The Merry Month of May

Hands down, May is my favorite month. The world seems to come alive again, with green springing up in gardens and flower beds. It seems appropriate, then, that the fifth month of the year is named for the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants and represents the majesty of spring.

As the earth warms, I, like many people, also feel revitalized. A.D. Miller captures this essence in an article in the January/February 2013 issue of Intelligent Life magazine:

You survive the winter. If there was snow, it has melted. If there were New Year resolutions, you have broken them. The days have started to lengthen: you see daylight while you commute, rather than only through the office window. Yet spring seems like a broken promise. March is dismal. … April is showery and cruel. …

“Then, one day in May, it is warm. You sweat into the coat you mistrustingly put on in the morning, and you don’t mind. Trees blossom. Birds chirp. Buds darling. Instantaneously it feels not only that the worst is over, but somehow as if it never really happened at all. … May, when everything seems possible again, the world is new again.

This month’s issue of BedTimes embodies the energy of May. For example, the Better Sleep Council, the consumer-education arm of the International Sleep Products Association, is launching an especially engaging campaign for May’s Better Sleep Month called “Sleep Like a Kid.” Knowing that children typically sleep more soundly than adults — and kids are known to “say the darndest things” — the BSC posed to them questions such as, “How do monsters get out from under the bed?” and created a series of videos and ads from their answers. The campaign also includes social media, blog posts and influencer amplification. Check it out at BetterSleep.org.

That isn’t the only high-profile, high-energy event featured in this issue. We also bring you an exclusive preview of Interzum Cologne, the world’s largest furniture and bedding trade fair, which will be held May 21-24 in Cologne, Germany. Be sure to read our overview, including the many ISPA members exhibiting at the show. The biennial show is where manufacturers of mattresses and other sleep products can find the latest innovations in components, machinery, textiles and more. The 2017 event attracted 69,000 attendees from 152 countries and 1,700 exhibitors from 60 countries. We anticipate Interzum Cologne 2019 will be just as well-attended.

Mary Best headshot

Mary Best
Editorial Director

BedTimes editors will be at Interzum Cologne and will report on growing trends and the latest product introductions and innovations at BedTimesMagazine.com and in our July print issue. If you have product news you would like us to cover, send news releases and photos to Barbara Nelles, content manager and digital editor, at bnelles@sleepproducts.org by Friday, May 31, for possible inclusion in the July show wrap-up.

And start making plans now to attend ISPA’s next EXPO, which will be March 18-20, 2020, in New Orleans. Just think: By then, May will be around the corner again.

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