You may not know Christy Davidson, but as Pulse readers and as Pulse editor, we owe her a lot. As recruitment team manager in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's advertising department, Davidson founded Pulse in 1991. She's been the publication's staunch, behind-the-scenes advocate ever since.
Christy Davidson is retiring after 20 years at the AJC.
Davidson has guided the publication since its first issue. During the last five years as ajcjobs advertising project manager, she also oversaw Celebrating Diversity magazine, managed ajcjobs fairs and ran the annual Celebrating Nurses event that honors Georgia nurses.
"For me, Pulse has always been such a fun publication — and one that I always wanted to personally hang onto. It has been one of the highlights of my career," she said.
Originally, the creation of Pulse was a marketing decision — "and a good one," Davidson said. Pulse was created to compete with several regional and state nursing publications. It was started as a vehicle to give Georgia nursing recruiters a place to advertise job openings and attract clinicians. It has grown to do much more.
"We hit the streets with a 12-page book and mailed it all over the state. Later, it grew to 16 pages, and now we're regularly printing 24 pages," Davidson said. "Since last year, every page is full color. I'm proud that it has done so well."
Much of the publication's longevity and success have come from Davidson's listening to her health care clients and developing deeper relationships with them. "They told us that they wanted to read local, interesting stories about the nurses and professionals who work here," she said.
Davidson enlisted the assistance of an editorial advisory board to keep the magazine current about trends, issues, achievements and the stories behind them. From the start, the goal has been to put a real face on Georgia's nurses and allied health care professionals.
The publication led to the AJC's supporting the Georgia Nurses Association and helping to sponsor some of its conferences and to the establishment of the Nursing Excellence Awards.
"I have loved planning that celebration, because nurses are the nicest people and deserve to be honored. We want to keep taking the event to the next level and already have ideas to improve it next year," Davidson said.
In 1998, the state of Georgia recognized Davidson for her significant contributions to health care. She never talks about awards, but she does speak of how much it means to her to hear people say that they read and enjoy the publication each month.
After 20 years of service at the AJC, Davidson is retiring Aug. 10. I know you'll want to join me in thanking her for the legacy she has left us.
- Do you have any story ideas for Pulse? We'd love to hear more about your career and what you do after hours. Send e-mail to pulseeditor@ajc.com or call 404-526-2078.