Recently, I’ve been thinking about all the ways we are trying to share information about the value of environmental enrichment for laboratory animals. It’s a communications challenge to find the right medium as well as credible messengers who can get the attention of skeptical professionals who populate our community. In these times of tight budgets and short attention spans, we must leverage every opportunity to get people to listen and learn about a subject still dismissed by some as a “distraction.”
The many posters and presentations that addressed EE at National AALAS in November inspired us to expand our stable of writers, and the eager response to our outreach has been overwhelming. Authors are excited by the opportunity to give their posters expanded visibility through the online Poster Repository as well as to share their abstracts in print with our global audience. Content experts have agreed to write articles for future issues of The Enrichment Record. And we tapped the most compelling speakers to present at “The Enrichment Extravaganza,”which we sponsor each Spring in different venues.
In the Meeting Up section of this publication, volunteers summarize highlights from other conferences and symposia held in different parts of the country, so our readers get an idea of who’s talking about enrichment and what they are saying. We’d like more in-depth coverage of these high quality programs and welcome early communication on the part of the organizers so we can help publicize upcoming events and report on programs in a timely way.
Be sure to stay in touch in the new year!
Communication is a circle with a constant exchange of information flowing in and out. We are doing our part, but success really depends on you—our readers. Keep us vibrant and vital by sharing your EE ideas, programs and research. Then make sure to spread the word by sharing The Enrichment Record with colleagues, friends and members of the broader caring community.
Jayne Mackta, Publisher
President & CEO, Global Research Education
& Training, LLC (GR8)
