A little off topic this month since the main purpose of this column is to offer up the announcement that our Best of Success conference scheduled for October 2008 has been moved to September 2009. Life has once again taken command of our calendar. Read on and I will tell you what’s up.

The mission of Roofing Contractor is to deliver superior information to roofing contractors to help them succeed in business. We also offer our sponsors the opportunity to connect and communicate with roofing contractors for the purpose of announcing their products and initiatives while building a brand for their various enterprises. We deliver all this by way of our monthly publication, annual Buyers Guide, Cool Roofing supplements twice per year, our Web site (www.roofingcontractor.com), monthly e-newsletter (RC Insider), custom industry research, serving as the official publication of the International Roofing Expo, and attending a broad variety of industry events, including our own event, Best of Success.

Delivering all of this takes a team of folks dedicated to this mission backed by a publishing house with the resources and expertise to make it all happen. Our publisher, Jill Bloom, heads the Roofing Contractor team up. Her official title is actually group publisher because she is responsible for this publication (and our other various products) as well as our sister publication, Architectural Roofing & Waterproofing ( www.arwmag.com ). If you look to the right-hand side of this page, you will see Jill’s name at the top of the masthead followed by a listing of the individuals who are involved in this publication and several of our other enterprises. There are many other contributors too numerous to list, including our columnists.

The publishing firm behind Roofing Contractor, BNP Media, is a fourth-generation family-owned business. Our small corner of this enterprise is likewise a “family business.” We operate as a team and we watch out for each other. Every member of our family realizes that their success is firmly bound to the success of our enterprise. We have a lot of fun in spite of working in an intensely competitive business. I think most roofing contractors can relate to that!

The decision to change the dates for the fifth Best of Success conference was a family decision. Our publisher, Jill Bloom, and our West and Southeast sales manager, Marcia Wright, are both expectant mothers. Both arrivals are estimated to happen at a time that would have made it impossible for them to participate in the planning and hosting of the event. There is simply no way we could deliver a quality event without our leader and one of our “A” players. No way. In addition to that, it is our culture to value our people as well as our future over any one single issue or one single event.

So with thanks to the sponsors and presenters who were lined up to launch the October 2008 event, we begin now working on the 2009 Best of Success conference. Mark your calendars now for Sept. 21-22, 2009 at the Sheraton Music City in Nashville, Tenn., for the fifth edition of the Best of Success conference and we will see you there!



P.S. - One more bit of family news. Our former editor (2000-2005) and good friend, Josephine A. DeLorenzo, recently graduated magna cum laude from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. We are very proud of Jo and her amazing accomplishment!