I can remember one and only one magazine advertising campaign--perhaps because it was seared into my mind by prepubescent guilt. It was called "What Sort of Man Reads Playboy?"

The answer was revealed over many months in a series of full-page, photo-heavy ads: a manly man who attracts the lustful attention of beautiful women, at least in part because of his taste for silk robes, expensive booze, and strong cologne--all products that advertisers might turn to Playboy to sell.

With a new advertising director, Ben Warner, just settling in at this magazine, I've been wondering, "What sort of person reads Sierra?"

There are two reasons to ask that question. The first is so that our editorial team can assign, research, report, write, edit, fact-check, copyedit, design, photograph, and publish articles that will inform, engage, and entertain you, honored Sierra reader, with jaw-dropping brilliance.

The second is so that Ben and his enterprising team of advertising representatives can sell you to companies that in turn want to sell something to you. Advertising, after all, is one way that we pay for the magazine you hold in your hands or see on your screens.

So who are you? And why are you so worthy of so many companies' attention?

In short, you're the kind of person who embraces the motto "Explore, Enjoy, and Protect the Planet." You may even find those verbs woven into your sense of self.

The ads I'd create would depict you in split screen:

· grinning like a loon while riding your folding bike to work and then giggling on the back of your girlfriend's tandem as you cycle past wetlands that you helped save from bulldozers;

· hoisting your sweaty self up a 5.10 granite face and then kicking back under a camp lantern reading The Botany of Desire;

· giving a thumbs-up to the crew who put solar panels on your house in the morning and then battering your way through Class V rapids at sunset;

· admiring a scarlet macaw in your binoculars and then admiring the way your flip-flops look on the sustainable flooring you installed to protect that rainforest.

Oh, and in all these ads, you look smart and brimming with gumption, because according to a respected industry study, you consistently rank among the most influential of all magazine readers, right up there with those of the Economist and the Atlantic.

So, although I prefer fleece to silk smoking jackets, and rivers to grotto swimming pools, I take at least as much pride in all you sexy Sierra readers as Hef does in his.

I'm glad that our advertisers lust after you. And here's one thing about you that I know for sure: If you don't see your values and desires reflected in Sierra's pages, you will certainly let me know about it--perhaps in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.