If all went well, you should have heard a loud “Thud!” on your front porch this morning. Or maybe your newspaper box is leaning bit to one side or the other.

OK, so I am exaggerating a little bit but the point remains that our single largest newspaper edition should be in your hands by the time you read this.

Profile 2011 should have been in your newspaper this morning.

It is 136 pages of local stories, photos and advertising, the culmination of more than four months hard work by The Tribune staff.

You also should have noticed by now that the format is different from past years and we believe is a marked improvement in terms of quality content, presentation and reader friendliness.

It should also be able to be shared by more people to enjoy than ever before. Each year I want to recognize the tremendous staff who makes this happen.

It only seems fitting that this comes out during Oscar season because I often feel my column reads like an acceptance speech for the Academy Awards.

The entire newsroom deserves much credit for their hard work to find the stories and photographs that capture what makes our region so special.

Reporters Jennifer Chapman, Michelle Goodman. Benita Heath and Lori Kersey all went above and beyond, producing their best work. Sports editor Jim Walker took time out — even though he is a one-man department — to assist as well.

And of course it fell to our one-of-a-kind photographer Jessica St. James to find images to showcase all the stories.

Our graphic design team of Kelli Jameson and Kandi Thompson did tremendous work to create the visual presentation of the advertisements and the stories.

Without their organization and talents this project would have fallen apart under the sheer size of the undertaking.

Of course our sales team, led by ad manager Shawn Randolph and including Doug Pinkerton, Chad Bellomy, Gina Milum, Shirley Justice and Bonita Creger, did a tremendous job of working with their clients to create advertising messages that are attractive and effective.

Without our advertisers’ support, none of this would be possible.

Our production crew in the pressroom and the mailroom were instrumental in putting it all together. Press foreman Bo Elliott and pressman Mike Riffe worked with the mailroom team of Gary Cochran, Mike Barber, Matt Riffe and Bud McClain.

Of course you wouldn’t be able to read this column or hold Profile in your hands this morning if it wasn’t for the work of home delivery manager Josh Morrison and Debbie Milem working with all the independently contracted newspaper carriers to get it out the door.

I’ve been a part of 10 Profile editions over the years. Each one is special in its own way and conjure unique memories, but the 2011 version is, by far, the best I have had the pleasure of working on.

Others have said it is the best The Tribune has ever produced in more than 30 years.

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Tribune. To reach him, call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.