A huge thank you to all of our readers, new and old, who stay up to date with our weekly blog, Pens Down – we look forward to sharing so much more the rest of the year!

A look back at The Executive Summary

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve started this new weekly format, and I thought it would be fitting to take a look back at our humble beginnings as a bi-monthly magazine, The Executive Summary. Our archives have over 20(!) years worth of ezines, all accessible here:

Let’s take a look back at our early editions of the publication that started it all:

August 1998

• I’m particularly fond of the fact that NCA was announcing that they had gone electronic in ’98, a precursor to our nearly paperless world today.
• I have to also admit, I’m tantalized by the headline of “Are you still beating your spouse?” – that’s the equivalent of today’s clickbait! (On the next page, it clarifies that the question refers to proposal orals – still don’t get it, guess I’ll have to read to find out…)

October 2001, May 2002

• The 2000s brought a literal punch of color to the publication! The flashy logo showed up in all sorts of bright hues. During that time, there was also a focus on certification and a “Proposal Profession Day”, which appears to have been a precursor to our flagship Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC):

2006

The magazine got a facelift in 2006. The cover touts the benefits of joining APMP-NCA, as well as encouraging members to take the “new” certification exams for Foundation, Practitioner, and Professional; certifications that are well known and revered among all in the proposal industry today:

2010

The ezine went through another logo change, and this one stuck until 2018, when the ezine went entirely online

2018 – 2020

All of our articles are now available to read ANYTIME on our website at apmpnca.org/blog – check out the articles from the last few weeks, as well as articles from our last ezine: