"Popular Woodworking" magazine is once again redefining, er, well, popular woodworking. For years Pop Wood, as we affectionately call it, has been driven not by business majors and polls, but by enthusiasts. And this is clearly evident in the content of the magazine. I believe pop wood's sister publication, Woodworking Magazine , was the first to be published without ads. Now, it appears, "Woodworking Magazine" is the first web based magazine on the subject. Though he may quibble, much of this is the doing of Pop Wood's Editor in Chief, Chris Schwarz. Not content to stop there, the folks at the helm of the Popular Woodworking's ship have set a course to redefine the woodworking show.

What they've done is assemble the who's who of hand tool woodworking and gather high end hand tool makers from across the North American continent. There will be a marketplace like other shows, but there will also be instruction including hands-on clinics. This is a woodworking show that will expose you to the latest greatest tools, but will also offer clinics to help make you a better woodworker. The clinics will have small class sizes and top instructors, often times several in a single clinic to give you a well rounded look at the subject. Sign up now to reserve your spot. Registration opened earlier this week.

I know some of you simply won't be able to go. Not to worry. Events like these have a way of changing things long after the date has passed. I think we'll see a different world of woodworking after mid November.

But this conference is your chance to steer the ship yourself. The tool makers, magazine editors, and writers lucky enough to attend, will leave the conference changed by the face to face meetings with the participants.

Adam