This editorial is being written in early December, the month when I close up the 2007 wall calendars in anticipation of tacking new ones to the padded gray walls of my cube. The first '08 editions to arrive and the first to go up are from AGCO's Heritage Parts division and P&H MinePro Services. The AGCO calendar displays the farm equipment company's heritage, while the P&H calendar's large format showcases the company's huge mining products.
This is also the time to start filling in the dates, looking toward the road ahead. The P&H calendar in particular will help count down to the every-four-year event hosted by National Mining Assn.: MinExpo Intl. in Las Vegas. When the next edition rolls around in September, it will be my third time at MinExpo. I attended 2000's edition one week after joining OEM Off-Highway and I have been looking forward to each subsequent event. Four years can seem like a long time, and September is still a ways off.
Fortunately, 2008 should be a good year from the start, beginning with the magazine you're reading right now. We've freshened up the publication's appearance. We didn't see any reason to rearrange things simply for the sake of change so the publication should still look familiar. Art Director Kayla White has made the publication look more like 2008 rather than March 1999 (when the last major redesign debuted). 2008 will also see editorial coverage that travels through the mobile hydraulic circuit, beginning with actuators and wrapping up with electronic controls in December. We'll also be taking a special look at the way educators and companies are working to get kids excited about a career in engineering. Plus, there's a revised e-newsletter you can sign up to receive, and www.oemoffhighway.com is looking better than ever, too.
Back to the road ahead — MinExpo isn't the only show in 2008, of course. There are the annual events, from World of Concrete to World Ag Expo to the Agricultural Machinery Conference. We've also been waiting a long time for the 2008 edition ConExpo-Con/Agg and IFPE. That every-three-year event is heading into Las Vegas in March. Cygnus staffers will be assembling the Show Daily for that event.
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