By Nikki Golden, Chicago chapter president

It struck me, at the Midwest/South Azbee Awards banquet July 22, that we, as journalists, don’t give ourselves a lot of pats on the back.

We tend to be a cynical lot, even in the B2B space, with a deep-down suspicion of people in general. Maybe that’s why we choose this field.

But most of the time, what we miss with that is a feeling of euphoria when something positive happens. That was not the case at the Azbee dinner this year.

We needed to celebrate accomplishment, and the people who received awards were enthusiastic and happy and proud as they came up to get their plaques. Even the companies that win time and time again brought their entire staffs with them, to cheer and applaud for each team member who won.

This is a battered industry, for sure, but we have many talented, creative and innovative editors out there working on amazing publications and websites. We are not a group that is particularly good at self-promotion, but maybe it’s time we learned that skill. The only way to improve our industry is to learn from what others are doing successfully.

So let’s start sharing those stories of success.

Nikki Golden is the president of ASBPE’s Chicago chapter and communications manager of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, where she oversees the magazine The Remodelers’ Journal.