Publishers’ Perspective
Out and about with POND Trade Magazine
It is really good to get out and about. One can hardly come back without having grown and learned from the experience. Over the past few months I have visited ponds built in Southern California (see the hybrid pond article A Pond in the Middle in this issue) and I was in Seattle for PNKCA’s (Pacific Northwest Koi Clubs Association) 25th Annual Seminar, and visited local dealers and ponds there. Then Cindy and I flew to England and went to the British Koi Keepers’ Annual Show (Britain’s largest annual national koi show), wandered Kew Gardens outside of London (they are having their 250th Anniversary), and saw several koi and water garden dealers around southern England.
Then I was off to the Chicago area for Pondamonium (10th Annual Celebration by Aquascape) and the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society’s 25th Annual Symposium. It is virtually impossible to come away from all of this without being overwhelmed by the vitality and diversity we enjoy in this trade/industry/niche market.
Most of us have felt the hammer of the recession, some much harder than others. But what I felt and saw at these events was enthusiasm and innovation, hope and joy. Most of those I spoke with were focused on serving their customers as best they could and on sharing new products and services they had to offer them.
Manufacture’s have you entered your new products in our PRODUCT OF THE YEAR competition yet? If not, time is running short. If you have new products that you have introduced to the marketplace in 2008 or 2009, they qualify, but you must act now. The deadline is coming up fast–October 31, 2009.
Would you like to get your magazine delivered to your email each issue instead of receiving the printed version? We are working on rolling out a digital version of POND Trade Magazine right now, so watch for announcements to come in our newsletter. If you are not yet signed up for the POND Trade Newsletter, don’t miss out. You can sign up at pondtrademag.com/newsletter/signup/
With this issue, we reach the one-year mark publishing POND Trade. I wish to thank you all–readers, advertisers, writers and friends for your amazing support. It has been a real pleasure working with all of you, and I look forward to continuing to bring you the very best news and information possible in our magazine, newsletter and web site.
As you read through our pages, please be sure to remember our valued advertisers, without whom this publication would not be possible. Give them a call sometime soon. They deserve it, and you might be surprised just what they have to offer you to help you grow your business today.
As always, thank you for your support,
Tom Graham
