I hope that you will take the time to read about Eric Harrison from Supplies on the Fly, FE&S’ 2018 DSR of the Year. As many of you know, this award is near and dear to my heart as a former DSR of the Year for ID, a magazine that covered the broadline foodservice distribution space. That award came early in my career and more than a few years ago. One might reasonably ask what relevance the award has in 2018 and my answer is... plenty.

There is a trend afoot that is threatening to become a movement, the roots of which, if you will pardon the pun, can be found emanating from the noncommercial segment of foodservice. I’m talking about the quiet and inexorable move toward a more plant-based diet.

If there was a common theme that emerged from FE&S’ 2018 Dealer of the Year and Industry Awards Gala held on May 19th at the Four Seasons Hotel – Chicago, I think it was finding success through doing things the right way. From the Dealer of the Year recipient, The Boelter Companies, emphasis on empowering their employees to follow their entrepreneurial instincts to Hall of Fame recipient Kathleen Seelye building a stellar career based on a lifetime of collaboration and inclusion, the whole evening seemed to underscore examples of winning companies and individuals committed as much to how they succeed as they are to what they

Take a multigenerational family-owned business — one that hires nice people from the Midwest who generally come predisposed with a customer-centric, friendly attitude and a strong work ethic. Combine that company with some progressive management ideas promoting company-wide transparency, entrepreneurship and empowering employees throughout the organization with the authority and resources to make sure the customer is always satisfied. What do you think you’d get?

It’s March and that can only mean that the FE&S awards season is underway. In this issue, we highlight some of the very best examples of creative tabletop installations across five industry segments. Our team of independent judges curated a list of winners that exemplify the best in current trends across a variety of foodservice applications.

We have a trifecta of great events on the horizon. It all starts in May with our annual Dealer of the Year and Industry Awards Gala, which coincides with the National Restaurant Association's annual trade show, which takes place May 19-22 in Chicago.

As a woman who has worked closely with men in male-dominated industries for more than three decades, you can believe the #MeToo movement holds some resonance for me.

It is December and that means it's time for the annual directory issue of FE&S as well as for my annual dose of humility as a prognosticator. For the record, in the last year I have also been wrong about the durability of Bitcoin, the outcome of Brexit and the timing of the first female president of the United States.

Looking back the other day at the publisher's letter that I wrote one year agoin the November 2016 issue of FE&S, recapping our first Foodservice Equipment & Design (FED) Global Thought Leadership Summit, I realized that, as hard as it is to believe, it is already time to start planning for our second event. It will be held at the Radisson Blu in Chicago next year September 10-12.

We know that we are asking a lot from our readers to participate in a study that takes so long to complete. The entire Best in Class (BIC) survey is broken up into three parts and each one takes about 45 minutes to fill out. That is a huge time commitment in a digital world that routinely measures time spent on a web page, for instance, in seconds and not minutes.

I’m a big fan of cooperation … in business, this can mean seemingly disparate groups establishing and working toward a mutual goal that ultimately benefits all parties.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses are often the ones to lead the charge during times of change. One way to be part of the solution is to help start-ups.

August is our annual healthcare issue, and this year, it comes amid a great national debate about healthcare. Fundamental questions about whether access to healthcare is a right of citizenship, a basic human right or a benefit that should be bought and paid for on an individual basis, have led to a feverish political debate pitting those on all sides of the issue against one another.

... is an awesome word that we've appropriated from Bargreen Ellingson to describe the act of celebrating one's successes along the way. For David Ellingson, president and FE&S' 2017 Top Achiever — Dealer, the idea is so important that he has made it a basic tenet of the company's rich culture.

If you are a regular reader of FE&S, you have heard me say that Zoomba Group is an original content creation company and that we see you, the reader, as our primary customer. Our business proposition is a pretty simple one: If we can give you a magazine that is worth reading, one that will give you insights and information that helps you do your job as a buyer, seller or specifier of foodservice equipment and supplies better, then we will create an environment in which advertisers want to be seen.

May is a big month here at FE&S and naturally we have a big issue, chock-full of terrific stories.

It is noteworthy that Mark Freeman, recipient of FE&S' 2017 Hall of Fame award, was the president of the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management, (SHFM), when that organization took the bold step of changing its name and added the "H" for hospitality to its already well-recognized acronym of SFM.

It was rather late in the production schedule for this month's issue, when I was made aware that Editorial Director Joe Carbonara, for whom I have the utmost love and respect, had commissioned an unscheduled piece of editorial on the predicted impact of a Trump presidency on the foodservice equipment and supplies industry. I wasn't thrilled... for a couple of reasons.

Readers tell us they still find the directory issue a useful and welcome tool.

If we can deliver the original content and unique events that you, our readers, want to associate with, then we can earn your attention in the busy marketplace of ideas.

September is a time of transition in many ways: for businesses it’s time to budget and plan for the new year, for families it’s time to go back to school because summer holidays have come to an end.

This was a special year for the Dealer of the Year and Industry Awards Gala for several reasons. I hope that you will take a few moments to review the pictures and video. For those who were there, I hope that the pictures provide a happy reminder of a memorable evening in Chicago. For the vast majority who were unable to attend, I hope that you will recognize some industry friends and perhaps a few larger-than-life characters who have left an indelible mark on the equipment and supplies industry.

Welcome to FE&S’ annual college and university issue. Looking back at last year’s coverage, it was all about Generation Y/Millennials and the impact this demographic was having on the market. This year it’s all about Generation Z.

It's hard to think of two things that fit together more seamlessly with overarching objectives than sustainability and healthcare foodservice.

A corollary in business might be: If you want to gain insight into a company’s culture, take a look at the way they treat their competition.

What the FE&S Top Achiever Awards seek to recognize is fresh talent ascending in different quarters of the industry.

It is time once again to begin the process of identifying the winners of FE&S’ annual Best in Class awards.