Welcome to the Staff!

One thing is always true about publishing a monthly magazine, running a Web site, coordinating ad sales, assigning photo shoots, creating a new video show, redesigning forms and any number of other things we do at the USTA Communications Department—there is never a dull day. Now I can’t guarantee that everyone out there will have as great an interest as we do on the inner workings of Hoof Beats and the Comm Department, but in case you do, we started this blog to keep you in touch with what we are doing and how we are doing it.

It is a pleasure to welcome all of you to the “staff”!

Summer around here is our busiest time, but we actually have a lot happening every week of every month of the year, and we are excited to share with you some of our plans, and we hope you will make your suggestions that we can include in this blog, as well. Got an idea for a new department, feature, column or photo—let me know! Is there a Web feature you have been hoping to see? I’ll see what we can do. Loved a story? Tell us. Hated a story? We want to hear that, too.

The big news so far this week have been all our launches of long-time projects—the new Fan Guide at fanguide.ustrotting.com; the new video show, “Eye on Harness Racing,” which debuts tomorrow at 3 p.m.; the new features at www.hoofbeatsmagazine.com (like this one!). I am always amazed at the staff here—often I come to them with an idea, sketch it with words into thin air, and they make it happen. They are simply the best.

Photographer Mark Hall and Art Director Gena Gallagher—recent winners for cover design at American Horse Publications--are hard at work at a cool cover image for our yearling issue, which comes out in August. Our cover story features breeders Adam Bowden, Senena Esty and Bob Marks on their yearling sale formulas—we’ll have it posted on the Hoof Beats site in as soon as the magazine comes off the printers.

And now, a gift to those of you who have taken the time to check out our blog—the first five people to email me at nkraft@ustrotting.com can get either a year subscription to Hoof Beats Direct (our digital edition) or a Hoof Beats T-shirt ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Nicole