Focus

Have you ever had a roofing project go seamlessly? Everyone worked well together; the client was pleased with the outcome; and you knew it was some of the better work your company had accomplished? But did you ever go back to that job a few years later for maintenance work and realize some things could have been done better and more efficiently? Or in some instances, the installation seemed haphazard even though the roof system continued to function?

That's pretty much how we felt about Professional Roofing. We knew we had a good magazine, but when we re-evaluated the magazine as we do periodically, we discovered some things could be done better—from editorial and design perspectives. So we took an honest, critical look at what we were providing you and how we were providing it. This issue is the result of that appraisal.

The most obvious change you'll notice is the design. The logo has changed; the body typeface is different and cleaner; and the cover paper stock has changed. As you become more familiar with the redesign, you may notice some other elements that were not in our previous design. They are our idiosyncrasies.

In addition, the "issue map," or order of articles, has been reorganized. We've moved all columns to the front and added service information in the back, most notably "NRCA Resources," which provides important information about NRCA and its events and offerings. As another service to you, we have added company Web-site addresses and telephone numbers to the items in "New Ideas" so you easily can contact suppliers and manufacturers regarding the products described. We've also made our popular bimonthly column, "Legal Ease," a monthly feature article.

Other changes include an expanded "Flashings" and two new columns: a business-management column, "Workplace," written by a different business-management expert each month and "As I was saying ...," a monthly column written by NRCA Executive Vice President Bill Good. I am sure you'll find both to be informative and thought-provoking.

The goal of this redesign was not to change things for the sake of changing. The goal was to change things to better match your needs. And I hope we did that. In either case, I'd like to hear from you. Please e-mail me at abailey@nrca.net.

Ambika Puniani Bailey is editor of Professional Roofing magazine and NRCA's director of communications.