Last year was our tenth anniversary and was a terrific year. You would think that after such a great year, I would experience a letdown. Not so. I'm really looking forward to 2012 just as much.

Maybe it's the good sales season retail experienced. It's great to see consumer confidence getting somewhat back to normal.

Maybe it's the word on the street that I hear both retailers and solutions providers talking about capital spending and purchasing rebounding.

Maybe it's our association partners talking about all the positive developments on the legislative and conference front, not to mention two trips to New Orleans this year.

Maybe it's our foundation partners excited about the momentum building as more and more professionals earn certification.

Maybe it's the fact that one of my sons is out of college and working in a terrific job, and the second is only a semester away.

Whatever the combination of reasons, I'm kind of giddy about this year.

I know one reason is that I have committed to getting out from behind my computer and visiting more of our retail sponsors on their home turf. It's always good to see friends and business partners at conferences, but there's something special about walking into their home office. Over the past several years I've visited Sears, OfficeMax, Belk, GameStop, and a number of other retail headquarters where I met with the LP executives and their staff. It's a great experience to listen to these LP professionals talk about their organizations and offer their suggestions for articles and other magazine-related ideas.

Last year I visited Atlanta, Dallas, and Boston where I moderated a series of "lunch-and-learns" sponsored by two solutions providers that brought together local LP professionals to discuss their experiences in implementing new technologies in their organizations. I'm working to do something similar again this year with tentative commitments in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis.

There's a lot to be gained by foregoing email and even telephone and sitting face-to-face with the people who are living loss prevention day-to-day and hearing their problems, successes, and aspirations. It's a lesson I've learned by observing my friend and business partner, Jim Lee, who practices this as well as anybody.

So, don't be surprised if Jim or I knock on your door sometime in the near future to say "Hello" and invite ourselves to share some time with you over a conference table, over a knife and fork, or over a golf ball. We'll do our best to give you something positive in return, but, frankly, it's what you give us that, in turn, benefits us and the magazine.

Thanks to all of you who helped make 2011 a terrific year for the magazine. We'll do our best to make 2012 a great year for our readers, sponsors, and advertisers. I'm excited. Hope you are, too.