In March in New Orleans we held our first Real Assets Adviser editorial advisory board meeting in two years. It was our smallest-ever gathering of board members, and likely our best yet. The intimacy of having only 20 participants was key for a day-and-a-half event (normally choked with 40 to 50 participants) because it spurred more vigorous discussion than past meetings.

No one got lost in the crowd.

More on the meeting in a moment, but first an explanation why the editorial advisory board exists.

No organization’s aspect of itself is without flaw. That’s why companies ask expert outsiders to view their organizations from without; that’s why organizations create boards of directors. Institutional Real Estate, Inc., publisher of this magazine, is no exception. It maintains a board of directors for precisely that reason, and so does each of IREI’s magazines. Obviously, that includes Real Assets Adviser.

We call them editorial advi