The July–August issue in your hands is annually themed “Best in Show.” Best is really the operative term this year, as 2013’s JCK Las Vegas was truly the best show in collective memory! After years of “cautious optimism,” this year’s show seemed to suggest that the economy has finally turned the corner. While not everyone had their best show in years, there were plenty of exhibitors who did, and the overall excitement was palpable. When the lights dimmed at 4 p.m. on the last day of the show, the floor broke out in applause—a first in my nine years with JCK! Here’s hoping the momentum sticks and we all have an amazing second half of 2013.As always, the week was a blur of meetings, lunches, cocktail parties, ­dinners, and spectacular events, not to mention the hundreds of casual encounters with friends from around the world. I never tire of the warmth and friendlin