Hello, and welcome to the new home for the Guitar Department’s online newsletter Open Position. My name is Robin Stone and I have been a professor in the Guitar Department for the past 31 years. In the spring of 2008 I published my first edition of Open Position as managing editor, taking over for the former editor Charles Chapman.

A Brief History

The first edition of Open Position was published in 1987 by department professor Jon Damian who became its managing editor. Joe Rogers, and Steve Carter assisted Jon with the newsletter until 1991 when Charles Chapman joined Jon to co-edit the newsletter, which they did until 1994 when Charlie took it over himself. In 2002, Charles developed a condition that forced him to retire from the college. At that point the newsletter was indefinitely shelved.

The introductory paragraph published in the first edition, which can be seen in the image below, reads: “Welcome to the first edition of OPEN POSITION. We hope this newsletter will become a helpful medium of communication within the Guitar Department.We welcome your contributions and suggestions.”

A picture of the first Open Position newsletter

Open Position, Volume 1

I thought it would be a nice tribute to Charlie to keep the newsletter going in his honor and also to preserve its legacy in the history of the department. So, I got an idea to create Open Position online as opposed to print using mac’s iWeb software. With iWeb I could basically create a webpage for the newsletter to be available and viewable to anyone online, which would vastly expand its                                                                                       reach.

In 2008, I wrote:

“During the fall ’07 semester I came up with the idea of publishing Open Position once again but as an online magazine. I hoped to provide the internet community with an inside look into the Guitar Department, its faculty, administrators, and staff. A publication showcasing what we do here, filled with interviews, articles, pictures and transcriptions.”

I have been the residing managing editor of Open Position for the past 13 years. The newsletter has undergone several changes on my watch, but I am looking forward to this new format and its accessibility to students here and abroad.

Welcome to yet another era of Open Position!

Robin Stone
Professor, Guitar Department

Robin Stone
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