More Big Changes Coming To The-Ozone

Our first podcast aired today, and yesterday we unveiled our revamped photo presentation. The early reviews on both those enhancements to the-Ozone have been very positive.

We’ve added new, updated forums, and along the way have found a way to keep our old, Legacy Forum, much to the relief of the many people who have grown to love that forum format over the last 20 years or so.

All those changes are part of our ongoing site update, and so far, we are extremely pleased with how that is all going, including our new home page and site.

There are some behind the scenes changes coming too, most of them involving a major change in our editorial staff.

For starters, there will be a change in the editorial staff. Tony Gerdeman will remain, as will Dan Harker and Jim Davidson. This, however will be my last month to be involved editorially with the-Ozone on a daily basis.

I have a birthday coming yet this year, and it’s one of those dreaded birthdays that end in a zero. The time has come for me to pretty much step aside and let younger blood run things, at least editorially. I will be leaving the state of Ohio for warmer climes, but will remain active administratively and with the occasional special feature, but will not be attending press conferences and games. It’s the end of a long era in my life and represents quite a change. I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to it or not, but it has become clear to me that the time has come for a change whether I really like it or not.

Editorially we have found a replacement for me, and it’s a familiar name for those of you have are long-time visitors to the-Ozone. Tom Orr has agreed to return to the-Ozone staff, at least for football season, and I think that will actually be a step up for us editorially. Tom’s influence on the O-ozone has been enormous. He originated The Buckeye Watch and Michigan Monday, features which continue to this day. We also will have contributions from Jacob Myers. Jacob is a current Lantern editor and will bring a needed infusion of youth to our editorial mix.

My own participation this year will include the Indiana and Oklahoma games, but not so much as a writer but more in a training capacity as Tom familiarizes himself with how business is now conducted on the OSU football beat. The goal is one road game, and one home game, so the first two games of this season work perfectly for that. After that, I will move on.

As you know, we have always been reluctant to ask our readership for funds. At his time however, if you are in a position to help us financially, a donation would be appreciated. We need to fund salaries for Tom and Jacob both, and we’ve had some extraordinary expenses of late associated with the site redesign and move to the new server. Those were much-needed changes, but the timing was a bit awkward, so finances are a bit tight. If you see your way to help us out, it would be appreciated.

While assistance would be appreciated, we’re not going to do a “fundraiser” with goals and frequent updates. We don’t want to inundate you with that, but helping us with this transition will also help us keep this board secure, something that I think a lot of you would like to see. I don’t want to imply that it is in immediate danger, it’s not, but some help right now would make things much easier to manage and easier to maintain in the upcoming months of change for us.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and from me personally, thanks for being such loyal visitors and posters over the last 21 years (has it really been that long?), and if you can see your way clear to do so, thanks for your support to help smooth this transition.

Follow this link for details on how to donate.