Golden Anniversary Interchange turns 50

By Jordan Achs, Mark Horan

Last month marked 50 years since the Wyoming Department of Transportation started publishing Interchange. While it’s seen a few different names, styles and editors over the decades, it remains a dedicated news source for WYDOT activities, projects and events.

A history

When it started in 1973, Highway Interchange was an employee newsletter published by WYDOT’s predecessor agency, the Wyoming Highway Department. It was used as an internal newsletter, and a publication called the highwayman, which started around the same time, served as the agency’s external news magazine.

In 1987, in order to cut costs during an economic slump, Highway Interchange ceased publication in favor of the highwayman. It was an unpopular decision, and soon adjustments were made to simply combine the publications, with the back section of the highwayman dedicated to employee information from Highway Interchange

The two publications separated again in 1990 after an improved fiscal outlook for the state. After the WHD was reorganized to the Department of Transportation, the highwayman changed names to Destinations. Additionally, Interchange dropped ‘the Highway’ at the beginning for a standalone title.

Interchange continued to grow, seeing more long-form feature stories aimed at a wider audience. As the 1990s drew to a close, WYDOT Public Affairs staff decided that Destinations was no longer popular enough to warrant it being a separate publication. The final issue of Destinations was published in early 2000.

Interchange continued on page 3

The cover of the first issue of what is now Interchange asked readers to name the new publication. The winner, Rock Springs District 3 Construction Engineer Dale Vandenberg, and his family, received a $25 savings bond for their dinner table brainstorming session that led to the publication’s moniker.

Interchange is published for employees of the Wyoming Department of Transportation by its Public Affairs Office and a number of field correspondents.

Interchange invites submissions from all employees. Please send them to either your district correspondents or to Carlie Van Winkle, Interchange editor 5300 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, Wyoming, 82009-3340 or send an email to carlie.vanwinkle@wyo.gov.

Staff

WYDOT Director, interim

Darin J. Westby, P.E.

Public Affairs Manager

Doug McGee

Editor

Carlie Van Winkle

Contributors

Jordan Achs Public Affairs

Matt Groth Public Affairs

Mark Horan Public Affairs

Carlie Van Winkle Public Affairs

Andrea Staley District 1

Jeff Goetz District 2

Stephanie Harsha District 3

Laura Dalles District 4

Cody Beers District 5

Be sure to check out the online version of Interchange at http://issuu.com/ wydot.pao or click on the link found on the employee’s internal website home page.

Since then, Interchange has continued to grow and feature more articles and information aimed at both internal and external audiences.

“No matter the name, WYDOT publications have always featured a variety of stories about major projects, current events, agency milestones, intense winter storms and other news,” said WYDOT Public Affairs Officer Doug McGee.

Interchange today

Interchange continues to be compiled by the Public Affairs Office each month. Articles are submitted by Public Affairs staff, District Public Involvement Specialists, Wyoming Highway Patrol and other WYDOT programs like Safety, Training, and even the Wyoming Transportation Department Employees Association.

Issues also feature articles from other state agencies that have pertinent information for employees, like Game & Fish and Administration & Information’s Human Resources Division.

activities we have going on around the state.”

Once the articles have been written and compiled, Interchange editor – currently Carlie Van Winkle – places them on the pages and designs the overall layout and graphics for the issue.

As it starts to look more like a magazine, Public Affairs team proofreads and edits the issue before it is sent down to the WYDOT print shop at headquarters for printing and binding.

Today, the Print Shop makes 3,325 copies of Interchange each month. This is a lower number than some years, partly because every issue is also available online via the employee intranet and the website issuu.com. While only the current month’s issue is available on the Intranet, issues dating back to March 2012 are available on Issuu.

Interchange is an award winning publication, including the Wyoming Press Association’s annual awards, winning second place in the News Publications category in 2003; first place for a photo story in Interchange in 2008, second place in 2008 for a photo page story called “Tower Training” and third place at the WPA awards in 2013 for page layout and design for an article titled “Buick Special.”

Articles continue to focus on topics important for both an internal and external audience, including noteworthy projects, new agency initiatives, HR reminders, service award celebrations, retirements and other news.

The October 2015 Interchange issue featuring the I-80 Summit Rest Area Abraham Lincoln head statue refurbishing received second place at the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials’ TransComm annual awards in 2016.

“We can’t be everywhere at once,” McGee said, “So we really rely on submissions from folks out in the field to help make each issue well-rounded and to highlight all the different impressive