Mamamia 2013: Hit us with your thoughts.

By JAMILA RIZVI

Phew. Does anyone else feel like 2013 started so fast that we haven’t even had time to TAKE a breath, let alone catch one?

One moment, I was embracing beach hair in its truest sense (i.e. unwashed and covered permanently in actual sea salt – not the kind from a fancy bottle) and taking the time to smell the mangoes (I’m not much into flowers).

And then BAM – it’s the middle of February, the Oscars are moments away, holiday television is a distant memory and the Prime Minister has already called an election.

Anyone else got whiplash?

Despite the fact that the year is well and truly underway already, we wanted to take the time to update you about what we’ve got planned for the year ahead on Mamamia.

Kahla and Melissa, our new Editorial Assitants.

New additions to Team Mamamia: We’ve had some new additions to our editorial team. As well as continuing to hear from Mia, Bec, Kate, Lucy, Nat and myself, you’ll also be seeing more from our new Style and Beauty Editor, Nicky Champ (who has moved back into our loving arms after helping with the launch of ivillage.com.au) and our brand new Editorial Assistants Kahla Preston and Melissa Wellham. Kahla and Melissa were part of our intern program last year and have become official staff members this year, both combining part-time work at MM with their tertiary studies.

Mamamia Style & Beauty content:  We did a lot of new things with Mamamia last year as we pushed some boundaries with the website and saw where it could take us (and you). We launched our sister site iVillage.com.au (like Mamamia but with a stronger focus on parenting, entertainment and food), we started a daily radio show on the Austero Network, Mamamia Today and we dipped our toes in the waters of e-commerce with Mamamia Shopping.

Nicky

Well, the waters of retail were chilly and we’ve decided that running an entirely seperate e-commerce site is not the best use of our energies. Our focus has always been – and shall remain – on publishing and content. So we’ve wound down the shopping site and instead, decided to integrate a bit of style & beauty content into the main site here. That will be Nicky’s domain. To make sure you don’t miss any of that kind of content, if it’s your thang, be sure to follow MMstyle on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Podcasts, videos and blogs. Oh my! And in the great tradition of steak knifeinfomercials BUT WAIT there’s more.

2013 is going to bring a whole raft of new content to Mamamia. We’ve already kicked off our weekly podcasts (you’ll be able to subscribe via iTunes) where Mia and I will chat about the stories everyone’s talking about each week and you’ll get a real behind-the-scenes sense of how we work and what the day to day conversations in the office are like.

We will be bringing you a whole lot of new content from our regular writers and bloggers. Plus we’re trying our hands at cinematography (!!!) and soon you’ll be seeing more video content on the site but in a very authentic, non-glossy Mamamia way.

Mia writing like a ninja. No time to stop for a sandwich.

More Mia: now that MM editor/publisher Mia Freedman has finished her newspaper obligations, she will be writing much more regularly here and also on iVillage.

She’s clearly loving having the time and headspace to write about all kinds of things – big and small (like this post today about changing her exercise routine)  and we’ve all noticed her writing passion has suddenly been re-ignited now that she’s no longer weighed down by external commitments.

That election everyone is talking about… Prime Minister Julia Gillard was kidding herself when she said that while calling the election, she wasn’t calling a start to the campaign itself. Politics is going to be front and centre this year and we’ll be bringing you more political news, opinions and cheatsheets than ever before. Mamamia is going to be your go-to destination for all things election.

Now that we’ve updated you on what’s been going on at our place, the Mamamia Team were also keen to hear from you. So without further ado. Hit us with your thoughts. Compliments are welcome, criticisms will cause little fairies to die in our hearts ;) and suggestions for content will be embraced with a gusto equivalent to that displayed by this little girl.

Here’s an idea: if you want to have a whinge about something, find something positive to say as well. Keep it balanced. Carrot and stick and all that. And if you have any questions, we’ll do our very best to answer each and every one of them.

Whatchya got?