The recent sales of the Washington Post and the Boston Globe to successful entrepreneurs Jeff Bezos and John Henry, respectively, provide me with an opportunity to talk with you for a moment about our business philosophy here at Zoomba Group and what it means to you, our reader.
Obviously, what we do here at FE&S differs from what a large regional or national newspaper does. And the disruptive changes to the traditional news outlets' business models are too numerous to examine here in a meaningful way.
What caught my attention is the conversation surrounding these two businessmen, without journalism backgrounds, and their apparent willingness to invest in their new properties. Much of the conversation centers on the importance of original content, editorial excellence and journalistic integrity. It seems that rather than continuing down the path of further stripping these brands of costs and effectively searching for the bottom of a falling news media market, these entrepreneurs purportedly plan to take the opposite approach...searching for ways to improve their products, grow their brands, and increase revenue.
It rang a bell with me, because in our own small way, that's precisely what we've tried to do here at Zoomba Group since acquiring FE&S in 2010.
Zoomba Group is an original content creation company. And you, the reader, represent our primary customer.
With engaged readers, we attract advertising partners who want their products and services associated with editorial excellence. Our readers are buyers, specifiers and influencers in the niche markets we cover. We provide all the platforms for our readers to consume the original content Zoomba Group creates: be it in print, online, mobile device or in person at events.
With nine different writers, including several foodservice professionals, honing in on a variety of subjects that relate to your business, this issue represents a solid example of our original content. Of note, this issue includes an initial look at the data from FE&S' 2014 Forecast Study, an original research project based on data you, our readers, provide. Content of this magnitude comes about as a direct result of your engagement with FE&S. Thank you for your participation in our research studies. For a deeper dive into the data, I invite you to visit our website where we will post additional results from the study and to attend FE&S' 2014 Forecast Webcast — a free online event that takes place Tuesday, October 29.
As always, you are encouraged to let us know about any new projects we should consider covering, subjects you would like us to address or to simply share your thoughts about how we are doing in general. We want to continuously improve FE&S so it remains a must read for future generations of foodservice professionals.
