A Complementary Opportunity Celebration

By Bob Buddemeier

What’s to celebrate?  Well, it’s a little (2 issues) past the Complement’s 3-year anniversary, it’s right on target for our website upgrade, and this issue is appearing a few days before RVM’s annual Opportunity Fair.

Uh-oh.  Opportunity Fair.  That means they’re looking for volunteer workers.  Well, a little bit, but we’ll get to that later.  First, we’ll talk about the great labor-free opportunities that we offer to you.  In case you are wondering about the “we,” meet our diligent staff.

The Complement (definition: “add to (something) in a way that enhances or improves it’­) was started by a group of residents who felt that RVM needed an additional journalistic outlet.    hillTOPICS is an attractive, informative newsletter sponsored by the Residents Council, but its format and production process mean that the extent and variety of its contents are somewhat  constrained.

Hence, The Complement – an online monthly newsletter.  We’ll briefly tell you about it and then show you some samples. If you’re patient, read the next few short paragraphs and then browse through the concise and/or pictorial illustrations.  First, the NEW LOOK:  a single click on thecomplement.info will take you to the new home page which features links to the complete contents of the current issue, plus a HOME menu link that takes you back to contents when you finish your reading selection, and an ARCHIVE  link that makes it easier to explore past articles and issues.  A few further tune-ups and adjustments will be made as we go along.

In our News & Views section, we offer profiles and histories of residents, articles on conditions and events at RVM,  analyses or editorials, and occasional essays on interesting topics.  In our Arts & Entertainment section, you will find written and photographic pieces contributed by residents, including humor and satire, displays of resident arts, crafts and collections, and monthly reports on concerts, classes parties and events, concerts, and RVM Library features.  And, you can post comments on any of the articles.

Bringing all of these features to you requires writers, editors, photographers, layout and format people, and a few who can mess with the WordPress software and html code.  And we’d like to have a cartoonist or graphic artist.  Do you recognize yourself in any of those descriptive words?  Or would you like to?  Don’t be bashful – come by our table at the Opportunity Fair (Auditorium, 2-4:30 Tuesday Oct 10), contact your favorite staff member, or email openinforvm@gmail.com (and wait a day or two before despairing).