Don't get cheesed off because it's lost a little of its former flavour.
But, if you are still asking 'who's the biggest and the best global PR consultancy?' or possibly 'why the devil didn't PRWeek come up with the goods this year?' hold those thoughts.
Things aren't as clearly definable as they once were, ever since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act came into play gagging the financial disclosure of every global- owned consultancy group belonging to the big six marketing services behemoths.
Theoretically, this should enable industry pundits to hypothesise on the state of the industry with gay abandon.
At PRWeek, wild stabs in the dark have never been our forte, so gauging where the global agencies stand, the interplay of who has held onto those crucial global accounts and what has been divided up among whom, seemed like the logical indicator to where the land really lies in today's global PR marketplace.
In essence, this issue delivers a double-PRWeek- whammy - with the global report standing alongside this year's CONTACT: Asia-Pacific Public Relations Guide.
For those of you who subscribe to the theory 'small is beautiful', this year's diminutive-but-information-rich CONTACT is poised to be read ragged, as the only A-to-Z to the essential players on today's regional PR scene.
Although we've stuck to 2002's golden formula of easy-to-reference listings - this time, keeping both your emotional well-being and tight working schedules top-of-mind - we've expanded the essential content to save you the time and trouble of flicking through back issues of PRWeek to source the Asia-Pacific Consultancy Rankings; Global PR Report; new and in-depth advice on how to select a PR consultancy; and a definitive industry overview from six of the region's PR association heads.
To coin a phrase from the best-selling US financier, wealth educator and author, Robert Kiyosaki, who said "arrogance is ego plus ignorance", we're confident that accompanied by CONTACT 2003, you can afford to boost your working ego safe in the knowledge that all the essential facts about the region's PR industry are at your disposal - wherever you're working from and whoever you're working with.
And an updated wealth of knowledge may just give you that extra little morsel of time to savour both your penne - and the bigger picture.