact the publication currently enjoys. Ronald Szabat, J.D., LL.M., Chief Operations Officer-External Affairs and General Counsel, remains a guide to what can be published without legal concern. His tremendous insight into the Washington scene and the impact an article in the NEWSLETTER may have on Capitol Hill allows the publication to be more than something limited to anesthesiologists. Assistant Executive Director Denise M. Jones brings a wealth of experience to the NEWSLETTER and has been a great help to me personally in ensuring a consistent gestalt to our publication. And we all profit from Lisa Percy’s and Karin Bierstein’s respective regular columns on state affairs and practice management.

This year the NEWSLETTER has grown to an average of 48 pages an issue, thanks to the generosity of the House of Delegates and, indirectly, each ASA member. The House also voted in favor of the full-color format last year, which we have been rolling out since January. The new appearance of the NEWSLETTER is something of which we all can be proud.
Like my son’s bell choir, it takes many people working together to create the ASA NEWSLETTER, and I thank each and every one of them. Unfortunately Gina Steiner left ASA this month. Her wisdom, warmth and guidance will be missed. I, along with each ASA member, wish her well, and I know that working with her has been a pleasure. Without a doubt, ASA will find a new officer for our ship, and for now, we will all work harder to make up for Gina’s expertise. Look for an announcement introducing the new Director of Communications in an upcoming issue.

In the meantime, “From the Crow’s Nest,” while the waters may be troubled, we will sail safely through. It continues to be an incredible, indescribable honor to be your editor.

— D.R.B.

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