PR, Marketing and the Business of CAD

The blurring line between advertising and editorial

There. Someone finally went and said it - in a job posting no less. Frontier Airlines' in-flight magazine publishers, Mphasis Integrated, is looking for a Managing Editor via Craigslist. Even with my current career track I gave it a read through to see what was what. It is not a bad job, except for what will probably become, for me, a classic line:

"You should be very much ‘new school’ and supportive of the blurring lines between editorial and advertising (we are not a news magazine, we are an entertainment magazine)"

(Oh and for the purposes of posterity I have copied the entire job ad at the end of this post.)

New school? Blurring lines between editorial and advertising? Is this for real? Okay, let's pick it apart:

This is a manifestation of many things that editors and i have discussed over the years: whether to write the whole truth and nothing but the truth (something for which Steve Wolfe is well-known) or whether to hold back in the fear of distressing a valuable advertiser. And this is an issue that often comes up on this blog.

The established separation of 'church' (editorial) and 'state' (advertising) is a part of journalistic ethics, and although editors do sometimes get forced to be a little nicer than they would like in editorial, they still strive towards the ideal of complete editorial independence. Why? Because any editor worth his salt knows that readers are a) brighter than he/she and b) can spot 'advertorial' work from a mile away.

Yet it looks like Frontier's Inflight magazine is willfully ignoring those little details and asking the Managing Editor to make sure that advertorial looks like editorial, and corresponds to the amount of money changing hands. In journalistic terms this is considered selling one's soul to the devil.

More: One of my colleagues immediately found the term 'new school' to be ageist. Okay, he has about a decade more than I and is more sensitive to things regarding age, but it is an interesting slant - his take is that the assumption being made by the publisher is that 'old editors' are too ethical to be able to handle the 'blurring lines' and therefore they only want young editors (i.e. New School). By that same assumption, he says they will favor a young editor who is less experienced, has had less time to think about the issues regarding editorial integrity and has less hang ups about publishing assumption in the guise of fact.

Now, with this all in mind, and do note that as a Denver-ite Frontier Airlines is My Airline of Choice, it is now clear to me why I never get past the first page of this airline's in-flight magazine, and why I am never tempted to take it home with me. That's because it is crap. It is a beautifully designed piece of crap, but nonetheless, crap. Taking away editorial integrity in the name of money is a short-term solution, whether it is a print or online publication. People see through it instantly. And quit reading and believing. Can they get away with it since it is a corporate/in flight publication? Sure, to a degree, just the way many in-flight magazines have done over the years. But I have always seen Frontier Airlines as being a little different from the rest (great branding on their part), and so I think they should simply quit publishing it at all, and focus instead on some great video on their 'wildblueyonder' video channel on their planes. Now that would make sense to me!

****

The Job posting itself:
2008-05-08

Mphasis Integrated, publisher of Frontier Airlines’ in-flight magazine, W!ld Blue Yonder is looking for a managing editor to work in its Denver, Colorado office. Currently W!LD Blue Yonder is a bimonthly magazine reaching over 1,000,000 readers per month, and our plan is to go monthly effective January 2009.

Working with a small, committed staff, the managing editor is responsible for the editorial content, planning, design, and production of the magazine, and for collaborating on the editorial development of the website (GOwildblueyonder.com). The managing editor’s responsibilities will include some writing (esp. advertorial and branded entertainment pieces); building and overseeing a network of exciting, connected writers; managing fact-checking / proofing processes; and working closely with the entire publishing team (sales, promotions, design, client) to deliver a top-notch, national caliber magazine.

You should be very much ‘new school’ and supportive of the blurring lines between editorial and advertising (we are not a news magazine, we are an entertainment magazine). We are committed to delivering content that both connects with our affluent, well-read audience AND delivers impactful support for the categories of our branded entertainment sponsors, predominantly in travel, but also in living (real estate, shelter, health); business and technology; and entertainment (music, reading, puzzles, fun).

Requirements:
Five years of progressive editorial and management experience; demonstrated writing and editing skills (esp. AP style); a B.A. or the equivalent; an established network of writer resources; experience in the in-flight or travel category preferred.

Bob McNeel Starts a Blog

Okay, so this might sound like a 'no news' piece at first glance, but this is something that we call PROGRESS! After years of shuddering whenever I (or anyone) mentioned the word 'blog' to Bob, he has finally caved and started one that deals with all things Rhino.

Dealing with current news, Rhino software upgrades, cool things designed in Rhino, this blog tackles a lot of announcements that typically have been only available in the company's user forums.

Before Bob gets too offended, I have had a message out to many clients for several years now - use the tools available to get the word out, especially blogs, that create links back to your corporate and partner web sites, that then raise your Search Engine popularity. Blogs are an easy tool to start with, and a great way to communicate with existing, and future users.

Do check it out. It is at: http://rhino3dnews.blogspot.com/

Rach

Ken Feitz Takes Position at TransMagic

Ken Feitz, an industry long-timer who has served at companies such as Intergraph, Spatial and (of course) Strategic Reach, this week took a new position at TransMagic, a CAD interoperability company.

TransMagic was founded in 2001 by Todd Reade, and has made a name for itself by selling affordable CAD interoperability tools. Reade's prior background at Spatial Corporation allowed him to be able to leverage the Spatial interop technologies into some pretty neat products.

According to Ken, his first job is to work on the web site (hooray!) and to move TransMagic into a more prominent role in the industry reflective of its industry success. Admittedly, as a company that now has about 20 employees, in a market sector that is definitely challenging, TransMagic has seemed to be a well-kept industry secret. We applaud the move and wish Ken all the best at his new position.

r

Print articles Develop 'Gestation times'

Yesterday we got offered an editorial opportunity for an 'industry trend' article. However, the scheduled date was for the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of the magazine. Yes. 8 months away from now.

The reaction of my team was 'maybe we should go for it' (we are). My reaction was more related to gut instinct: The CAD industry, while dry, is still fast-moving on the technology side. A perceived trend now will either be a wisp of an idea in 8 months time, or an established industry fact. ergo: not a trend.

Okay, so we are used to a couple of print publications that stretch their editorial schedule out by 5-6 months. Most print publications are 1-2 months out. But 8 months??? That is beyond ridiculous especially when compared to the usual 1-2 weeks' lead time for online publications.

I am commenting on this because it pushed me over the edge. Inbetween the 8 months gestation time for this article, we can virtually guarantee at least 8 other placements of the same (similar) article in more progressive publications.

And then publishers complain (every now and then) that print subscription is dropping and they are having to tackle online challenges. Well duh. My patience is low this week and things like this simply drive me to zen-like forms of relaxation for a break. With that in mind, I'm off to meditate for a few minutes...

rach

Bloggers - press here

Roopinder Tara has opened up the theme related to some of our recent posts regarding CAD bloggers over at his CADinsider blog, and it is turning into an interesting discussion.

He is really trying to research an article on what role the bloggers have, and will have in the future, compared to today's 'established CAD press'. So far, he has a lot of responses from bloggers themselves, but did note privately that none of the 'established press' had responded. But I know why - the established press just spent the week in the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco, compliments of Autodesk, where the internet connection in the rooms varied between non-existent and weak;- and for MAC users, simply unavailable.

I predict that the field for 'CAD bloggers' such as Matt Lombard and the others will really open up when a company such as Autodesk invites them to their events and vice versa.

but do go have a read. it's interesting

rach

Bloggers Grow Up a little at SolidWorks World

Last year's SolidWorks World welcomed the company's "independent Bloggers" for the first time. Somewhat shy and a little intimidated by the regular CAD press, they tended to stay quiet, maybe aloof, but perhaps more in fear of the 'Press' label they had been given.

SolidWorks World 2008 welcomed the same group back. They again were on the quieter side during press briefings, but grew noisier and more confident throughout the week's events. While at the event, I had great fun sitting down and chatting with them, and it was interesting to see the continued inferiority complexes they still had when questioned about 'being press'.

Now there are still some distinctions in the press world, although the lines blur a little more with each coming event. The 'independent bloggers' I refer to here are not journalists by trade, but in this case are professional SolidWorks users, voicing their opinions on the side, unfunded and for the love of the software.

On top of that there are many "established press" that still use 'traditional press methods' for their editorial - print and online magazines.

And then there are the 'industry bloggers' (I'll give them that name) that were 'established press' but use blog media as a tool for editorializing.

Now you'll find that many of the now established CAD press started off life as users, just as our "Independent Bloggers" have. Many names you see in traditional CAD press publications are still users. So there is not much difference ultimately. However, many of the SolidWorks bloggers at SolidWorks World definitely have an inferiority complex as to their skills and acknowledgement as press.

Matt Lombard, a SolidWorks "independent blogger", wrote today in a posting about the same subject:
" We are uncouth, don’t spell check before posting, do not know how to use a semi-colon, but people are reading our stuff anyway. In fact, our stuff is creating much more of a stir than any of the conventional press stuff because of our biggest foibles: we have opinions and actually use the technology we write about."

Matt also goes on to point out the differences to other press that were at the event, which includes a number of CAD and financial analysts.
"Questions from these folks had a tendency more to the declarative than iterrogatory. They were always incomprehensible multi-part questions that I couldn’t even imagine who would find the answer even vaguely useful."

Don't worry Matt, the rest of us often feel the same way.

I predict that many of these bloggers that have been given their start through the encouragement of SolidWorks will find their way into being mainstream press at some point - if they decide to go that way. Either way, the industry is better off for having more CAD users and experts, with their perspective, than in not having them. And maybe comments like Matt's help the 'established press' understand where they might do better too.

Rach

Amy Rowell Announced as Editorial Director of Desktop Engineering

Amy Rowell, a well known editor and analyst in the CAD and PLM industries, has been announced as the editorial director of Desktop Engineering magazine. This is a great fit for both sides, given Amy's lengthy experience and qualifications in mechanical engineering, and with 20 or so years editorializing and analyzing the industry at publications such as Cadence Magazine, Computer Graphics World, Innovate Forum and as an analyst for Cyon Research.

This probably brings a lot of relief to the Desktop Engineering team who, we think, has been very hard pressed to compensate for the retirement/sabbatical of Tony Lockwood last year. They still did a bang up job, but the loss of that kind of expertise is always hard on the remaining team.

Since the birth of Amy's first child last year, from which she took some time off from the day-to-day hassle of squeezing news out of the industry, we are also glad to see her back in the market, and look forward to pestering the hell out of her for ed. opps.

Desktop Engineering is, as always, an excellent publication and we are continually keen to see the CAD industry publications grow and develop.

Tenlinks Acquires CADTalent web site

Our friend Roopinder Tara at Tenlinks.com last week announced that Tenlinks had acquired CADtalent.

This web site, founded by Tony Lillios and his OPENtalent team, provides thousands of CAD-related jobs across the industry, in clearly categorized vertical markets.

We feel this is a good combination for Tenlinks, and will provide the publishing group with a lot more page views (on which to sell ads) and more revenue from job postings. Go check it out

rach

Cadalyst Kills its Daily Newsletter

Last week, Cadalyst announced that it was dropping its 'Cadalyst Daily' email newsletter in favor of its other, weekly email issues including Cadalyst Tips and Tricks Weekly, CAD Managers' Newsletter and the other offerings.

This seemed to be a bit of a shame, but after chatting with Amy Stankeweiz, editor of the publication, she explained that the team wanted to publish more detailed, in-depth articles and analysis, and that the daily newsletter was a format that did not enable that aim.

From personal experience, i know that producing a daily newsletter about anything is highly challenging and requires a lot of team work, and scheduled 'burn out' about once every 3 months. In that light, I always hold Ralph Grabowski in high esteem for the continued quality work that he delivers usually daily or more, on his WorldCADAccess blog.

Amy indicated that no one at Cadalyst has lost their jobs as a result of this change, and that the move had lightened the workload of many of the publication's team, which was apparently what some of them needed.

So it's not really bad news at all.

rach

Using Windows CAD software on a MAC at CCNtv

Greg Smith delivers a review of using Parallels and VMwareFusion on a MAC to enable using the CAD software that is usually limited to Windows only. Go to the broadcast and its about half way through...great for frustrated MAC users who are engineers and just want to run their CAD software on their MACs.

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