Having to sit still with the Coronavirus certainly does not mean having to sit still!

More than likely you are reading this from your safe home situation. The Netherlands has been "sent home" en masse recently. If the Coronavirus has made one thing clear to us, it is that there is no discrimination. Anyone can get it and we suddenly have the care of each other on our shoulders. Companies are forced from one moment to the next to "reinvent" themselves. Sometimes this is done in blind panic, often fortunately in a very structured way.

I too am writing this to you sitting at the dinner table, from the cozy dining room at home, logged into the publisher's server. As Project Manager of Soil, Road and Hydraulic Engineering Magazine, I also see what the measures to be taken are doing to the companies we work for. Many clients are worse or not accessible at all, there is fear for the future and one would prefer to be able to look ahead in time, to see if we survive this crisis, both in terms of physical and business health. This is why I want to give you all a heart to heart: GWW Magazine just keeps running. 'Business as usual'? No, not 'as usual' in these difficult times. But 'business' nonetheless! After all, our magazine and our customers have been partners with each other for years. Our clients ensure that we can make our beautiful magazine, we ensure that our clients are seen. We cannot do without each other. And that is precisely why it is important that we help each other, as we have always done, even in these difficult times.

Being seen at this time soon means just picking up the thread

You too are worried about what will happen to your business, in the near future. Yet you have more in your own hands, than you can imagine. Because even though we all have to observe "social distance," that doesn't mean we have to disappear from view with each other. That's why a trade magazine is so important. Every GWW Magazine is actually a printed -or online- stopping place for meeting. A safe place where you can show the world what your company does. A safe place where your customer, or prospect, can find out what's on offer and happening in the sector. Especially now, it is important to stay in the picture. Now there is even more time than ever to pick up the magazine and read it from front to back. Enjoy gaining knowledge and soaking up all the innovation. That is why advertising is now more important than ever. Because getting out of the picture and then having to pick up where you left off after the Corona crisis is guaranteed to put you behind. By staying in the picture in these times when live contacts are no longer possible, you can pick up the thread again.

Let's hope our government also supports our industry where needed and where it can. Meanwhile, we will help you keep the industry alive by bringing life to the industry. Together we manage, we always have, we do today and we will continue to do so. Keep faith, you will see that a new world with new opportunities awaits after this crisis.

Stay safe and healthy,

Frank Wekking

GWW Magazine Project Manager