On being a road warrior.

As I sit at my desk the middle of July and look at the mountain of projects I have to get to before the week is done, I will offer one meager excuse for why my "To Do" pile is far higher than my "Finished" pile: The staff of Recycling Today has traveled steadily throughout the past three months. These trips have taken us to a dozen states and even sent two of us to China. We also hosted two commodity conferences in June. Add to this hectic travel schedule a multitude of deadlines and other pressing demands, and I have quite a load of work that sits on my desk.

Travel was the lifeblood of the business world from the latter half of the 20th century. While in many ways it could have been easier to conduct business via phone, fax and mail, for many businesses "face to face" interaction was key to growth.

With the 21st century, one of the biggest mantras of business consultants is the need to create business efficiencies. To accomplish this, more and more businesses are further embracing technology, which is putting greater pressure on many companies to avoid travel. With the Internet, e-mail, instant messaging, cell phones and a host of other technological advances, business communication has become even more immediate. However, getting out of the office continues to be an excellent opportunity to develop greater insight on the market.

At all of the shows the staff of Recycling Today attends, there are quite a few significant "takeaways," whether they are developing great story ideas, increasing our industry knowledge, furthering our industry contacts or picking up hot news tips.

In fact, quite a few of the products, programs and innovations that Recycling Today routinely uses came up in conversations with various customers, readers, vendors, exhibitors and attendees at any one of the dozen shows that we routinely go to every year.

What recycling professionals pick up during a business trip may be slightly different than what we as editors may look for, but the reality is the same: Face-to-face meetings can enhance a business relationship as well as give a company a chance to uncover opportunities.

As readers of this magazine, when you see a member of the Recycling Today staff at a trade show, I ask that you stop by, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your organization. We love to hear from you.

While I may grumble about the red eye flights back from Las Vegas or the clothes that need ironing every time I unpack my bag, the reality is that meeting our readers and advertisers face-to-face has yet to be topped by an e-mail note.

Now if the airlines could only add leg room to the flights ...