October From the Editor November 2018

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As we send this issue to the printer, the BPI editors are enjoying the start of the western Oregon fall season. Early rains are beginning finally to extinguish the remaining wildfires that have kept our valley (along with much of the west coast) choked with smoke much of the summer. With the fires on this side of the country and the recent storms to the east, we hope that all our colleagues and readers remain safe.

For BPI, changes begun this year will continue in its 17th year of publication as we integrate ourselves more purposefully into Informa’s KNect365 division. Some of you might remember that the magazine was founded within the IBC conference organization. We always have worked closely with our conference organizers. But in publishing (as in the biopharmaceutical industry), technology platforms can be key to successful collaborations. Now we are benefiting from improved technologies for sharing content and creating projects together. After all, both editors and conference organizers work with dedicated advisory board members, always appreciating and nurturing those valuable connections in the industry we serve. We seek out and develop similar content — and now we can make use of integrated tools for sharing that timely information with broader audiences in a number of formats/media.

One transition that you may have noticed throughout this year is the purposeful separation in our published articles and inserts of content from suppliers and end users. Another transition is coming from KNect365: a magazine redesign phasing in over the next several months. To remain fresh and “move with the times,” most major magazines and journals redesign themselves every decade or so as a matter of course. Styles change based on the reader demographics. (But I have to admit that the first time someone told me that a font could become “outdated,” I thought that seemed strange.) Originally designed by Cheryl Scott and me back in 2002, BPI has evolved gradually and incrementally over 16 years as it adapted to new needs and enjoyed input and refinement from different graphic designers. But the magazine has remained pretty much the same, overall. So this is the first time that you will see what could be a radically different appearance as the publication, events, websites, and related digital products begin to look like they belong to the same family.

For the editors, any design has to allow us to present both technical and nontechnical content with the appropriate respect for clarity and readability. And it can’t be so fussy that it’s difficult to work with. So I hope you will be patient with us while we try some new looks and approaches to some of our editorial products over the coming year. Our editorial focus remains intact even as the direction evolves along with the industry we cover.

All our 2019 themes and publication opportunities can be viewed online at https://eu-assets.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt0a48a1f3edca9eb0/blt8dbc20b9b2190a53/6597e3e6dbca43040add6cd3/BPI-2019-Media-Planner.pdf. As you enter the holiday season, why not plan to set aside a bit of time to write for BPI in the coming year? It’s going to be an exciting one.