You know, I have been with PCI for almost 19 years, and I have to admit that 2009 was the most challenging year for the publishing industry, as well as the coatings industry. As you know, we all had to make changes – not only in the way we conducted our business, but also in our personal lives.

You know, I have been with PCI for almost 19 years, and I have to admit that 2009 was the most challenging year for the publishing industry, as well as the coatings industry. As you know, we all had to make changes – not only in the way we conducted our business, but also in our personal lives.

It was very scary at first, wondering what changes the industry would need to make, and how the changes would affect PCI, especially when advertising slowed down and we saw rising costs on postage and paper. Yes, I was skeptical back in January 2009, but the uneasiness didn’t last long. I was blessed to be working at BNP Media, which was one step ahead in making plans on how to weather the storm. And, most of all I was blessed to be working with a very talented staff that was eager to make the changes that were necessary.

It was evident that the first item on the agenda was to focus on providing our readers with the same quality and quantity of editorial content. We created more choices on how to obtain information and articles on emerging technologies and the latest trends and news in the coatings industry. We expanded our “Online Features” section of our website (www.pcimag.com) to include several more articles each month. These articles are listed on our Table of Contents page in every issue.

Over the past year and a half we have also strengthened our presence in the social media arena in order to better provide you with the most current news. We regularly post content on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up to follow us.

For those of you who prefer to receive PCI in a user-friendly digital format, we have made some exciting changes to our digital issues. There are now many creative ways we can deliver marketing messages to our readers. And, as always, the digital issue makes it easy for you to print articles or share with colleagues.

I also have some changes to report regarding our editorial staff. Editor Darlene Brezinski has decided it’s time to devote some of her energy into bylining her own technical articles and troubleshooting some of the questions PCI receives regularly, in addition to providing special reporting on new technology advancements and writing our annual Additives Handbook. To pursue her goals, Darlene is now our Technical Editor, and Kristin Johansson, who has been PCI’s Managing Editor, has been promoted to Editor. Kristin has been with BNP Media since 1992, and has worked on PCI Magazine for 14 years. She has worked closely with Darlene and our contributing authors, and has become very knowledgeable in the coatings industry. Kristin will now be your point person for submitting papers and editorial features. Her e-mail address is kristin@pcimag.com. She will continue to work closely with Associate Editor Karen Parker, who heads up our weekly e-Newsletter, monthly departments and our annual PCI 25.

Please join me in anticipation of another year of PCI leadership in the industry. And I hope to see many of you at our upcoming CTT technical event October 5-6 in Lombard, IL. For more information, visit www.coatingsconference.com.