As the foodservice industry evolves, the way professionals within the industry educate themselves will continue to evolve as well. A big part of our editorial mission at FE&S is to continue to play an important role in that evolution. 

In our proprietary research, as well as in third-party research that we’ve looked at, trade magazines are consistently cited by industry professionals as important sources of information when making purchasing decisions and/or recommendations. With this fact in mind, we strive to bring you the very best content from a wide variety of perspectives.

As the world gets noisier, we see our role as helping you cut through the noise by providing quick and easy access to the information that you need.

Part of that effort has included a partnership with the Foodservice Consultants Society International – The Americas Division. FCSI-The Americas members who register for and participate in FE&S webcasts that includes taking a quiz once the presentation is over, can earn a continuing education unit (CEU). These CEUs help FCSI-The Americas members maintain their professional membership in the society.

This program has been a success with growing participation from FCSI-The Americas members who appreciate its ease and simplicity. What surprised us is that foodservice professionals from other industry associations also seeking CEUs for their professional designations have independently started taking the quizzes for submission to their groups for consideration. As a result, we are talking with other foodservice industry associations with the hopes of expanding the program this year. 

In 2013, webcasts will remain an important part of our editorial platform, as we have several planned over the course of the year. We kick off this year’s slate of webcasts next month by addressing the important subject of building information modeling (BIM), a topic I was first introduced to a few years ago as the group publisher for a civil and structural engineering media company. Our coverage of BIM begins with an article by Joe Carbonara, editor-in-chief, in the March issue of FE&S, and we will continue the conversation with our March 27 webcast.

I believe that BIM will impact building in foodservice in much the same way that it has impacted the fields of civil and structural engineering. Regardless of whether you agree with that statement, you owe it to yourself to know as much as you can about this emerging design tool. Check out our 2013 webcasts at www.fesmag.com/resources/webcasts!
All the best,

Maureen