by Paul Caputo
This issue marks the completion of a transition that Legacy started at the beginning of the year. Some differences you will see immediately (the typeface used on the magazine’s flag and headlines is different) while others you will discover over time as you read the magazine. However, the magazine continues to contain feature articles that relate to a specific theme (this time, it’s interpretation’s role in for-profit tourism) as well as articles of benefit to the professional interpreter that do not necessarily relate to that theme.
One significant difference with this issue is that thematic feature articles, which were until recently written by freelance journalists and other professional writers, are now written by your peers—interpretive professionals writing about interpretation. Themes through late 2010 are posted online, so I encourage all of our readers to visit Legacy’s page on NAI’s website, www.interpnet.com. (Click on “Publications,” then “Legacy Magazine.”) If you have a story that you’d like to share as it relates to an upcoming theme, please e-mail me your idea.
Columns that do not relate to the theme are listed under “Departments” on the contents page and include such topics as frontline interpretation, inspiration, media, planning and design, technology, and training, among others. Readers will recognize some familiar faces in this and future issues. The regular columnists you’ve come to know over the years, like Alan Leftridge, Kris Whipple, Kirk Mona, and Jon Hooper, to name a few, will continue to appear in the departments. And you’ll see new faces in this and future issues. Again, if you have a topic that fits one of Legacy’s departments or would like to propose a new department, please e-mail me.
It’s a different magazine now than it was a year ago, so it looks different, too. Those who are interested in this sort of thing will notice small design changes throughout the magazine and a significant change in the cover design. (Those who are really interested in this sort of thing should visit NAI’s newest website, www.InterpretationByDesign.com, for more on the changes.)
Most importantly, Legacy continues to strive to meet the needs of NAI members. The first goal of the magazine is to be a useful resource for interpreters, to advance the field of interpretation by sharing ideas and discussing important issues in the field. (You can share your own ideas and discuss issues on Legacy’s online companion, www.onlinelegacy.org. Every article you read in this issue will appear online over the course of the next two months, and you don’t need a username or password to comment.)
NAI’s strength is in its diverse and unique membership, and I hope you will consider the value of making your voice heard, either in this magazine or online.
bob flasher
June 30, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Hey, we’re interpreters, professional communicators. Let’s comment on the changes. For example,I love the disclaimer about each issue having a theme, with other articles about virtually anything. Funny.
Chris Castle
June 30, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Bravo NAI! I’m so pleased to see that feature articles are now being written by interpretive professionals. While some of my best friends are professional writers in a magazine like Legacy I prefer to read about the impressions and analyses of my professional peers. I also believe writing for magazines like Legacy encourages all of us as professionals to reflect upon what it is we are doing and why.
Kirk Mona
June 30, 2009 at 3:55 pm
To be fair, a lot of those professional writers were both writers AND interpreters. Reading the work of professional writers who are also interpreters is a good thing for the reader and the field.