FROM THE PUBLISHER
Moving with the cycle of life
Our 100th issue delivers a buffet of new developments with B2B
Sean Fitzgerald New North B2B Publisher 4 l NEW NORTH B2B l OCTOBER 2010
There’s a lesson I learned long ago from my newspaper days. Everything – the naturally occurring, as well as all those fixtures of modern life and other paradigms forged by the hands of mankind – have a lifecycle. There’s a birth and a death. Sometimes there’s a period of maturation, a period of thriving success, or a long gradual slide toward a terminal end. B2B isn’t shielded from the cycles of life that affect everything else. The evolutions bring good news, and they also offer occasional disappointments. The celebration of our 100th monthly edition of B2B magazine offers another plateau of maturity for us as well, as we introduce Bob Warde, our first ever fulltime editor. Bob is taking over many of the content-related efforts I’ve coddled since our inaugural edition in July 2002. We couldn’t have been more fortunate to bring Bob aboard our team. He brings a stellar background in business news in northeast Wisconsin and fosters many of the same approaches to regional business journalism and similar editorial philosophies upon which the foundation of New North B2B has been built. I think readers will find the addition of Bob will be seamless and only serve to improve upon the outstanding content we’ve delivered small business owners and management during the past 100 issues. The staff addition will allow B2B to enhance its editorial presence and value to our readers, starting later this month with a regularly updated blog, providing news updates and unique perspectives on issues occurring in our business community in between each monthly edition of the printed B2B. Please take the opportunity to discover updates throughout the month by logging on to newnorthb2b.wordpress.com. If you like what you see and would like each update sent to your email account three to five times a week, just sign up on the page. All we need is your name and email address. We promise no other solicitations. Additionally, B2B moved its publishing operations into new offices on South Main Street in Oshkosh this past summer, all part of the larger agenda to accommodate this planned growth and expansion. Watch for more exciting, reader value developments scheduled to be rolled out in coming months.
Annual award on hold At the same time, we’ve experienced life cycle developments on the far end of the spectrum. It’s with heavy-hearted disappointment that I tell readers we’ve suspended our Best Places to Work Awards this year due to what we determined was an insufficient number of qualified entries. We’ve not yet made a decision to discontinue the annual recognition completely, but elected not to feature it in this October issue, believing we just didn’t have a representative sample of nominations to provide the acclaim of best practices in workplace innovation our readers could adopt into their own businesses. Since launching Wisconsin’s first such workplace recognition honors in our October 2002 edition, we’ve seen a gradual increase in the amount of nominees for each of the eight years leading up to our 2010 installment. It’s proved a promising and recognizable staple in B2B, and one our annual honorees promoted with pride. Following these past few months since we’ve solicited nominations for the 2010 award, we unfortunately received just a handful. I don’t know the reasons why, though I’ve been asking myself whether our team promoted it enough, or if it had slid under the radar of some of these new developments we’ve been undertaking. Maybe the award has worn its course, and come to the end of its life cycle. It’s hard to be certain. In that regard, I’d appreciate feedback from readers who’ve been eagerly anticipating our 9th annual Best Places to Work Awards, and would support its revival. Drop me a line at sean@newnorthb2b.com. If we receive substantial response from readers calling for the recognition to be reinstated, we’ll consider adding Best Places to Work back to our editorial mix with an installment in early 2011. If not, we’ll move forward and identify other recognitions to take its place. As many of our readers have experienced the cycles of growth that B2B has endured the past eight-plus years, I invite you to take a quick stroll down memory lane with us. Beginning on Page 25 of this historic issue, we highlight each of the covers we’ve sported since our beginning, as well as highlight the evolution of our brand as well. We believe it sets the stage for even better developments in our next 100 issues of B2B to come. Enjoy!
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