If you've been following the changes occurring around here over the course of 2004, you're well aware that our sister publication, Lighting Dimensions, recently underwent a complete re-design and re-focus. The response among both readers and advertisers has been fantastic, and LD is now well-positioned to re-establish itself as the dominant book in the entertainment lighting market.

Just as we were in the middle of that, several people asked what, if anything, we would be doing to Entertainment Design. At the time, I replied that there was more of a critical need to focus on LD, and that I felt ED was the more stable magazine editorially of the two, but that there would probably be some tweaking of ED further down the road.

Well, it's further down the road, and we have indeed begun looking at ways to make ED even better. I've been inspired by the way the re-design of LD brought new life to the book, and especially the way the readers responded to it. It seemed to create an exciting sense of energy and urgency, both internally with the staff and externally in the industry. So now we're looking at ways to generate similar buzz with this venerable, 37-year-old publication.

Don't look for wholesale changes; they just aren't needed, and besides I really have no desire to re-invent the wheel twice in one year. Still, we've been taking a long look at ED this summer, figuring out what works and what can be improved upon, all with a clear eye to the needs of the readers and of the market. Some changes you may have already noticed; we recently debuted two new columns, Re:Sources and Problem/Solution, designed to help designers and technicians do their jobs better. This month, you'll see another change: we're increasing our product news coverage, doubling the amount of space we usually reserve for this always-popular section. Look for further surprises in that section in the months to come.

As we go through this process, we'll be contacting designers, manufacturers, and other industry mavens to get their feedback. But as always, I'm keen to hear from you the reader about your thoughts on the editorial content of the magazine. Are we covering the right mix of topics? Do you want more industry news, more product news, more projects? Do you want more opinions? More business coverage? More sketches, plots, and drawings? A smaller size? More pictures of me? We're open to all ideas at this point, and strongly encourage your input in order to keep ED the magazine for designers and technicians in entertainment technology. Please contact me at djohnson@primediabusiness.com with your thoughts and suggestions so we can all participate in this next important step in the life of ED.