By now you’ve seen the new i+s (and if you haven’t, click here), but there’s just oh so much more in store. Over the next few months, you’ll see some changes on interiorsandsources.com, including more points of view, stories, and a little bit of fun tid bits about us.
We want to act as a forum for all things design. So if you have an idea for a POV blog post or have some insightful research you want to get out there, let us know by contacting EIC Kadie Yale at Kadie.yale [at] interiorsandsources.com.
It feels a little cliché to remark upon how quickly time has gone by, but the two short months (almost to the day) that I’ve been at the helm of interiors+sources have been a bit of a blur. Already I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to chat with so many of you in the industry, and we appreciate all the feedback about our new look and focus.
One thing you’ll learn about me quickly when you meet me (or even if you receive one of my super-involved emails) is that I’m rather long-winded. And the main thing I can’t stop going on about is how incredibly fortunate I am to be working with such an amazing team.
From the time I was hired in May, the i+s team has made me feel as if my opinion was just as vitally important to the group as anyone else’s. During my very first week of work, I sat down at HD Expo in Las Vegas next to Mike Stanley, our publisher, as he asked me about my opinions. I told him about the time five years before when I walked in to my first edit meeting at the magazine I interned for and “helpfully” suggested they change the entire layout of the spread we were reviewing only a few days before closing.
I wasn’t invited back to another edit meeting.
It wasn’t until the words were tumbling out of my mouth that I realized that perhaps telling my brand-new boss that I’m at times defiant and always outspoken probably wasn’t putting my best foot forward, but when I finished with my tale, he started laughing, exclaiming, “perfect! I hope you always speak up at i+s.” I’m paraphrasing: my nerves created a deafening warbly sound in my ears, but he responded so positively that I’ve felt comfortable speaking up since then (sometimes to the annoyance of the team, but they have yet to kick me out of an edit meeting.)
It feels like I’m constantly talking about office environments these days. Makes sense with how much of our time is spent working,* and with recent studies examining how the office affects our lives, designers are finding themselves wrapped up in the discussion of how to create a healthier office environment. But healthy office environments extend beyond whether you should sit or stand at your desk, or whether an open office is better than those peppered with enclosed spaces and cubicles; the support of your team has so much to do with overall wellness. And I am so fortunate to be part of a team that sends out celebratory songs to dance to after every month’s issue is sent to the printer, once decorated my office with 1Direction photos after I was stranded in an airport for most of the day, and reminds me that everything is going to be ok when I’m at peak stress levels.
If you haven’t met us yet, you should. Trust me, we’re hilarious.
As I mentioned in the opener, you’ll be seeing a lot more of us stepping out of the pages of i+s on this site as we offer our points of view, back stage extras from our magazine content, and more. And, of course, we want to hear more about yourselves as well. So give us a call, drop us a line, or flag us down at one of the awesome events we’ll be covering this year.** (Or if you have a great song recommendation for the next month’s closing, let us know!)
-Kadie Yale
Editor-in-Chief
*Shameless plug: And show us where you work best, whether it’s in a Soho studio, in 1st class 30,000 miles in the air, or at the top of a mountain by tagging us on Twitter and/or Instagram (@interiorssource) and using the hashtag #wdywb (where do you work best). Your images could wind up in our monthly Off the Wire page!
**Shameless plug #2: And make sure to stop by our Materials Pavilion at NeoCon this year on the 7th floor where we’ll be showing off the best materials out there for the 7th year.
