Letter from Kelsey: Clovis Roundup’s year in review

A first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association was one of Clovis Roundup’s top achievements in 2018. CLOVIS ROUNDUP FILE PHOTO

Hi there, Clovis Roundup readers! It’s Kelsey here, new Clovis resident and the newest addition to the Roundup staff.

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how monumental 2018 was for our paper.

At the same time, I want to recognize just how amazing these past few months have been for me: living “the Clovis way of life” both as a new member of the Roundup family and as part of the #ClovisFam that is the Clovis community.

Man, did I join the ranks of the Roundup at the perfect time. I walked through the doors of their new office on Shaw and Minnewawa just three weeks after they did.

This symbolic and literal move would be the first of many changes and the catalyst for a year of exponential growth for your trusted local news source.

“It has definitely been a big year for us,” said Billy Xiong, our operations manager. “Our main goal coming into 2018 was to establish Clovis Roundup as not only a newspaper but a
multimedia news source for Clovis.”

“We started by focusing on growing our digital presence – taking a more active role of posting and sharing news as it happens,” he added. “I’m proud to say that I am very happy with our results. Since January, we’ve grown 30 percent!”

And that’s just online readership! This year has seen the highest number of subscriptions to our e-newsletter and double the print readership in both mail subscriptions and standalone newsstand pickups.

“This came as quite a surprise because our online presence was a top priority this year.” said our publisher Donna Melchor.

Keep doing what you are doing, Clovis! It’s because of your support that our metrics looked so amazing in 2018.

Another huge accomplishment for us was winning first place in the state for best feature article titled, “Clovis: Not Just a Gateway, a Destination” and third place for best school sports layout and design from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

“Two out of our five entries won,” Melchor said. “Not bad! Also, the judges’ comments on our feature article said that reading it made them want to visit Clovis.”

And isn’t that always our goal as proud Clovis residents? To share this beautiful community with those who might not otherwise stop to notice it?

“It was just amazing to even place, as there were over 1,000 submissions,” said Xiong, who designed the third-place sports layout. “It was definitely a team effort from everyone here at the Clovis Roundup. This wouldn’t have been possible without them.”

So many awards for outstanding work makes me #proud to be working alongside such an amazing and talented team.

I am also #blessed (can you tell I’ve been helping with the social media?) to have my own award for a first place news photo I took for the Spartan Daily when I was living in San Jose.

And I am even more lucky to have a boss *cough* Donna *cough* who goes around telling everyone that “Kelsey is our new award-winning reporter!”

You’re going to make me blush, Donna! But, let’s get back to the news.

We’ve talked about the Clovis Roundup in 2018.

So you have to be asking yourselves … what’s in the works for 2019?

Daniel, our wonderful Editor-in-Chief, the one who keeps us all focused and on deadline said, “As I reflect on this past year, I think of how much we’ve grown and engrained ourselves in the community as Clovis’ No. 1 news source. We grew at a rapid pace in multiple areas and expect to carry that momentum into 2019.”

Billy said, “For 2018, we set the foundation on what we needed to become – a multimedia news source. As we enter 2019, we intend stay the course and continue to take Clovis Roundup to the next level.”

And I say to my dear #ClovisFam – you can be sure that the Clovis Roundup will be working hard in 2019 to bring YOU, our readers that #nextlevel reporting!

So, keep your eyes peeled for exciting new stories brought to you in ways you haven’t “seen” from us before!

Spoiler alert: it’s going to be awesome.