What we need most

There will be some immediate changes here in terms of the arrangement of the magazine, which will affect how your ideas are received and, very likely, whether or not you are assigned.

Remember, the key is for your story to be about crossing borders -- be it people, money, ideas, practices, problems -- and to be relevant to any reader in the Americas. This is best done by talking about how things are done well (or poorly) so that lessons can be applied to other sectors or geographies. Extremely local personalities or timely issues will be lost in the shuffle, sorry to say.

Also, if you can't dateline your story in Latin America, which means you are there or did some part of the work while there, we probably can't use it, unless the subject is naturally elsewhere (EU policy on trade with Brazil) or an interview with someone on the road (which is okay since we don't dateline interviews).

The magazine content is being realigned to reflect the Web site channels, of which there are currently four:

Companies
Not company profiles but corporate trends, please. We only do straight-up company profiles once a year, in July. Find a trend, interview three or four companies, file story, done.

Logistics
Ships, cargo, ports, roads, couriers, etc. If it moves, here's the place to write about it. Could be technology angle, financial angle, whatever, but relate it to trade.

Careers
People and managing them, as well as business education. Here's your individual profiles that explain management ideas, interesting trends in MBA education, examples from corporate life of what works and why in the region.

Travel
Business of travel (investments, strategies) and destinations insofar as they are relevant to a broad readership. Don't pitch me your upcoming vacation unless there is a serious business story behind it, ie, big money, people crossing borders.

If you can't hit one of there buckets squarely, we will have a hard time assigning you. It helps to say which channel you are aiming for when you pitch.