Landscape Architect Articles

The Publisher's Page11-01-97 | 11

From The Publisher November 1997 Hello Atlanta! This November issue of LASN will be premiering at the ASLA Annual Meeting which, for those of you outside the Society, is being held this year in Atlanta, Georgia. Home of Peachtree Road, Street, Lane, Avenue, Blvd, etc., etc., etc. The Hot News . . . Jim Dalton, ASLA's Executive Vice President since 1994, has tendered his resignation effective 12/31/97. In a surprise move, at least to LASN (I actually enjoyed our few conversations), Dalton appears to be moving on to the greener pastures of private consultation. Even though membership is growing slowly, annual meeting attendance is hurting, and LAM circulation is way down (according to their own postal audit published in the October Issue of LAM). Most people LASN interviewed thought Dalton was doing a good job and maybe even achieving above expectations (remember the previous EVP didn't exactly leave a growing legacy for Dalton.) In any event, things are certainly changing in the profession and the Society. The next step is to select a new EVP, and ASLA should search the nation for a matter of fact professional with a passion to direct the profession into the next century without spinning it into oblivion. Strength, integrity and the ability to work with the outside media will be essential pre-requisites for the job. While I and LASN have enjoyed working with, and sometimes disagreeing with Dalton, we have had our hands full trying to decipher the spun news from the real facts coming out of ASLA's headquarters in D.C. Lets just hope the new person will stop the nonsense and make the ASLA a factual, strong and progressive organization. More Hot News . . . What in the world is the LASN Postal Audit doing on the Pub's page? Well, according to the postal audit published on page 215 of our competitors October issue, LASN has been the circulation leader over the past year surpassing LAM sometime over the Winter months of 1996/97 after LASN's sixth consecutive years of steady growth. The US Postmaster requires all publications using "Second Class" mailing privileges to complete an audit of distribution and publish the result in a predetermined issue. While LASN's audit must officially appear in the December issue, we have been so proud of our six years of growth that the entire staff convinced me to include an exact copy in this November Issue. On to the show . . . I wish all of you attending the Atlanta Conference the best of times in and around the city and those of you out there who could not attend a save and solid winter of planning the landscapes that will shape the country for the years ahead! Sincerely, George Schmok