Starting with its September 15 issue, Employee Benefit News will look a lot different - inside and out. Everyone here at EBN is very (very) excited to unveil the new look, and thankfully the wait is almost over.
I don't want to ruin the surprise when the new EBN hits your desk and/or your inbox in just a couple weeks. But I did want to give you a sneak peek of what's in store. So, here's a brief snippet about what's changing (and what's not):
NEW cover. Although you're currently accustomed to diving into the latest in benefits news and trends right from EBN's front page, we're transitioning to a more dynamic and artistic cover treatment that will not only draw you in to the great content inside the magazine but help EBN stand apart - not just from issue to issue, but from other industry publications you receive (which, of course, you only deign to pick up after you've read EBN cover to cover, right?).
Now when you want to refer your CFO, broker or staff member to an EBN article, you can say, "It's the issue with the [insert cool thing here] on the cover."
NEW content. You've been writing to us about what types of stories you'd like us to do more of, and we've been listening! With the new design comes new content - a dedicated section on Communication & Engagement, full of stories to help you best use the multiple media tools at your disposal to grab employees' attention and keep it.
When it comes to benefits communication, is Twitter worth your time? Can you really find top talent on Facebook? What are best practices when producing benefits videos? We'll answer those questions and more in this section.
NEW commentary. Do you open EBN each month, looking for the latest column from Nancy Bolton, Frank Palmieri or Shana Sweeney? EBN's Contributing Editors, long known as thought leaders in the benefits industry, will be given an even bigger platform in EBN's newly created Commentary section. You'll still get their sharp and insightful perspectives, just in an expanded editorial segment. You'll note none of EBN's Contributing Editors are in this issue; we're holding them back until the redesign debut, so stay tuned!
SAME quality. One thing that will never change is the high-quality of reporting and analysis that goes into every article EBN publishes. No redesign could ever outshine the care and planning that our award-winning staff puts into the thought-provoking content you've come to rely upon from EBN.
I hope this description has you anxiously awaiting the new and improved EBN. But first, be sure to read this issue, which gives a first-class send-off to the old version.
See what your peers had to say about what "Being a benefits professional means ..." in EBN's first-ever 14-word/140-character contest. All of the entries, including the six winning blog posts and Twitter messages, are on page 10.
Read what the butterfly effect has to do with employee rewards in this month's cover story.
And get one practitioner's take on "Who killed CDHPs?" on page 27.
All these stories and more await you in this issue. As always, feel free to send letters, queries and story ideas to me at
CORRECTION
Several questions and answers in the quiz on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("No trivial pursuit," EBN July) contained errors. On question 12, answer A or B could be correct. On question 13, answer D is not a valid option. On question 15, each answer should have read 100 employees, not 200. A corrected version of the quiz is available online at ebn.benefitnews.com. In EBN August's "No type O," a follow up to the PPACA quiz, the correct answer to question 5 is True. Again, a corrected version of the article appears on EBN's website. We regret the errors.
