New Era for WDCTA as it Becomes...WDEA!

After more than a year of planning (starting around May 2024), asking for member input through a survey sent out in July 2024 and numerous board discussions, we made the decision earlier this year to change the name to Wisconsin Dressage & Eventing Association (WDEA).

The reasons for the name change were many, including that we wanted our name to reflect the current state of the eventing discipline, which changed its name from combined training to eventing 24 years ago.

Another reason was our logo was old and very difficult to use because we didn’t have usable logo files (the website, newsletter and any materials we create had to limp along with the poor quality files we have), so we would have had to invest in finding a designer that could recreate our current logo, which would cost us money. Since we would have to put money into updating our logo, we decided to do both things at once.

Sandra Malott and Caryn Vesperman took the lead of working with a designer, and after discussions and minor tweaks, the board selected a logo. Depending upon the medium and/or space, two options are available for the logo: vertical and horizontal. (Please contact the board president or webmaster if you need the logo for a state or chapter activity.) A branding guide has been developed for how to use the logos, the organization’s main color (Pantone 193C—a maroon like you see in this month’s newsletter), and the typeface for all of our materials (Helvetica Neue—again, the typeface used in the newsletter), plus other guidelines. A WDEA Style Guide has also been developed to help with using AP style for reference to age, numbers, capital letters, horse vocabulary. and more. This will be available on the WDEA website.

Work also got underway such as getting the name change approved with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, using the logo “in commerce,” and beginning the update of myriad of WDCTA’s documents, newsletter, website (including the website’s URL), email addresses and Facebook pages with the new name and logo. Other work includes informing our state board and chapter financial institutions about the new name and meeting any requirements they may have. (Thank you to our state treasurer, Morgan, for her guidance and work on this.)

Our goal is to go “live” on Dec. 1. That means, for example, we can’t accept checks or payments with our old name, WDCTA, after that date. Prior to then, you’ll see the changes to the new name and logo in this newsletter, membership form—now available in a fillable PDF. (Thank you, Stephanie Severn, our webmaster for updating the website, working for the next few weeks to update our Facebook pages and making all our forms become fillable PDFs.)

Stay tuned! It’s an exciting time, as we take steps to keep our organization relevant and prepared for the future.