With the new year we unveil Capitol Ideas, the newest publication from The Council of State Governments. Since 1933 we have been committed to sharing capitol ideas and this new magazine honors that tradition.
Capitol Ideas will strive to better serve our membership, and we will include more member-driven content.
New features include:
· A targeted focus for each issue, the “Hot Topic,” that will cover much of the magazine, although there will also be a couple of unrelated features.
· A page for news from each of the four regions – including association news, but will primarily focus on what is going on in the states that might be of interest to other states.
· Information from the Book of the States presented in an easy-to-read graphic format.
· A perspective from an expert in the “hot topic” area of interest.
· The Hot Topic will be a primary story with several sidebars looking at various aspects of the topic. It’ll also include pullboxes with things like checklists or little things state officials need to know in a quick hit format.
· We have 10 Questions, again with an individual who can speak about the subject of the hot topic area.
· Straight Talk is a new feature where we get state officials from all three branches of government and possibly associates to offer input into the hot topic.
· The affiliate and association news is presented more graphically, again in a quick hit format.
· The meetings page will be easier to read and follow
· There’s a new “How To” feature to offer advice to members on various ways to do their job better and more efficiently.
· Finally, we spotlight a member on the last page of the magazine.
The ultimate goal is to make Capitol Ideas more useful to our members, giving them insights and innovations that have helped policymakers in other states. We are striving to make it more interactive with our Web site, and will include greater detail for members who want more information about a particular topic. We hope it will also get our members more involved in the content of the magazine.