Picking up the reins
01 August 2011
One of the hardest things to do when taking over the editorship of a magazine is to pick up where the previous editor left off and try to provide a seamless change for the readership. In this case the changeover is made much harder because I am taking over from Tim Fryer, who has been a driving force for EM&T over the last decade and is held in such high regard by engineers in the manufacturing and test areas.
Luckily for me, Tim has left the magazine in great shape and will still be in the same office when he takes up his new position. I would like to wish Tim the best of luck in his new role from myself and the rest of the team here. I hope he enjoys his holiday and is ready for a thousand questions when he returns.
For the remainder of my first column, I’d like to say a little about my own background. I grew up in Scotland’s Silicon Glen, where industry giants such as DEC, Motorola, IBM, Compaq, SCI, Solectron and National Semiconductor were based. I also know how quickly this industry changes, as when I started to study electronics at university all these companies operated huge manufacturing plants nearby, and when I graduated nearly all of them had moved on, mainly to Eastern Europe or the Far East.
These departures left a great hole in the employment prospects for new electronics graduates like myself. Luckily enough I caught a break and my first graduate role was here at IML Group as a technology reporter on EPD magazine. Since then I have had the privilege of editing three different magazines in the electronics sector, managing PR for a number of electronics companies, and most recently working in the marketing department of a leading electronics distributor.
Hopefully this previous experience has given me a good all round perspective of the electronics industry. However as there is always plenty more to learn, I will be turning to you over the coming months to ask your opinions about the content of the magazine and how we can improve it to reflect today’s electronics manufacturing industry. I would love to hear your views about our current offering, and what type of content you’d like to see in the future.
Another subject that I’d love to hear your views of are social media tools like Twitter and forums. Personally I’ve grown to love these sites for the great perspective they offer. Do you use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or other forums to get information pertaining to your professional career? If you do use Twitter, you can let me know your thoughts on @EMTEditorial, or if you prefer more traditional means of communication you can contact me by email at: alistair.winning@imlgroup.co.uk.
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