Industry Welcomes Portal.

First Woodworking Directory garners much praise, some criticism and a tinge of disappointment from readers whose companies were not listed.

OUR SWITCHBOARD LIT up and e-mail boxes filled as soon as Portal began reaching the 112,500 readers of Wood & Wood Products and Custom Woodworking Business. The woodworking industry's first Internet directory was polybagged with each magazine's November issue.

Most callers and e-mailers said they thought Portal was a valuable reference tool. A few told us Portal would have fared even better minus the "bubble" background on the listing pages.

A good number of the correspondents wanted to know how to get their companies' Web sites listed in the 2001 edition of Portal, slated to publish in November. Easy, we told them. Just log onto Industrial Strength Woodworking at www.iswonline.com. Double click the Portal icon and fill out the brief registration form.

Assuming your company fits one of the three categories -- Industry Supplier, Wood Products Manufacturer or Services -- we will add it to the online version of Portal right away. We added more than 250 companies that registered on our Web site to Portal online last month. The newly registered supplier and service sites are included in the addendum on page 48. Also included in the addendum are a handful of companies that were published incorrectly in November.

Many Thanks

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know that your articles are very much appreciated in your field. I am an engineer in the office furniture business. The Portal part of the latest issue is a great idea for the furniture business.

Thank you

John Parkinson

Gunlocke Co. (a Hon division)

Thanks for the press in Portal. It's a nice looking and useful tool. I'm sure it's going to get a lot of attention from users.

Best regards

Michael Poster

Publisher WoodWeb Inc.

I got my new CWB and Portal insert. Thanks for the plug; it looks great. I've had an extra 150 site visits a day for the last few days. I'm sure the increase was from the (Sites to See) blurb in Portal.

Thanks again

Steve Casey

Casey Design

Companies Want in

I have just received the written version of Portal and wanted to congratulate you on this great concept. I think you have in the works what could be the portal for the wood industry.

Can you please tell me how our company can be listed as a possible lumber supplier? We are a major importer of tropical hardwoods from South America based in Medley, FL, selling nationwide.

Regards

Romel Bezerra

I have received your November issue of Wood & Wood Products magazine that included Portal. I am hoping we can be included in the next issue.

Thank you

Tony Picnic

AP Kitchens

I just got the November issue of the magazine and a copy of Portal was included. This is a fine compilation of Web sites and should be very useful to the industry.

I want to ask that we be included in the educational listing the next time you publish it.

Thanks for your help.

C. Thomas Culbreth

Director -- Furniture Manufacturing & Management Center

North Carolina State University

We just received a copy of your woodworking Internet directory and would like to know how our company could secure a listing in your next edition. Northland Corporation is a kiln drying facility headquartered in LaGrange, KY, with additional-locations in North Carolina, Florida, California and Canada.

Beth Douglas

Sales Department Northland Corp.

I recently saw your great "Portal" publication. The only thing that would have made it better would have been the inclusion of our Web site.

I submitted info through the iswonline.com Web site. Is there anything else I should do?

Ed Parks

Louis and Company

Editor's Reply: Just do what Ed Parks did. That's all there is to it.

Keep the Design Simple

I enjoyed looking at the issue of Portal that I received today with my CWB issue and especially seeing that Portal is now online (where it is really most useful). Good job. I know that it had to be considerable effort. I plan to visit as many of the sites as time permits starting first with the 10 you folks have identified as good to look at.

One suggestion for the next print copy. Don't use the same background on your listing pages. It is really hard to read all the small print. It is easy to miss one character or another in the URL and that would mean success or failure in finding the site.

Other than that, it is really appreciated by those of us who realize that Internet communication and transactions will be critical to the well being of woodworking businesses as well as all others. Helping to keep one another on top of technology will help promote and improve the industry.

Thanks again

Dean Bruce

Owen Valley Woodworking Co. Inc.

I received my copy of Portal today. The amount of work put into it is obvious, then along came the graphics department. That is some background; legibility has been greatly reduced....I will keep it because it does have a wealth of information but I hope that the next issue will lose the Legoland look.

Regards

Linda Wyant

Safranek Enterprises Inc.

Editor's Reply: The "bubble background," as we refer to it, printed darker on some of the pages than we expected. We'll certainly take this into account in designing this year's Portal.