As an editor for 25 years, my rallying cry was: “Connect the dots.” Every magazine has an audience of people looking for a something specific (information, inspiration, escape, or some combination of all three), and it’s our job to (1) know exactly who that audience is and (2) give them what they need.

Connecting the dots, as an editor, means looking at every article and photo and layout and asking: “Does this provide our audience what they’ve told us they want?” For business-to-business publications like Healthcare Design, in particular, it also means providing concrete takeaways that the audience can use to be more successful.

Now, in my new role as publisher, I have an opportunity to connect even more dots, if you will. In managing not only the editorial team (with the eminently qualified Jennifer Kovacs Silvis at the helm) but also sales, events, and circulation, I’ll be focusing my attention on giving our audience what it needs across all our platforms, in print, digitally, and in person. Even beyond providing vital industry information and unparalleled peer-to-peer networking, we’re uniquely equipped to connect you with the service providers and building and design products you need for the projects you’re up to your neck in right now. Our first print Buyers Guide, landing in your mailbox soon, is just a start.

The entire team is really excited about 2017 and the plans we have to fulfill our mission. We just introduced this much-improved website, whose updated design not only better matches the print magazine’s new aesthetic but is also better organized to make it easier for you to find the information you want. Our HCD Forum event, launched last September in Sonoma County, Calif., is coming back Sept. 6-8, 2017, this time at the gorgeously renovated Cliff House resort in Cape Neddick, Maine. And our HCD CitySCENE local networking parties—which we tested in Dallas last April, with excellent results—will pop up in Nashville, Tenn., in March; Dallas in May; and Chicago (during NeoCon) in June. Keep an eye on our Events page for more details on all these happenings as we get them.

I hope to see you at one or more of our events in 2017, and that includes, of course, the Healthcare Design Expo & Conference, Nov. 11-14, in Orlando, Fla., which continues to be run by my colleague Kevin Gaffney.

In the meantime, enjoy our first annual Buyers Guide and put it to work for you. You can access updates and new listings year-round right here.