When I took on the editor’s role of Wood Based Panels International in May 1995, it was as a part-time job which I carried out alongside my full-time post as Markets Editor of sister publication Timber Trades Journal. TTJ was, and still is, an internationally-renowned magazine covering all sectors of the timber industry.
It soon became apparent to both me and my publishing
director that WBPI both deserved, and needed, full-time attention, so I left TTJ and dedicated myself full-time to this magazine.
Prior to joining WBPI I did not even have a current passport – mine had expired some years previously. I now have two passports – one to send off for visa applications and one, already full of old visas, to use while the new visa is obtained.
Why am I telling you that? It is not to boast about how much I travel, or what a ‘jet-setter’ I am (strictly economy class!) but because it points to one of the strongest points of this magazine – that it may be published in the UK, in English, but it is a truly international publication.
Of course it is not just me travelling the world that produces this international flavour, but expert contributors in North America, Latin America and elsewhere, who bring first-hand reports from the places where things are happening in this global industry.
For instance, Bill Keil has been reporting from his base in North America since 1988, bringing his lifetime’s wealth of experience of the whole forest-based industry to our pages. Unfortunately, he is to retire this year, but I am sure we will continue to receive contributions and advice from him.
There is also Richard Higgs, who brings expertise in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as 17 years’ experience on WBPI, to the important Latin American industry. His reports are an invaluable source of information.
John Wadsworth, international panel expert and compiler of our unique MDF and particleboard surveys since 2000, has contributed to the magazine since the first issue in April 1980.
Our news pages, under the very able stewardship of Derek Steel, bring highly relevant stories from all over the world of
panels and our website is regularly updated with the latest news.
Other regular, and occasional, contributors ensure that Wood Based Panels International’s team is always able to bring you the latest information from a truly international perspective.
That is what this magazine has been doing for the last 30 years and, while I do not expect to be the editor then(!), I am confident it will still be doing it in another 30 years.
