On Sept. 29, 1986, an energetic group of six individuals with little knowledge of the broadcast and production industry, published the first issue of Playback. Two hundred and fifty issues later, our company, Brunico Communications Inc., has grown to a staff of about 50, including almost 20 full-time journalists. Playback and its two other major publications, Strategy and KidScreen, are now three of the largest trade publications in Canada.

For 10 years, we have been committed to innovation, editorial excellence and integrity, and helping our advertisers promote their products and services as effectively and efficiently as possible. As executive and founding publisher of Playback, I am extremely proud of our team and their accomplishments. It is no easy task to be on top of news, issues, and interests in so many different areas, to be fair and unbiased, to not overlook, to avoid mistakes, and to balance the needs and interests of all regions of the country. For making this happen, I am thankful to so many. Now, on the occasion of this anniversary, I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to:

– our readers, for their enthusiasm, loyalty, understanding, and feedback;

– our advertisers, for trusting our recommendations and being open to new ideas, and for creative material which so often enhances the look and appeal of the paper;

– those leaders who have made the industry grow, giving us new markets to serve and providing inspiration for Brunico to follow their example of corporate development and international expansion;

– Kathy Hamill, the current publisher of Playback (and Strategy), for staying so in tune with the market, for her success in balancing so many competing interests, and for her leadership within the organization;

– our editorial, production, sales, circulation, and administrative teams, who work with such dedication and take so much care and pride in what they do;

– our freelance and industry contributors, for their stories, columns, and opinion pieces, which broaden the scope, perspective, and quality of our content;

– the faculty and students of Ryerson for supplying a source of such great talent for our internship programs;

– all of the industry associations who work with us and, in particular, for the support of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and the cftpa;

– our suppliers, who provide the flexibility to help us make our deadlines and produce products of consistently high quality; and

– last, but certainly not least, Mark Smyka, the founding editor of Playback, who took a giant leap of faith 10 years ago to start the paper from scratch, quickly shaping and developing the product into what the industry wanted and needed.

When we started Playback desktop publishing was just being introduced. We had six Mac Plus computers, one shared 20 meg hard drive, a 1200 baud modem, Pagemaker 1.0 and Word 1.0. There were no fax machines yet, no voice mail, no scanner, no e-mail, and no Web sites. How times and technology have changed!

Looking ahead, as a company, Brunico is poised for significant growth in the business of information content and delivery, through both start-ups and acquisitions. We are looking to expand internationally, as well as in Canada. Our next step, in fact, is the opening of a Los Angeles office in the new year.

Among my greatest thrills these past 10 years have been whenever we have exceeded people’s expectations. It is so rewarding to hear such positive feedback about the scope and quality of our coverage, the look of our publications, the depth of our readership and distribution, and the usefulness of new products we have introduced (including Playback International, Canada on Location, the First Take fax newsletter, and the Playback Online full-text retrieval service).

But the most satisfying of all has been to watch the people within our organization blossom. They are the key to our future, no doubt, and together we must remain as innovative and responsive as ever.