The IND Monthly was launched in August of 2003 to provide a forum for thinking, educated, involved readers who care deeply about Acadiana's future and help shape the community's vision for it. Our readers are leaders. Whether they are business people or creatives, college students or grandparents, soccer moms and dads or singles, they don't sit on the sidelines. They are in the game - passionately - and make things happen. They are influencers in their business and social circles. When it comes to news, they want to know the whole story. The IND's readers also care about the arts, culture and style. They are the essence of the joie de vivre that makes Acadiana so special. Publishing partners Steve and Cherry Fisher May are veterans of the industry, having published The Times of Acadiana for eighteen years as well as ventures in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and San Antonio, Texas. (Under their leadership, The Times was named Newspaper of the Year by the National Newspaper Association.) Associate publisher Odie Terry, also a partner in The Ind, had oversight of special projects for The Times Publishing Group, which was sold in 1998. Top management recruited some of the finest writers and photographers in the state for staff and contributing positions at The IND. This commitment to excellence resulted in 27 awards from The Louisiana Press Association after publishing only 16 issues in the timeframe eligible for the most recent statewide competition, including first place honors for best feature story, best investigative reporting, best editorial cartoon, best photo feature and most effective use of graphic design, among others. In the months since that competition, The Ind has routinely scooped the other media and is credited by competitors and colleagues alike as having raised the bar for journalism in Acadiana.