For the first time in 1½ years, one quarter of CHPPD Section members read the fall issue of the newsletter.  In September-October 2006, 415 visitors viewed 517 pages of the newsletter.  This represents a 17 percent increase in readership over 2005’s Fall issue that had 386 visitors. Members spent at least four minutes reviewing information, indicating he/she read at least one article.

The fall issue of a newsletter usually has the highest readership of the three issues published in the year, possibly because of the interest in the Annual Meeting.  The CHPPD fall 2007 issue did better in readership as compared  to other section newsletters that it has been compared to in the past with exception of the Community  Health Worker Special Primary Interest Group (SPIG).  The membership in the CHW SPIG is significantly smaller than CHPPD. 

I continue to follow CHW readership because this level of involvement is not impossible for larger sections. This scenario is discussed extensively in Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point”. This book is mentioned in the CHPPD Reading Club at http://www.chppd.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=8.  In his book, through case studies, he illustrates that team camaraderie, and efficiency, decreases when units get larger.  In his book, he describes how one corporation splits up its workers into smaller work groups as soon as it hits the limit to maintain efficiency.  So what do you think is “The Tipping Point” for involvement in the CHPPD Section?