It is enormously rewarding for me personally, and I hope it enables me to bring back to UC Press ideas about possible new methods for achieving our design and production goals, whether it is a more cost-effective method or a potential saving by using a different text stock or binding material. Beyond that, it is a pleasure to meet one's colleagues, exchange ideas and compare production alternatives, as well as to establish an ongoing dialog with our valued suppliers. We always regard our activities as only one side of the coin. We rely on the expertise and help of our suppliers as much as they rely on our business--it is the partnership that results in a successful end product. The efforts of our suppliers merge with our own efforts to create the best books, which is why we believe in long-term relationships and do not shop around very much once we have settled on satisfactory arrangements. As I mentioned before, our list is wide ranging in its manufacturing demands, and we select vendors in a variety of categories in the belief that no one supplier is suitable to handle everything.