Weve Come a Long Way

By Khali Henderson

This month marks the 20th anniversary of PHONE+. Most of you know that we have been celebrating all year long, but since October was the official launch issue, I wanted to note the occasion by thanking all of our readers for sticking with us over the past two decades.

Surprisingly, many of you have been reading the magazine that long or nearly so. In January, we announced a Loyal Reader Contest in support of our anniversary and found several of you with impressive longevity in this regard. I thank all of you and would like to acknowledge a few of the winners of this contest Jan DeRobertis and Bruce Berry (see below.) Congratulations!

Its people like Jan and Bruce that make our efforts worthwhile. I know there are many more of you out there and I hope that you will continue to make PHONE+ a part of your business-building activities.

I also want to spend a few paragraphs hardly adequate to express my personal thanks to the staff who brings you PHONE+ every month as well as PHONE+ Online and the Channel Partners Conference & Expo. Most of these people are listed every month in the column to the right, but they often are overshadowed since mine is the picture on this page.

This staff, with the possible exception of our CEO Jenny Bolton, is entirely different from the one that started the publication in 1987. But they are no less committed to making PHONE+ a great resource.

In particular, Id like to thank our group publisher, Mike Saxby. He is marking only his third year as the head of the Telecom Division, but he has brought a new, forward-looking approach to the publication and has spearheaded efforts to transform PHONE+ into an online media resource. His team of sales executives and marketing consultants Betsy Chandler, Tammy Fellows, Tina Sheltra, Maria Guerrero and Beth Grady are getting very creative about attracting the monetary support needed to produce PHONE+ and the Web site. This is no small feat given the instability in the telecom market and marketers changing preferences and many choices. (Loyal readers like you dont hurt this effort, so thanks again.) I also am proud to acknowledge the editorial staff Tara Seals, Kelly Teal, Cara Sievers, Brandi Devlin and David Worford for working tirelessly to fill the pages (paper and Web) with content that keeps you coming back for more. And, I want to thank our art department, including our new artist Debbie Wolfe, for making it all look pretty. (Try illustrating telecommunications services month after month and youll begin to appreciate the challenge.) And, then there is the Web department, which serves up content 24/7. Our production department deserves kudos for getting the pages to the printer each month (and rush delivering this issue to the Channel Partners Conference & Expo). This brings me to our trade show staff. They are too numerous to name, but Sarah Waschler does a bang-up job leading the troops as our trade show manager.

Like I said, its not the praise they deserve, but I hope they know that as the front woman, I am glad they have my back. I couldnt ask for a finer crew to begin the next 20 years.

KHALI HENDERSON
Group Editor