Editor's Letter

And So Ten! Magazines have a way of taking over your life, enveloping you and filtering masses of information through your consciousness. Some you edit out; most of it redefines whom you chose to be. I like to think FIM has been a source for many of us who have played a part in its growth to rethink our own lives. Whether it's the fashion and interiors equation or the financial, political and human-interest aspects of the magazine, snippets of information always stick. Of course, it's not just the FIM staff that pulls this humongous amount of information together. Out there are resources that infuse us with thousands of stories, massive amounts of images and literally hundreds of PR firms working to get their messages placed. Ideas are rarely singular. As it turns out, many people have identical ideas at once. I've often thought the universe must be working on just one cycle because everyone comes to the same place at almost the exact same time. But it's the interpretation of these ideas that makes us all different - it's how we develop our own identity. Building the character of a magazine is just that: maintaining an identity month after month, year after year. Putting 20 or so people in the same space and having them think on a group track with the same ultimate vision for the "character" of their work. With every story supplied or developed, molding that character into almost 200 pages monthly is the challenge. And, of course, the bigger challenge is to be on target with the audience - you the reader. Did we hit the mark? Only subscribers, newsstand sales and advertisers seeking results can measure our success.

For 10 years we've been measuring your reaction to our work. Did you buy into it and at what ratio? I like to believe that you love the product as much as we like putting it together. That you send those letters and renew your subscriptions annually because you wouldn't miss an issue. That you actually pay us, by advertising your product, hundreds of thousands of dollars monthly because you get results. And, for the most part, even if we didn't get paid we'd be here turning out our magazine day after day, night after night, for the past 10 years. Why? Because we love it.

When we first started (Phyllis Pesaturo, Susan Preville, Meredith Danton, Jean Whipple and I), we ventured into this project with a lot of ambition and little knowledge about how it would all came together. So we produced it all ourselves. On deadline, the edit staff (all of two) camped out on the floor and woke up periodically to write. Phyllis pulled 48-hour shifts waiting for those computers to work on command. It took Susan and I three months to sell each publication and it took production almost as long to convert files from negatives to PDFs. Who knew what a PDF was in 1997? This magazine you hold was originally intended as a source book of luxury products and it came out quarterly, looking more like a wannabe museum catalog than a magazine. It was pretty and ended up on a lot of coffee tables, but it wasn't journalism. That lasted for about a year, and when we realized we had outgrown the pretty stage, I felt we could garner more revenue if we had more issues - so we started publishing bi-monthly. By the time we turned five we developed an awareness of the real publishing world (editorial, distribution, circulation, production, etc.) so the obvious move was to a monthly publication. This idea came about when I had a week off for Christmas and once again thought I could have twice as much fun if we came out twice as often. See how dangerous a little time off can be? But the moment was right: Florida had evolved from Mickey Mouse destination to international hub of cutting-edge real estate, art, design, fashion and culture. Well, with twice the issues came twice the staff and twice the overhead. We had to play a little catch up and many of us wore more hats than you could fit on a five-headed serpent.

At five, we recruited Luis Rigual who brought a little decorum to the editorial department as well as more writers and contributors to our team. Shawn Bean joined shortly thereafter and his humorous and insightful writing lightened up the whole situation. At one shoot, Erika Sussman, our then fashion-editor-cum-stylist-cum-décor-editor-cum-merchandiser, had to produce a tabletop story at a park. She spent most of her day bent over the ground placing beautiful arrangements to be shot. By the end of the day, she was sunburned to a crisp, and I'm surprised she didn't go on a two-week sick leave after that. Instead, she jumped back into action the next day - as we all did in those early stages to uncover the unknown and develop our look. Over the last 10 years, we have won more than 80 awards, garnered the most circulation in the state and attracted a bevy of both national and regional advertisers - not to mention a substantial team that still pulls all-nighters to make a deadline. But it's been worth it. And here's to you who have helped us grow. Thank you: Fran Murphy, Chanel, Artefacto, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Bentley, Armani, Chopard, LVMH (before you were LVMH), Richters and Ed Beiner - you have been with us from the beginning. And thanks to the rest of you who have joined our family since.

That said, check out this wonderful and massive volume of fab images and insightful text. We're proud of our beginnings and we're still evolving. Read Shawn's take on what the next 10 years have in store for Florida (p. 216) and you'll see we're right on target. And by all means, SAVE THE DATE: December 15. We're celebrating our 10th anniversary big time. For tickets to the party (which benefits Experience Aviation and The Children's Trust), log on to www.floridainternationalmag.com.

Now, I'll gracefully take a much-needed breath and perhaps some good cheer. Happy Holidays from all your friends at FIM.

Esther Jackson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief