Changes in the Works

As the quality field grows and changes, so must we. 1996 will bring exciting changes to Quality Digest.

Autumn is traditionally a time of planning for many companies: Budgets are being finalized, ad campaigns designed. We at Quality Digest are no different. As I write this in mid-October, we are finishing our 1996 media planner, which our advertisers use to plan their 1996 ad campaigns.

A key element of our media planner is our editorial calendar. Ask an editor about designing an editorial calendar, and he or she will tell you it's one of any editor's least favorite jobs. Why? Because you usually start working on the calendar in June. That requires you to know what's going to be in your magazine 18 months in advance. It also requires you to have your finger on the pulse of your ever-changing readership.

Fortunately, I don't have to do all the work by myself. I get input from our staff and our reader surveys. Plus I have the added benefit of meeting many of our subscribers and advertisers at the numerous trade shows I attend each year.

This year's editorial calendar was perhaps the most challenging calendar we have ever done. As the quality field grows and changes, so must we. 1996 will herald new columns and departments, introduce a new slate of contributing editors and cover issues new to many of our readers, such as ISO 14000.

Starting in January, Quality Digest will add some very experienced industry professionals to our staff: A. Blanton Godfrey, chairman of the Juran Institute; David Middleton, president of Excel Partnership; Paul Scicchitano, senior editor of "Quality Systems Update" newsletter; Gordon Sellers, our new software editor; and Radley Smith, director of KPMG's Automotive Industry Division and co-author of the QS-9000 standard.

A. Blanton Godfrey will write a monthly column on the challenges faced by quality managers -- especially interesting because 73 percent of Quality Digest readers are managers. Paul Scicchitano will write a monthly column on international standards and the challenges they pose for industry. Gordon Sellers will review new software and compile software buyers guides.

With our recent redesign and the addition of QualityWare and software reviews, you might think we would be content to stop with the addition of five new contributing editors -- but wait, there's more!

In 1996, Quality Digest will showcase a seven-part series on ISO 14000, a five-part series on new product development, book excerpts and a buyers guide in every issue on various products and services. We are also introducing a software marketplace and a quarterly Internet directory.

One of the most exciting developments here at Quality Digest is the launch of our worldwide web site, which will debut soon. We will be the first quality publication to have the text of our entire magazine on a web site. We'll publish our web address as soon as we're up and running.

Clearly, all of us at Quality Digest are excited about the new year and the changes in the works. Let us know what you think.