CML Newsletter begins shift to digital publication
In This Section
CML Newsletter
January 10, 2025
By Kevin Bommer, CML executive director
Nearly the entire time the Colorado Municipal League (CML) has existed – over 100 years – there has been a printed newsletter. Over the past three decades, the CML Newsletter has been dutifully assembled by staff, printed, and sent biweekly to around 4,000 members, associate members, and other stakeholders around the state.
In recent years, members have had the option to receive the newsletter by email as a PDF the same day it went to the printer, ensuring those recipients saw the newsletter a week or more before the print edition landed in people’s mailboxes. However, only about 44% of recipients take advantage of the email option.
As of Jan. 1, new members and associate members will receive the newsletter exclusively by email, with an option to temporarily opt-out and request a printed copy. Later this year, as part of a planned transition, everyone will begin to receive the CML Newsletter by email only, and the League will cease printing it altogether.
We have been here before and history is instructive. In the 2000s, CML shifted from printing and mailing its Statehouse Report to providing it to members by email. It was not an easy transition – and I vividly remember needing to print the email and fax it to a member that had no computer, let alone an email address. Similarly, CML’s online “Job Board,” now a robust digital resource, began as a subscriber-based print document that was mailed twice a month, and it happens to be how I found my first job at CML in 1999.
The decision to go fully digital reflects a commitment to using member resources more effectively. The reality is that the cost of printing and mailing over 100,000 newsletters per year is a significant expense, and those funds could be better directed at training, grassroots advocacy work, or other forms of information and resources for members. Utilizing electronic communication also saves time and resources. In the future, you can expect the PDF version of the newsletter to shift to a true e-newsletter that is more accessible and compatible with electronic devices.
Finally, the League’ award winning magazine – Colorado Municipalities – will continue to be printed quarterly with current and past editions available in PDF form.
Questions or requests to start receiving CML Newsletter via email right away should be sent to cml@cml.org.
In recent years, members have had the option to receive the newsletter by email as a PDF the same day it went to the printer, ensuring those recipients saw the newsletter a week or more before the print edition landed in people’s mailboxes. However, only about 44% of recipients take advantage of the email option.
As of Jan. 1, new members and associate members will receive the newsletter exclusively by email, with an option to temporarily opt-out and request a printed copy. Later this year, as part of a planned transition, everyone will begin to receive the CML Newsletter by email only, and the League will cease printing it altogether.
We have been here before and history is instructive. In the 2000s, CML shifted from printing and mailing its Statehouse Report to providing it to members by email. It was not an easy transition – and I vividly remember needing to print the email and fax it to a member that had no computer, let alone an email address. Similarly, CML’s online “Job Board,” now a robust digital resource, began as a subscriber-based print document that was mailed twice a month, and it happens to be how I found my first job at CML in 1999.
The decision to go fully digital reflects a commitment to using member resources more effectively. The reality is that the cost of printing and mailing over 100,000 newsletters per year is a significant expense, and those funds could be better directed at training, grassroots advocacy work, or other forms of information and resources for members. Utilizing electronic communication also saves time and resources. In the future, you can expect the PDF version of the newsletter to shift to a true e-newsletter that is more accessible and compatible with electronic devices.
Finally, the League’ award winning magazine – Colorado Municipalities – will continue to be printed quarterly with current and past editions available in PDF form.
Questions or requests to start receiving CML Newsletter via email right away should be sent to cml@cml.org.