To our readers,

Here’s to a great year ahead. We are hoping for 2006 to be a year full of promise and kind surprises for everyone.

Last year’s eye opening events tested many of us trying to find good in the world. Most notably were the many natural catastrophes, from the tsunami and American hurricanes to the earthquake in Pakistan and Kashmir. Other human calamities continued to grow grim, from the HIV / AIDS epidemic to civil wars in Africa and the Middle East. With so many bad stories out there, it was often hard to find that silver lining. But believe us, those stories were there. Of course, there was the record charitable donations toward relief efforts around the world. Live 8 brought much needed attention toward the plight of impoverished and debt-ridden African nations. The likes of President Clinton and the current American administration poured more money and resources into the global fight against HIV / AIDS and other infectious diseases. In some of our darkest moments, we proved to ourselves that goodness always prevails. Indeed, stories of good people doing nice things seem to have risen to the top of the headlines, burying those of tragedy and nastiness. Time Magazine’s annual Man of the Year issue honored Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono for their exceptional philanthropy and activism. Worth, Fast Company, Inc., Fortune and other business magazines continue to find success with their annual issues covering philanthropy and socially responsible businesses. This trend toward covering good news is encouraging and will bolster NICE Magazine’s future.

2005 was a great year for our magazine. We redesigned the site in January into a fuller online magazine away from its blog roots. We had tremendous site traffic and submission of thank yous from all over the country. People thanked others for saving their lives, for great friendships and for just being there when it counted. We had great articles and observations about nice people, interesting events and the general state of the world-at-large. We spent the last few months of the year planning our future and redesigned the site once again to allow for better user experience, allowing you to search our posts and more easily navigate our pages.

We are very excited about the promise of 2006. Look for a more expanded people section, where we will profile celebrities and those of interest who are tried and truly nice. We are going to feature more products and companies that have proved their concern for philanthropy and the social good. Most of all, we look forward to receiving more of your thank you messages and nice story submissions to post on the site.

Until the next post, have a great one…

Best,

D. Robert — New York, NY

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