Take a look at the covers of the first issues of Facilities Manager magazine. The first published issue of Facilities Manager was dated Spring/Summer 1985, and those were the days of waxed galley proofs and limited color options, and clip art graphics literally were clipped from a book and pasted down for our cover designs. I’d like to think that we’ve improved both our look as well as our content over the past 20 years.

I wrote the first article of the first issue. The article was called “The Future of Campus Facilities Management,” and I had interviewed six APPA members at the time—Ed Bogard, Gene Cross, Lou Fackler, Harvey Kaiser, Mark Langford, and H.C. Lott—most are names you’ll certainly know. I don’t recall much of what they said about the year 2000—something about robots and spaceships—but I had intended the new APPA magazine to be something that our members and other readers in education and facilities could learn from and to help them prepare for change. As we know, change is the only true constant.

So we’re simply noting that Facilities Manager has tried to be a constant during the past 20 years of incredible change, and that there is much yet to be done.

On a related note, we are taking this opportunity to conduct a periodic readership survey. About 1,000 readers of Facilities Manager will receive through regular mail a four-page survey that we hope you will complete for us. The survey is being conducted by an independent entity, so please feel comfortable sharing your opinions about the magazine.

The purpose of the readership survey is several-fold. We want to get a pulse on your thoughts about the magazine as it currently exists, but we also want to gather data on how best to improve the content, design, and format for future issues. In addition, we collect information about your purchasing power, your demographics, and your issues and concerns so that we can bring you the most effective magazine possible.

And if you send us your contact information, we will put your name in a special drawing for one of three exciting prizes: a palm pilot, an iPod, and a FranklinCovey organizer. So please complete the survey if it is sent to you and help us serve you better through continuous improvements to Facilities Manager.