When I took over this publication last September, I stated that I wanted to eventually change the tone of the publication so that the articles did not seem like "textbook" exercises. Instead, I wanted to take on a more pragmatic approach by showing how many businesses are using the Macromedia MX packages. This month is the fulfillment of that wish.

Last November, while going to New Orleans for the MAX conference, I had my first experience with JetBlue airlines. I was nothing short of astonished. In spite of its having lower fares than most other airlines, their waiting area had free Internet access, the seats on the plane were roomy and leather, each seat had its own television screen to see a variety or programming (including the news outlets), and the staff was friendly and courteous. No, I am not talking about first-class; I am talking about ALL the seats. Their economy fare offered more amenities than the first class of most airlines.

At the conference, I was pleasantly surprised to meet Laura Sehdeva (quite by chance) who works with Macromedia products for JetBlue. After telling her how much I enjoyed her company's airlines, I asked her to consider doing an article about their usage. It is with great happiness that that article will be this month's featured story.

In addition, Tom Green forwarded me an article from Bryan Zug and the Children's Hospital of Seattle.

Bryan is using Captivate to help implement training programs for the staff. If anyone needs proof of the importance of this, here's an excerpt:

"Imagine the differences between a critical medication order for a two-week old baby and a 17-year old teenager and you begin to understand the complexity of a pediatric implementation of this kind of system."

I applaud the work Bryan is doing and hope we, as a community, can help him more. They are doing fine work at this institution.

Over the next year, we will be featuring a lot of developers who use their talents for major companies and even a few very high-profile websites. However you don't have to work for a Fortune 500 company, or develop a major website, for your story to be important. When I teach my seminars, I get people ranging from a small insurance brokerage service to NASA; from an independent graphic designer to the Federal Reserve. All of them, without exception, teach me something new in the way they use the products.

For that reason I want ALL of you, the readers of this publication, to consider yourself the contributors. I would love to go to each and every reader and ask you to contribute. I don't care if it is something quite elementary or something involving very advanced techniques. If you use Macromedia products, we want to hear from you.

The benefits are many fold. However, consider this: by sharing your ideas with other users, you are helping the community to grow. In addition, when you write, you are also encouraging your fellow users to contribute. In the end, ALL will benefit.

Finally, in an age of networking importance, you are developing networks with your fellow users which will also benefit all.

It is the classic Win - Win scenario.

If anyone wants to write, please send me a proposal stating the topic, possible length in words, and when you will have it completed by. I will then forward it to the proper editor and set the proposal up. Our team of editors will guide you through the process.

This month we will be continuing our examination of the new ColdFusion MX7. I hope everyone has had the chance to download it from the Macromedia site and give it a test drive. If not, I strongly suggest doing so. Try it while reading the articles in this month's journal.

Finally, I want to thank author Nima Azimi for his unique article combining Flash Communication Server and Director. I feel that this is an important article that could open a lot of possibilities with the use of the two products. I will be anxious to hear feedback.

When will I be printing your article?