New Tools for You

By Joe Feeley, Editor in Chief

I’ve said this before, but the lifeblood of our content creation really is based on what you, as machine control technology users, tell us are the important issues for which you need information and, beyond that, whether we get it right.

Your willingness to contribute to staff-written articles, to write a guest column, or to participate in our studies is our primary conduit to stay on top of the important issues.

With your involvement in mind, we’ve fired up two new “voices” for you.

The first is a toll-free, automated voicemail box for those of you who don’t want to or momentarily can’t fire off an e-mail, fax, or letter, when you want to respond to something we’ve said or done.

We’re told some of you are more likely to leave a message when there’s nobody at the other end who’ll pick up and keep you on longer than you want.

So, now it’s just a case of dialing 800/984-7644, and punching in 459 at the automated prompt. We won’t call you back—unless you want us to. How about that?

The second method is our web-site forum, “Heard on Discrete.” It’s our virtual corner tavern. You’ll find postings from editors, readers, and other species of site visitor contributing to various topics. Respond to a posting. Start a conversation of your own. You can be you. You can be anonymous. Our job as the editors is to occasionally prime the conversation pump, try to provide a balanced selection of topics, and keep the content printable. You’ll find it on our home page.

Give these new toys a try. Add your take on an issue that affects Machine Builder Nation. Light us up about some boneheaded item you think we’ve written or posted. Who knows, you might even want to agree with something we’ve said. The more you play, the better the game.

There’s more that’s new. This is my first chance to introduce two new members of our team. Mike Bacidore joined us in early July as managing editor for the Control Design and Industrial Networking brands. He brings a wealth of editorial and editorial management experience in both print and web-based environments.

A week after Mike arrived, Katherine Bonfante signed on as our new digital editor. Katherine has accumulated a solid resumé of accomplishments in editing and writing activities in both print and digital media.

We’re really happy to have found two outstanding persons to fill crucial postions. You’ll see and hear good things from them as we move forward.

Want more that’s “new”? Maybe you’ve noticed the new interior design of the magazine? We introduced it in June and, while we might still tweak a few things, our goal is to make it an easier, more up-to-date read for you. We’d like to know what you think of it.

After all, you now have a lot more new ways to tell us.