Most of you think of Inside Self-Storage as a magazine only. Others believe were an industry association. But neither of these quite hits the mark.

Actually, ISS is a lot more than a magazine. Were steadily growing to include a wider range of products and services in diverse formats. In addition to monthly and annual publications, we provide two annual expos, online seminars (webinars), a weekly e-newsletter, a blog, an RSS feed, a scholarship program, online self-storage tools and more. We even offer ongoing education through our Self- Storage Training Institute, which supplies an easily accessible, comprehensive curriculum, including multimedia resources and certification. (For more information, see pages 113-116, or visit www.selfstorageeducation.com).

Many of our aims at ISS match those of an association, but our focus is vastly different. National and state self-storage associations serve the critical functions of political watchdog and activist. While ISS follows and reports on developments in this arena, it does not participate in lobbying and lawmaking. We do share a fundamental vision: service to the industry as a whole; the improvement of available information; and the facilitation of communication among all segments of the business.

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone approached me at the ISS booth during our recent expo in Las Vegas and said, Id like to join your association. Im always surprised that people find their way to our show yet know so little about who we are and what we do.

Yes, wed like you to join. But instead of an annual membership, we offer an annual subscription. Rather than charge hundreds of dollars per year, we provide many of our resources for free. Were here to support you, in every way we can imagine and implement.

In future issues, look to this section for updates on ISS projects and programs. Ill tell you about new things you can read, get, attend, visit, etc. Theres a lot going on in our world. Between magazines, keep current with our weekly e-newsletter and Storage Speak blog. Both are readily found at www.insideselfstorage.com. 

Teri Lanza is business development manager for

Inside Self-Storage. She was previsiouly the editor of ISS magazine.