2006: A Year of Great Minds and Fascinating Business Ideas

Starting with our Social Capitalist issue in January, we featured Joanne Ooi, creative director at luxury brand Shanghai Tang. As globalization thrives and China continues to offer competitive products and services, it was just a matter of time until someone came along and showed the world that Chinese-made doesn't mean crappy knock-off. The look in Ooi's eyes challenges the world to prove her company wrong, as she guns to make Shangai TangChina's first great luxury brand by embarking on an ambitious expansion plan that will see it launching five stores a year in the world's toniest markets. One reader, Josef Blumenfeld, commented, "Kudos to Linda Tischler for giving Fast Companyreaders a glimpse into the future and demonstrating your commitment to exploring business innovation wherever it may be."

Our 10th Anniversary Issue, issue 103 followed, honoring the Fast 50, our annual search for innovative companies. These companies are innovators in technology, work, and the world. There were the usual suspects, like Yahoo's Terry Semel and former president Bill Clinton. But there were also unexpected choices such as synthetic diamond growers Apollo Diamond and the computer imagery wizards at 1st Avenue Machine. The cover calls out nine of the fifty, including Joe Duffy of Duffy & Partners, the Minneapolis design firm that created the look of products such as Diet Coke and Minute Maid orange juice, as well as Toyota trucks' muscular insignia. For the past five years, Duffy has been trekking to China with a small team from the One Club, the international organization of advertising professionals to teach aspiring ad executives. "Over the next 10 years, these kids will help bridge the cultural gap between the East and West," said Duffy.

April brought us this year's most controversial cover--Al Jazeera. Many felt the image of host and spokesman Josh Rushing was too bold, seemingly endorsing the Arabic news network--as reader K.W. Hein said, "Your story on the traitor Josh Rushing causes me great concern. I, for one, am not interested in trying to understand those who would attack our country. They have earned no quarter and that is what we will give them." Five years after 911, animosity toward Arabs clearly remained with certain readers. The article exposed the inner-workings of the news channel and the global perspective it provides. But, could an attempt to convince Americans that the brand isn't the dangerous entity they think it is work? In our increasingly decisive country it seemed unlikely.

With the words "Eat This!" large and red, we debuted our food issue in May. Culinary innovation isn't a usual subject for a business magazine, but as we revealed, it is a big industry with great things unfolding at the fringes. From organic farming to wine, opportunity for innovative and profitable products can be found. An example is the subject of the cover photograph, chef Homaro Cantu, standing amidst the silvers of hi-tech science. Using science, Cantu offers a dining experience unlike any other at Moto in Chicago. His own food company, possibly featuring synthetic champagne injected into your glass with a giant black medical syringe, will soon bring mind-bending eats to a market near you.