Building Community

That's an important goal in the magazine trade.

Experts who study the magazine trade say it's all about building community, and that to accomplish the task, we must reach out to people in print, in person and online.

Government Executive got started in the print business. Today, the magazine circulates directly to 75,000 subscribers, who pass it along to at least two more people, on average. So, more than 200,000 readers see the biweekly magazine full of indispensable, engagingly written information, enlivened by first-class photography and illustration.

Government Executive's online presence is pervasive, thanks largely to the popularity of our flagship e-mail newsletter, GovExec.com Today, which reaches 110,000 readers every weekday. Our specialized weekly newsletters on homeland security, defense, technology, management and human resources reach tens of thousands more. Our Web site, GovExec.com, now receives millions of page views each month.

As for in-person community-building, this year we have scheduled 15 Leadership Breakfasts at the National Press Club, bringing readers together with lead players in the drama that attends managing the world's largest organizations-federal agencies. In May and June, we'll discuss and debate reorganization of the intelligence community, the President's Management Agenda, performance-based contracting and competitive sourcing. You can find out more, and sign up to attend, at www.govexec.com/breakfasts. Also on the calendar is the fourth annual Service to America Medals gala on Sept. 28, honoring top performers among federal employees in seven categories.

Government Executive's largest event is the Excellence in Government Conference, which celebrates its 10th anniversary at the Washington Hilton July 25 to 27. The conference is co-sponsored by the Council for Excellence in Government, the National Academy of Public Administration and 18 other organizations that together constitute the core of the good government community. The program is highly valued by those who need to keep up with best practices in conducting the government's business. It's detailed in the brochure we have sent along with this issue of the magazine. You can sign up now at www2.govexec.com/excelgoveast.

In this issue, we examine from every angle the great challenges facing those who seek to improve agency operations. Our cover story describes NASA's intense makeover of the systems it employs to manage the space shuttle, in the wake of the Feb. 1, 2003, loss of the shuttle Columbia. The Army, learning from recent experience, also is pursuing an ambitious makeover-a hugely complex Future Combat Systems project that has critics wondering about its costs and risks. Elsewhere, we examine the FBI's difficulties in organizing counterterrorism, the effort to remake foreign aid and recent successes in tax systems modernization. So that's part of the menu we offer our community-people who care about the workings of the public sector.