Sorting through 650 lengthy surveys and responses to over 400 emails sounds like the kind of repetitive work that could drive someone insane. Yet having just finished doing this, I am happy to say that the process is a blast when all of that feedback comes from NEW MOBILITY readers.

The more time I spend digging into all of the responses we received to our reader survey earlier this year and ideas submitted during our annual call for stories, the more excited I grow about the magazine’s future.

Sure, I love hearing from all the people who enjoy our content and encourage us to keep doing what we’re doing, but I’m equally thrilled with the constructive criticism and suggestions many readers shared.

The simple fact is you all make my job a lot easier. As much time and effort as our team spends working to come up with relevant, interesting and useful content, there are only a few of us, and there’s no way we can know everything going on in the community or read everyone’s minds. The survey and call for stories are the closest we can get. I mine the pages of data that come out of them for every last nugget.

From possible people to profile to accessible destinations you recommend, there are always a number of ideas that are easy to put on the calendar immediately. What I find even more interesting — and potentially more helpful when planning what to cover — are the trends that emerge from looking at all the answers together.

Inevitably many of the stories most asked for, and the most repeated comments, are the same every year. As our longtime publisher Jean Dobbs says, “We’ll never be able to do enough bowel and bladder stories.” Additionally, practical guides and resources are always in demand, as are product reviews and ways to save money.

Still, this year the desire for stories focused on cutting costs and frugal solutions was especially powerful. Whether it was “lower-cost solutions,” “foundations that offer assistance” or “how to pay for assistive tech,” the message was loud and clear. We always have finances in mind when we process stories, but obviously, we can do better. And we will.

The other need that popped out of the data was to expand our coverage of people living outside urban centers. Readers from rural towns and less populated areas highlighted the different issues they deal with and their desire for suggestions and resources to address them.

We heard similar calls last year and planned a couple of stories we thought would be helpful, including one scheduled for this issue, but they didn’t work out for various reasons. Thanks to so many of you volunteering to share your stories and experiences, I am confident those stories will turn out even better, and we will continue to brainstorm ways to improve and diversify our coverage.

So, for the Catholic reader who asked for more faith-related stories, the T5 para who worked for the National Park Service for 32 years, the seminary worker, the hobby farmer, the sports broadcaster and everyone else who took the time to share your thoughts and ideas, thank you. And to everyone else, it’s never too late to give us your feedback, either through our new contact page or via email at iruder@unitedspinal.org.