Communications and technology are paramount for any modern organization, and the APA can do much better in these areas than we have in the past. And I promise you, it’s my mission—and the mission of the APA board of officers, the association’s main policy-making body—to do better.
First, the big news. As we announced just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the APA is seeking a new logo and branding, in conjunction with a new website. We’ll be developing that new website as part of our transition to an association management system that will offer much of what so many people have been demanding: online membership application and renewal, online meeting registration, and more resources and functions for users. The new website should launch in the spring.
We’re also preparing to join the 21st century with a Facebook page and Twitter profile so that you can communicate with us more directly. And if you’re a member, you may have already noticed that you’re receiving emails from us just a little more often—we won’t flood your inbox, but we want to make sure you’re getting the information you need and want from us in a timely manner.
We’ve got more ideas for the longer term—an APA blog, more interactive online communities, and mobile applications, for example—but we’re taking care of the basics first.
We’re also working on new approaches to our publications, including moving more of them online. We know that many of you aren’t satisfied with the current delivery method for the Proceedings & Addresses (that is, by snail mail), and we’re working on plans to provide that content to you in new and more useful ways. We aim to highlight the content in our newsletters more prominently, and we’re reviving defunct and out-of-date publications (the Guide to Graduate Study in Philosophy, for example) and contemplating new ones (such as email bulletins).
The board of officers is now considering proposals from publishers for an APA journal, and we are in the process of setting up a committee to develop the journal’s editorial structure and nominate its inaugural editor(s). The journal will aim to address a number of issues for the profession, not the least of which will be to increase conversation across the dividing lines and sub-disciplines of philosophy, providing an opportunity for better communication not only between the APA and the philosophical community but also within the profession itself.
These modes of communication are largely new to the APA. Our goal is simply to provide the best services that we can to our members and the philosophical community. I hope you’ll continue to communicate with us as these efforts move forward. You’ve shown a lot of patience with the APA (though I know many of you lost that patience long ago), and I can’t fully express how much we appreciate your continued interest in and support of the APA’s work. We take very seriously these efforts to prove ourselves to you all over again.
We welcome your feedback—we want to know what kinds of communications and technology you want to see from the APA.
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