A Perfect 20

Happy New Year! The close of 2012 not only proved a few Mayans wrong; it also marked the official milestone of Residential Lighting’s 20th anniversary since we first published in December 1992.

Now, I wasn’t with the magazine from the very beginning … but close. My first day on the job as Assistant Editor was at the July 1993 Dallas Market [2] — remember when the summer market was in July, not June? (Or when the show was confined to an unexpanded third floor of the Trade Mart? And everything on display came in polished brass, maybe verde if the line was really fashion forward?)

We’ve chronicled our 20-year journey in a special supplement, Double Decade of Design [3], which our print subscribers would have received with their December issue [4]. Many thanks to Craftmade [5], Elegant Lighting [6], Feiss – [7] Monte Carlo [8], GM Lighting [9], Hinkley Lighting [10], Holtkötter Intl. [11], Nora Lighting [12] and Viribright [13] for making this special edition possible with their advertising support.

If you are attending next week’s Dallas Market, you’ll have another opportunity to pick up this commemorative piece in the magazine bins. Also in Dallas: Space is filling up for our fourth Showroom IdeaShare with ART – The Creative Home Furnishings Network [14], taking place on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 3 p.m. in WTC 166. We will discuss marketing strategies for new lighting technologies in this retailer roundtable, along with any other topics participants raise. ART membership is not required, but you do need to e-mail me [15] or ART Executive Director Sharon Davis [16] to reserve your seat.

I encourage retailers also to enter [17] the fourth annual Showroom of the Year Awards [18], which are open now through Feb. 28. Other members of the industry may also nominate showrooms [19] for these honors, which once again will be presented at the June Dallas Market. I can think of no better way to mark my own 20th anniversary with Residential Lighting this summer than to celebrate the stores that continue to inspire me.