Practically 40 years ago I would come home after school to see the colossal mess my mother had made of our dining room table. In hours, more paper than I ever fathomed grew into layers, shapes and towers of manuscripts, layouts, photographs, artwork and scribbled notes. When gravity eventually set in, my mother would review and work on the papers where they lay, on the floor.My mother, Teddi Laurin, started Optical Spectra in 1967, and she did so at the behest of several industry leaders who voiced the need for a publication that would serve the young optics industry. She made a company and flagship magazine that through the years would stand for journalistic and media leadership. And as the industry grew and matured, so did we.In 1982, she repositioned the magazine as Photonics Spectra to better reflect a more mature industry and technology, and when we first announced the name, readers and advertisers loved and hated it. Luckily, the Wall Street Journal lent its support by publicizing the name change and new industry definition. Today the word rolls off the tongue quite easily.We were successful because my mother understood that change is about relevance. She also knew that to listen was to understand. That’s why, as we present you with this newly relaunched issue of Photonics Spectra, we do so in Teddi Laurin’s tradition for change. Our goal is to reinvigorate industry pride and position Laurin Publishing for the 21st century.The first change you may notice is our new identity: Photonics Media – The pulse of the industry. This more aptly describes our full suite of print and online media. Then in the coming months you’ll also see a relaunched Europhotonics and Biophotonics International; a completely new online Photonics Directory; several new email newsletters; and the world-class Prism awards for Photonics Innovation which we conceived this year with SPIE to recognize our industry’s finest.Many of you have been with us for some time now, and we welcome those of you who are reading Photonics Spectra for the first time. We want you to hold this magazine up to scrutiny because that means you’re reading it.And as you do, I hope you’ll sense a new energy and see the commitment we are making to change the game.