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IMATA is excited to announce that Soundings, our quarterly magazine, has started a 12-month transition to becoming an entirely digital publication; starting with the first quarterly issue of 2014, Soundings will be announced via e-mail and delivered to all IMATA members exclusively through our online portal at www.imata.org.

Already, Soundings readers have gravitated toward IMATA’s online offerings as more than half of those members currently entitled to receive a printed Soundings have voluntarily opted for the electronic product. Our members have told us that they search out online publications, news portals, and web sites because they bring forth current information faster than most print publications. Following the transition, Soundings will no longer be subject to the restrictions of traditional magazine production such as limited pages, layout space, climbing paper and ink costs, and other physical challenges.

As a digital product, Soundings will be able to deliver information sooner than it did as a print publication; long lead times will be a thing of the past. Printed versions require a long lead-time as well as a long delivery time, up to eight weeks for members living outside the USA.

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The digital Soundings magazine will continue to be ‘keyword’ indexed by IMATA’s internal search engine, providing an easy way for members to search for past columns and feature articles. Additionally, with other enhancements to IMATA’s website, the digital version will surpass the print version in presentation, editorial quality, and photography. For the first time, IMATA will be able to harness the power of streaming videos that will be embedded with columns, articles, and Regional Reports. Perhaps most importantly for IMATA’s global membership, upgrades will further ease translating Soundings content into languages other than English. Digital magazine technology has developed significantly over the past several years and will continue to bring increased value in the future.

While carefully reviewing the decision to transition to a paperless Soundings, IMATA’s leadership also considered that the organization’s largest overall historical expenses have been printing and postage. The simple fact is that over the past four years, the costs associated with the manufacture and mailing of Soundings have risen dramatically. IMATA has been able to fend off these rising costs by becoming savvy in reviewing the methods by which some benefits – like the Membership Directory and the Proceedings – are delivered to our members. In making both the Membership Directory and the Proceedings available exclusively online, we proactively offset expenses that would have certainly led to an increase in annual membership dues. Although IMATA realized significant savings using this strategy alone, it was not enough to carry us through additional and significant increases to our bottom line costs, without considering a hefty restructuring of the dues structure.

By having Soundings join the Membership Directory and Proceedings in being delivered electronically, we’ve been able to also keep the cost of annual membership dues low, while enhancing the value and benefits that our members have come to expect.

Those IMATA members who joined the organization or renewed their membership after 4 February 2013 will have already transitioned to the new electronic-only format and will receive the premier issue of the enhanced digital Soundings with 2013's second quarter edition. Those with memberships still requesting a hard-copy delivery of Soundings will migrate to the digital Soundings format as their individual expiration dates approach and their membership is renewed.

We look forward to sharing this new and exciting benefit of IMATA membership with marine animal trainers across the globe!