Turning The Page

Welcome to the April/May 2006 CDW•G StateTech™. If you’re a regular reader of the magazine, this issue may look a little different. That’s because it is. Starting with the dynamic cover, we’ve redesigned the publication to make it more enjoyable to read, easier to navigate and more valuable.

The front section of StateTech, renamed Strategy & Innovation, now highlights shorter, news-oriented content to keep you informed of the smartest IT advancements, while also giving you sound advice to cope with workplace challenges.

This issue’s coverage, for example, examines the best tactics for managing the changes in a graying workplace. It also shows you, step by step, how Las Vegas updated and improved its Web site.

Next is Best Practices. In this issue, we cover the latest in Web filtering technology and city hall makeovers.

Our features department continues to provide the kind of informative, useful stories you’ve told us you enjoy. The features’ design will be snappier — more like magazines you buy off the shelf. With cutting-edge layouts (witness the dramatic opening shot that sets the stage for “Identity Crisis”), our goal is to deliver a package that gets you to read every word.

We also want to showcase ideas that are exclusively our own. Take, for example, this issue’s “IT Wish List. ” This topic sprang from a brainstorming session at which we discussed conversations with state and local government IT leaders.

Comparing notes, we realized most IT leaders dream of at least one forward-looking project they would love to undertake. We compiled those daydreams into our first technology wish list, which, in this issue, focuses on the city landscape.

We continually strive to publish compelling stories that take current watercooler topics out for a deep dive. This issue focuses on the podcasting phenomenon. StateTech writer Wylie Wong canvassed the market to learn how states and local communities are using it.

We also wanted to give the back of the publication a bit more pizzazz and to connect it, design-wise, to the front so that the reader experiences a magazine with distinct beginning, middle and department segments.

We hope you like the content and look of this issue. I’m particularly interested in your comments for future story ideas and would love to hear them.

After all, the goal of StateTech is to provide an ongoing community for you, our readers.