Swan Song
After much contemplation, I recently resigned from my full-time position at HazMat Management magazine to take up a full-time position with my family. My goal is to raise my son in a more present and enjoyable way than I have been since starting back at full-time work this spring. However, I will continue work on the magazine for the next little while to ensure that there’s a seamless transition in the editorial department, and I will be available to write and edit on a freelance basis when the opportunity arises and when time permits.
Though I’m looking forward to my plans, it’s hard to leave at such an exciting moment in the environmental protection industry. During recent years I’ve witnessed a significant progression from the traditional dig & dump style of haz waste management and sometimes reckless pollution to increased regulations and heightened public awareness (especially with regard to air pollution and contaminated sites remediation), more comprehensive environmental management and emergency preparedness systems, and better HazMat standards that inform a more preventative style of corporate governance in which non-hazardous and safer methods of business operation are increasingly explored. There has also been much consolidation of the old players and so many new and exciting ones vying for a piece of the pie (but I won’t drop names here to be fair). According to recent data, the environmental industry in Canada is now worth about $800-million so there is still much opportunity for HazMat to explore in future editions. And we are constantly receiving inquiries from our neighbours south of the border so perhaps it’s worth exploring more American coverage as well.
As for past editions, having the opportunity to write and edit for this magazine has been an honour, one that I took seriously. From my first day of work on January 2, 1998, I brought my best effort to the office (or the laptop) each day and on many weekends. My hard work paid off when I was promoted time and again, from Assistant Editor, to Managing Editor and finally to Editor a couple of years ago. And this summer, when the Canadian Business Press presented me with the prestigious Gold Award for Best Editorial (“Fuel for the Fire”) , it was the cherry on the cake – the perfect book mark for the first chapter of my career.
In addition, the latest readership survey results made me proud. Respondents indicated that 98 per cent say HazMat provides information not found in other sources, 90 per cent call HazMat their main source for environmental business information, 90 per cent said HazMat helps them do their jobs better, and 86 per cent of respondents said advertising in the magazine impacts their purchasing decisions. Furthermore, our most recent circulation stats reveal the highest rate of request in the history of the magazine.
But all this would not be possible without some key people. My husband is my sounding board, and a constant source of support and sunshine in my life. My mother, in addition to providing me with unconditional love, carefully quizzed me for spelling bees and helped instill the seed of confidence in my ability to be an award-winning speller and journalist.
I have many others to thank and acknowledge for their support, help and friendship over the years, including: Guy Crittenden, my old mentor and the master muckraker; Todd Latham, an ongoing source of encouragement (and riddles); Arnie Gess, who kept a sense of humour and humanity even during the deadliest deadlines; Brad O’Brien, busy reeling in the marlins and a consistently great guy to work with; Rabiya Shaikh, who takes the cake for reliability and resourcefulness with a smile; Dianne Saxe, an amazing mind and spirit I was honoured to profile in the inaugural People in the Industry column; Lee Scarlett, an inspiration in courage and an old school gentleman in terms of setting up and tearing down of the tradeshow booths; Thea Papadakis, the latest HazMat publisher, a wonderful woman with delicious savoire faire and impressive multi-lingual skills; Lynda Reilly, Thea’s feisty and fantastic predecessor; Lou Smyrlis, editorial director extraordinaire; Lisa Zambri, for her masterful extreme magazine makeover and patience for extra edits; John Nicholson and James Sbrolla, two of the most excellent (and entertaining) sources around; Maria Kelleher, a know-it-all in the best way possible; Jane(y) Addie for all the fun times; Colin Isaacs, the Yoda of the Canadian environmental industry; Karen Phillips (good luck to you in your new endeavors too!); Mitchell Gibbs, the real life answer to Buzz Lightyear; Rem Gaade and Peter Knaack, my other ER go-to guys; the teams of writers and ghost writers at Torys and Ortech for their consistent expert contributions to our columns over the years; the rest of the EcoLog Group and BIG staff, especially Carol Bell-LeNoury, Ivan Ovesny, Irene Fu, Maria Carlesimo, Asad Alibhai, Laura Moffat, Angela Stelmakowich, Diana Naiberg, Alex Papanou and Bruce Creighton; and, Peter Lewis-Watts for your consistent letters to the editor. I’d also like to thank Susan Antler, Usman Valiante, Adam Chamberlain, Cristina Seidel, Clarissa Morawski and Charles Jaffe whom I worked with on sister publication Solid Waste & Recycling. Last but not least, I can’t forget the late great Gary Gallon. Of course there are many others that I recall fondly and that warrant a word, but they will have to wait for the book.
If I were to write that book I would include excerpts from my favourite features. Together with my team of expert contributors we provided numerous nuts & bolts articles that were mostly didactic in nature, but it was the investigative features that kept me up at night. “Sydney Tar Ponds Cleanup Fiasco” about Canada’s Love Canal was overwhelming at times in its complexity and we’ve continued to cover the progress over the years. “On Thin Ice” is the cover story that took me on a helicopter up to riveting Resolution Island in Nunavut to report on a polluted and corrupt cleanup operation. I’ll never forget the initial 9/11 “Aftermath” coverage and how I hustled to get those devastating images into the magazine at the last minute (thank goodness for the generous photo director at the National Post ). As an aside, it's hard to believe it's already the five year anniversary of that tragic day. “Mississippi Mud Pie” had me driving around in a pick-up truck with a gregarious guide named “Bubba” to an oil spill in Jackson where it seemed everyone else was named Bubba, and also enjoying some southern hospitality with some of the consultants. “Risky Business” carefully tied together the confusing maze of risk assessment and contamination in Port Colborne. “Monsters in the Attic” is a terrifyingly revealing look into the extent of historic asbestos contamination in Canadian businesses and homes in general and the suffering of a certain aboriginal family in particular, which also became the focus of a CBC documentary.
I also enjoyed writing each and every one of my editorials and took great effort to ensure the utmost accuracy and relevance for readers, seeking feedback from the pundits and critics with an open mind, while staying true to my own strong opinions.
In addition, I benefited from some great travels for research, conferences and tradeshows from coast to coast and abroad, including an extensive tour of Holland courtesy of the Dutch Consulate, GLOBE in Vancouver, Americana and FCM in Montreal, and the recycling and composting conferences in Halifax, Baltimore for the All Hazards Forums, etc., Closer to home, I still LOL (laugh out loud) thinking of the Toronto HazMat show when I was hoisted up and hanging from the rafters for an ER rescue exercise with a team of strapping firefighters and responders. Sure, there were several stressful migraine-inducing days along the way, but that was not one of them.
With that, I guess all good things must come to an end after all. I wish every one of our readers, advertisers, staff and supporters continued success and best wishes, now and always.
