Important Announcement from the Editor!

by Maria Muto-Porter, Editor, BDC Magazine

From the time the Europeans came to North America with only what they could carry on several scary-tiny ships, people learned to find ways to accomplish what they wanted using limited resources. Some lessons were learned from the Native Americans, for whom living off the land was a way of life. Some were naturally adept at adapting, discovering multiple uses for tools and scavenging for the rest from the forests around them. Others lamented what they once had, and failure meant returning to the old country, or simply not surviving.

Although we’ve had downturns before, most agree that we are hitting new ground with this drop, and like Americans confronting new frontiers, people in the housing industry are discovering just how adaptable they can be. Some are finding ways to survive and thrive. One company is making a good living completing unfinished homes that have been repossessed by banks, making them ready to sell. Another builder has gone back to its home buyers from the past 8 years, offering renovation opportunities such as finished basements and outdoor kitchens. Others, of course, have not found ways to make it through these tough times, and we are losing some.

At BDC Magazine, we’ve had to face our own grizzly bears. A new magazine – even one as well received as ours – has a tough time in tough times. But we’ve found a way to remain a part of the adventure with limited resources. And the journey is an exciting one!

We’re taking this opportunity to significantly expand our e-outreach to you. We will be expanding our eNewsletters and eBlasts – not to inundate you with them, but to share ideas and news as it comes along. We’re also starting this Blog, with a plan to have new information and postings at least every week. And we welcome the opportunity to hear from you. If you have something to say, talk to us and we’ll get you posted. The best news is that we’re not bound by the calendar anymore. Instead of hearing from us quarterly, you can look us up anytime and find new articles, features on design centers and showrooms, news about people and products in the industry, and suggestions to make your lives and your work better.

We have pushed back our publication of the paper version of BDC Magazine, but we will be producing an online magazine later this year. With the opportunity to embed videos, audio clips, animation, and direct links to the information provided on each page, the new BDC will be much more interactive and immediate. And in the spirit of going green – we’re cutting our carbon footprint down to almost nothing. I may even go wild and leave an incandescent bulb burning for no reason! (OH – never mind, I’d better not go there – my very sustainable client base would not be happy with me and we can’t have that.)

And for those of you who find yourselves set adrift by an organization that can no longer support its full team, please re-subscribe as yourselves – because we want to stay in touch with you. We will start including ideas for coping with this situation as individuals, as well as within organizations. It can seem like a lonely time right now, but you do have us in your corner still.

It’s a wonderful thing to have beautiful well-designed magazines with high-quality paper and great photos coming for free to your door. It’s been a true joy to put them together for you over the past year. But better for all of us is to get you good information in a timely way – with some great photos too – using tools that allow us to stay with you now, and come back with more great magazines as the market gives us the opportunity.

As always, thanks for your continued commitment to our efforts. Your feedback and contributions will make BDCMagazine.com a stronger blog and website. While I’ll stop short at a quick couple of verses of Kumbaya around the campfire – I want you to know that your continual notes and calls help me to know that what we’re doing is useful to you. 

Stay in touch, and we will too!

Maria