From the Editors - Jan/Feb 2013 - Forefront Magazine

Happy new year, readers!

This is an important milestone for everyone, including Forefront. 2013 marks a year where all economic indicators should be improving—from unemployment numbers to property prices to GDP. The beginning of 2013 also marks our third issue of Forefront. After reading issues No. 2 and 3, it is our sincere hope you are enjoying the content, and also gaining an understanding of the direction we are going. Our goal is to bring you the stories of remarkable people who contribute to the overall strategy and leadership of an organization, all told through his or her personal lens.

In this issue we focus on several General Counsel from major public and private corporations nationwide. Some have been working for corporations their whole career, while others decided to make the jump after achieving being partner at their respective firms: You get to see both paths.

In addition to covering their personal stories, we have asked them what it was like to transition from private practice to becoming a General Counsel. We learned that the transition from outside to inside counsel is a humbling one. And as Gavin O’Connor, General Counsel of GNC, put it, he “learned more in one day in his new role than he had in the five years prior as an outside attorney.”

We also bring you the story of Chris Stanley, General Counsel of Loring Ward, who at 29 years old is one of the youngest General Counsels in the country.

This issue of Forefront highlights Chief Financial Officers from three of the major advertising agencies: Deutsch LA, MediaCom and Digitas. They share the same role in the same industry, but each interviewee brings a very different path and approach to the table.

Steve Carrington, Chief Information Officer at Valassis, tells us how to “talk business” while overseeing the technology needs of a large company.

Closing Issue No. 3, Broc Romanek and Randi Morrison of TheCourporateCounsel.net outline how to advance from your current role to earning a board seat as director of a company.

The people in this issue will dazzle you not with the depth of expertise in their field, but with relentless passion to understand all functions of the business and to translate that knowledge to their respective teams. It’s truly fascinating to follow the diverse paths each took, only to notice that the common theme is their genuine passion for overall business. They are, indeed, the people that make business work.

— The Forefront team