Editor's Note

Commentary: What Going “All Digital” Means for Mobility Management

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Jan 18, 2023

You may have heard that Mobility Management will no longer be mailing issues via the United States Postal Service and other postal carriers.

Quite a few readers — and friends — have asked what that means, and how that makes me feel.

It took some getting used to. I started writing stories at age 7 for Hobart Elementary’s school newspaper, and I’ve been writing for print publications ever since.

It’s a little weird not to be writing for print anymore. But only a little weird, because I’m still writing a ton.

And print publishing had gotten much more challenging on a production level. For example, by 2022, one type of magazine cover we did — called a cover tip — had to be printed at a different press than the one that printed the rest of the magazine. And then those covers had to be shipped to the press that printed the bulk of the magazine.

Production cycles kept getting longer, which made it harder and harder to publish stories in a timely manner. This at a time when other communications forms — social media, texting — are nearly instantaneous.

So, now our publication is exclusively digital. What does this mean for you?

You won’t receive Mobility Management through the mail any longer. But our editorial mission isn’t changing.

Our “weekly-plus” eMobility newsletters are continuing. So is our Web site, and our podcast library, and our educational Webinars.

New for 2023: eBooks, digital editions featuring the content that Mobility Management is known for. Clinical stories? Check. Features on policy, funding, and technology? You bet. Our Marketplaces — pictorial layouts of a different product category every issue — will now be seen in our eBooks. We’re publishing five topical eBooks this year, including our popular Seating & Positioning Handbook.

Plus, every month I’ll be writing a feature story and a Marketplace to be published on our Web site. I’ll alert you when the new content is ready… and this year, we actually have more feature and product stories planned vs. 2022!

Ultimately, we hope that going all digital will enable us to spend less time on publishing logistics, and more time interviewing, reporting, and supporting your daily seating, mobility, and accessibility work. All while saving some trees in the process.

To make sure we have your e-mail address, name, job title, etc., please subscribe to our eMobility newsletter, if you haven’t already.

Okay, thanks for reading. Now I’m back to writing!