In case you're wondering who I am, I'm the new editor-in-chief of Accounting Today, but we won't dwell on that for long, because this isn't really about me.
So, briefly, a little background: I've been managing editor of Accounting Today since 1997. In our own form of succession planning, I've been plucked from the engine room of the publication, power-washed and sand-blasted, sent to the finest tailors in Hong Kong, and enrolled for a long weekend in an elite finishing school in Switzerland to prepare me for my role. And that, I think, is all that we need to say on that subject -- this isn't about me, after all.
So who is it about?
Well, first of all, it's about our extraordinarily talented staff, from tax maven Roger Russell and tech guru Seth Fineberg, to Accounting Tomorrow seer and tweeter-in-chief Danielle Lee, and the indefatigable force behind our Web site, Mike Cohn. They have left indelible marks on Accounting Today, and I couldn't be more pleased to be working with them to plot the future here.
My being pleased, though, is beside the point, because this isn't about me. It is definitely about our many long-time columnists -- starting with the incendiary Miller & Bahnson, the insightful Jones & Luscombe, and the inimitable Gary Boomer. These five are as much a part of the fabric of Accounting Today as any editor in its long history. They are not alone, either: I'd be remiss if I didn't note and applaud the contributions of Gene Marks and John Napolitano, August Aquila and Angie Grissom, Gale Crosley, Rebecca Ryan, and Jennifer Wilson and Krista Remer, among many others.
It's also about my predecessor, Bill Carlino, who was editor-in-chief of Accounting Today for 12 years, before leaving us recently to take up an exciting position as a consultant to the profession. The publication truly would not be where it is without his decade-plus of leadership. We are all the better for his time with us and all the worse for his departure, and we wish him nothing but the best.
And then it's about Accounting Today's many friends in the profession, who are, literally, too numerous to mention -- the consultants and managing partners and shareholders and principals and entry-level staff and academics and vendors and software developers and marketers and association executives and standard-setters and government regulators who help us make sense of accounting, so we can tell you where it's headed, and how to make the most of it for yourself, for your clients and for your firm.
Because in the end, that's who this is really about: you. The accounting profession, the people Accounting Today exists to serve. We're here to help you stay on top of the continual flood of regulatory and legislative changes; to help you find your next niche, prepare for your next merger and create your own succession plan; to show you the best practices of the best firms that are out there (and warn you against the worst practices of some of the others); to point the way toward better practices, richer careers, happier clients and stronger firms.
And here's where it is, a little bit, about me: Let me know how we're doing -- what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, what we're missing and what we can do better. Send me an e-mail, give me a call, mug me at a conference -- let me know as soon as you can, so this can stop being even a little bit about me, and get back to being about what matters.
You.
