Let me tell you about my friend Justin Lang. Like a lot of us, I knew Justin’s work before I knew him. A few years ago, he started a blog called iSquint and he gained a huge following by following the live event industry. But he did it surreptitiously without telling anyone who he was. I kid him that he did this on purpose so that his reputation actually would precede him. It’s been said about a lot of people but in Justin’s case, it’s really true.
His blog caught my eye very early in his blogging career, and I immediately glommed onto it. I found it to be very informative, thoughtful and fun. A while later, I learned of his real identity when he e-mailed me and asked if I was going to be at LDI one year. That’s when we met in person.
Upon our meeting, Justin was the epitome of politeness. He kept calling me “sir,” which I thought made people around us in the restaurant think I was his dad. In retrospect, I should have called him “son” just to even it out. To be perfectly honest, I was flattered by his show of respect, but I was more impressed by his passion for the industry. He was pouring a considerable amount of time and effort into his blog and not only was he not making money at it, he often spent his own money to do it. He traveled to trade shows on his own dime, spent nights and weekends posting to the blog, and offered to buy me dinner just for the privilege of hanging out. I didn’t let him, though, because I felt more privileged hanging out and talking with him than he knew. I felt I was getting to know one of the future leaders of the industry. It turns out I was right.
Today, Justin is the new editor of PLSN. He’s the new editor because he earned the opportunity to take the helm through sheer hard work and dedication, and he had fun doing it. And those are the principles upon which the magazine was built. I was the editor for a little over eight years, and in that time I took great pride in assembling the editorial for each and every issue as if the industry depended on it. With a great team of people that includes Frank Hammel, Jacob Coakley, Linda Evans, Garret Petrov, William Vanyo, Bill Evans, Vickie Laabs, Josh Harris, and several others who came and went over the years, we sifted through virtual stacks of email to hand-select relevant press releases and reshaped them to filter the truth and suppress the hyperbole. We worked overtime to find engaging working professionals who could write compelling articles, like Nook Schoenfeld, Brad Schiller, Vickie Claiborne, Dan Daley, Bryan Reesman, Paul Berliner, Rob Ludwig, Steve Jennings, Tuce Yasak, Debi Moen, David John Farinella and Kevin Mitchell, and also illustrator Andy Au, and we pushed them to deliver their very best work. And in my humble opinion, they lived up to their fine reputations.
I’m very proud of all of their work and I was not about to turn over the legacy of this body of work to just anyone. That’s why it was important to find the right replacement.
I chose to leave the magazine with a lot of mixed emotions. I have often said that you can’t grow while you’re sitting in your comfort zone; you need to stretch in order to grow. Ultimately, I decided that it was best for me, my family and the magazine if I resigned and moved on to another stage. When I made that decision, I knew that the reputation we worked so hard to achieve would be in the good hands of the man whose reputation preceded him by design.
Justin, We’re all counting on you to uphold the quality of the magazine for the benefit of the readers. Good luck, son.
