Stationery Trends Magazine

Welcome Spring

By Sarah Schwartz

Editor

One reason I love spring in the East is that is comes after winter, and as such is that much more glorious after living in a white frozen world for so long. As everything slowly comes back to life, possibilities feel endless and it seems anything could happen.

If that’s not enough to love about spring, in this industry the season coincides with our biggest show, the National Stationery Show (NSS). This amazing four-day event is the theme of this issue — which easily makes it our biggest each year. The spring edition also marks our second birthday — and, best of all, at 144 pages, this is also our biggest issue to date!

That last fact is so exciting to me, not only because of the success of the publication, but because it must mean the economy is coming back, if only in baby steps. But the biggest journeys — all of our lives in fact — start with baby steps, so although the progress is slower than most of us would prefer, it does mean something.

This spring also marks another first for both this publication and the industry. Of course I’m speaking of the first-ever Trendy Awards, the brainchild of our publisher Matt McCallum, who devised it around the idea of TV shows like “American Idol” and “HGTV Design Star.”

To participate, any manufacturer could submit entries in one of five categories — bridal, baby, green, office and greeting cards — that mirror those we cover in our annual Market Style Update in this issue. What I like most about the Trendys, however, is that instead of winners being determined by our staff or a panel of judges we assemble — they were chosen by you!

By the time you read this, voting for Round 2 will already be complete and our winners named. Reviewing the entries is also a great way to see some interesting trend directions — I know I found some. As well, finalists will be on display at the Stationery Trends booths, numbers 3052 and 3054. Please stop by and check them out in person. Oh, and if you see me walking the aisles, be sure to stop me and say hello, too!

Originally posted Thursday, Apr. 29, 2010