Let's make some noise

Last week, a new iteration of the Queen’s Alumni Review (QAR) finally went to press. The team – Alex Beshara, Ruth Dunley, and Wendy Treverton at its core, with the help of many others – is very proud of the look and feel of the magazine. I hope you are, too.

The QAR is, of course, one our most important ways – and certainly the most tangible – to reach out to our alumni community and this redesign is meant to make the magazine bolder and more appealing to alumni of all ages. The features are generally a little shorter, the photos a little bolder and, I think, the mix of content a little more contemporary. The overall design is crisp and elegant and authoritative. In his regular column in the QAR, Principal Patrick Deane said this: “So much about this issue of the Queen’s Alumni Review speaks to the future and to the potential for positive change…” I was thrilled to read this because it reflects exactly what we set out to do.

Tina Brown, the renowned editor who put Vanity Fair back on the map in the ’80s and early ’90s, said that “A magazine – a relevant one – should be a sound, not an echo.”

Working on the magazine made me feel more than a little nostalgic about my time in newspapers and the sound they make. I cut my journalism teeth at the Kingston Whig-Standard, where I talked my way into being hired as an assistant news editor despite a very thin resume. Let’s just say I was way out of my depth but, fortunately, no one else seemed to notice. The Whig in those days was edited by Neil Reynolds, an eccentric, brilliant high school dropout who quoted poetry in staff meetings and who once loaded most of the newsroom into school buses for a fact-finding mission to a local farm after some city-bound editor had misidentified the breed of a cow in a photo caption. Neil believed that journalism, done well, is literature and should be treated with the same respect. (He was on solid ground on this front – the poet Ezra Pound described literature as news that lasts.) Working for Neil was like being interviewed for your job every single day. What you did yesterday may have been good, but it was what you were doing today that counted. Since those days at the Whig, I have seen many times that Neil was right – even the most thoughtful strategy will fail if it is not applied in a principled and relentless way to the work you do every day and then again on the following day. Forever. To put it in the context of Tina Brown’s quote – it’s one thing to make a sound, it’s another thing to sustain it. Interestingly, the history of the Whig-Standard, which features Neil’s tenure heavily, is called A little Bit of Thunder. (I have a cameo appearance in it, by the way.)

Of course, the Queen’s Alumni Review is not a daily newspaper and it need not thunder. It should, however, have a distinct voice that loudly speaks to the positive impact the Queen’s community is having on the world. We intend to sustain that sound issue after issue so that our alumni hear loud and clear about Queen’s potential for positive change. And, if we’re lucky, we’ll create a little literature along the way.

Making the new Queen’s Alumni Review has been labour of love – and sometimes other, rougher emotions – for the past three and a half months. I want to thank everyone who worked on it, but particularly Alex, Ruth, and Wendy, who put in very long hours to make this happen. You have made a noise that will reverberate across the entire Queen’s community.

Better Workplace Design Deadline Extended

For several reasons, including current workloads, the April break, and unknowns about pandemic restrictions post-break, ALT is extending the timelines for the Building a Better Workplace design presentations.  Groups will now meet with ALT on May 20, rather than Apr. 30. 

MarCom is Now Just a Click Away

The MarCom Request System is now live.

Any time you need something, or support, from the Advancement Marketing and Communications team, simply submit a request. Access it here or by the Request System button in the Advancement Hub. 

It will save you time, is easy to use, and provides visibility and transparency so you can see the status of your request in real time. 
 
Questions? Contact Amy Lee or Josh Adler. 
 
Need MarCom?  
Communications | Design | Email | Events | Social Media | Video | Website  
Submit a Request >

Verifying Your Details for the Website 

The Advancement website will be moving to WebPublish 3.0. to assist with this process, please review your staff details within this Sharepoint workbook by April 20 and indicate you’ve reviewed the workbook by typing your initials in column L.  

Please note the mandatory and optional fields outlined in the Sharepoint workbook and update as needed. You are not obligated to specify any optional details. Details within the workbook will be used to populate the website and will be publicly accessible. 

Please contact Madelaine Johnson if you have any questions or concerns.  

Records and Information Management Awareness Month – Week 2 Activity

By Cheyenne Litt, Data Stewardship Specialist

Thank you to all who participated in last week’s activity! It seems everyone has a good grasp of the difference between a transitory and a university record, so congratulations!

This week, we would like to focus on records management while working remotely. 

Data Governance and Data Quality has released “Storage and Disposal of Records at Home – Best Practices,” a set of guidelines for the proper practices for storing and disposing of records while working remotely. Please review the document and complete the quiz for an entry into the draw for a $50 Wharf and Feather Gift Card (for Office of Advancement employees only.)

Jobs with Advancement

We need your recruitment help. Know great talent that would be a good addition to our team? If so, please promote the vacancies below with your networks and let’s find some amazing new team members.

Applications (including a cover letter and résumé) must be submitted through CareerQ. For additional information on this posting, please reach out to either Carla or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.

Available Position:

Fun Fact

One-of-a-kind Frosh week – Tamming Ceremony! 

Queen’s Frosh week is full of fun-filled activities, amazing memories, sports events, awesome school spirit, and much more. However, Queen’s Frosh week has more than that, it has the tamming ceremony. During the tamming ceremony, every freshman is given a tam (flat hat with a pom-pom of the colour of the student’s faculty on its top) to wear. The tamming ceremony is a tradition to welcome new students to Queen’s. It is a symbol of Queen’s spirit and heritage.