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Napier News News and comment about the European electronics media
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Tradition is important in Europe, so it’s nice to see the Elektra Awards extend the entry deadline again. Entries are now due by 23rd July 2010.
Tags: Awards, Electronics Weekly, UK
We were all delighted that Napier has been named as one of the UK’s top technology consultancies by PR Week in their 2010 league tables. Thanks to all our clients for their support and for choosing Napier!
Tags: Awards, News About Napier
The Elektra Awards have opened for entries. Arguably the Electras are the most prized awards in the European electronics industry, and there is always strong competition, particularly in popular categories such as the two semiconductor product of the year awards.
The entries are due to close on 2nd July 2010. Although it has become somewhat of a tradition for this deadline to be extended, I’d strongly recommend getting your entries in on time: I’m sure that at some point Electronics Weekly will stick to the published closing date!
Tags: Awards
EPD is inviting entries for the e-Legacy Awards 2010. The e-Lagecy awards are one of the most sought after prizes in the European electronics industry due to their focus on hot topics such as medical, the environment, security and sustainability.
Entry information is available on the EPD site, but make sure you don’t forget the 30th May deadline because unlike other awards, EPD doesn’t extend the deadline to get more entries!
Congratulations to Promise Technology, who have been named as a Storage Awards finalist in four categories:
Promise has great products: we use them for storage within Napier and are delighted that they have been shortlisted for so many awards. Please vote for them at www.storage-awards.com.
Tags: Awards, Clients, News About Napier
The energy-efficient Cool-ORing solution for redundant power supplies from Vicor’s Picor division has been shortlisted in the power category for the Selezione Innovation Awards 2010. Readers vote on the product they like the best, with winners announced at a gala evening in September. Good luck to Vicor and Picor!
Tags: Awards, Clients, Italy, News About Napier
SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2010 has issued a Call for Papers that cover topics including automation, industrial communications or drives. To encourage more young engineers to participate, an award will be to the best paper from an engineer less than 36 years old. It’s great to see that the prize is not just a trophy: the winner will receive a cash award of €1000.
Submission is via the show website, and proposals must be received by 26 April 2010.
Tags: Awards, Call for Papers, Germany, Shows and Events
Corinne Schindlbeck, the Markt&Technik who covers management & careers, has been awarded the Media Prize Technology by the VDE Südbayern, Germany. It’s great to see electronics industry bodies award prizes to journalists, and as an engineer I am particularly pleased that the prize went to someone who is encouraging young people to choose engineering as a career. Congratulations Corinne!
Tags: Awards, Editors, Germany, Markt und Technik, Weka
Thanks to all at Electronics Weekly for putting on such a good show last night for the annual Elektra Awards. We had several clients shortlisted, with Microchip walking away with the Semiconductor Product of the Year – Digital award. Many congratulations to Microchip and all our clients who were shortlisted.
Tags: Awards, Clients, Electronics, Electronics Weekly, Microchip, News About Napier
At last night’s Elektra Awards, Paul Briggs, Group Publisher for Reed Technology Group, announced that Electronics Weekly and UBM are to form a strategic partnership for the Embedded Systems Conference and Exhibition, to be held on October 20-21st 2010 at Earls Court. A couple of months ago this partnership would have been almost unthinkable, but with the sale of EE Times, it seems almost anything is possible.
Of course it is good news that there will be two major companies behind the event next year, and I really hope it works. It does, however, need some radical thinking. Neither company generated large attendances at events this year, and more worryingly they didn’t appear to be able to attract big name exhibitors who must sign up early to encourage smaller exhibitors and visitors to attend.
The move will presumably see National Electronics Week refocus on its core electronics manufacturing sector, which may even increase the quality of the visitors, although they will have to work had to secure strong support from the media.
Overall it’s a good thing that we have commitment to ESC2010, but if it is to be a success the organisers need to think radically. Today exhibition success is not about achieving a particular revenue per square meter of booth space. It’s all about getting big-name companies who will not only attract visitors, but also proactively market the event to their databases, and provide compelling reasons to attend, such as running classes on the show floor. I hope that EW and UBM can see the benefit of this, and are able to announce commitments to exhibit from several major manufacturers.
Tags: Awards, EE Times, Electronics, Electronics Weekly, ESC, National Electronics Week, Reed, Shows and Events
ED Europe is a purely digital publication. So does this mean print is dead?
Absolutely not. In my opinion print publications will never be redundant. We humans read for many reasons such as pleasure, education, information-gathering and business requirements and for many people there is considerable enjoyment in reading a well-written, well-designed magazine or newspaper that is traditionally printed. There is also for some a desire to own well-produced books that perhaps form part of a personal collection.
I see no future print scenario that will emulate Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451. ….now there’s a book worth owning.
From a B2B information perspective I think traditional print and electronic media can co-exist. The only proviso I would mention is that free circulation B2B print publications face sharply escalating costs on paper, printing and postage and therefore it is financially logical that B2B media companies will increasingly use electronic media to reach existing and new audiences
What are the benefits your readers see from a magazine that is delivered digitally?
Convenient delivery to their computer desktop, easy storage for reference purposes, easy to print if required. Individual pages or the whole thing can be emailed to colleagues, customers, etc.
ED Europe is delivered only as a PDF, whereas most other titles have some online system with animated pages and an option to download a PDF. Why haven’t you offered an online reader?
Unlike many PDF-delivered publications that are really print publications that have been adapted for, or in some cases just shoved onto, computer screens, ED Europe was specifically designed for PDF delivery. This provides numerous advantages for recipients. It opens in a landscape format that fits computer screens. Readers do not have to zoom in to read it or scroll around the page trying to find the story they want. Reader navigation throughout the publication is quick and easy and because of some very smart compression techniques we can produce a 26-page edition with lots of colour graphics that goes out typically as a 3meg file.
Let’s not forget here that ED Europe was created back in 2005 so it’s not unreasonable to call it a pioneering success in digital B2B media terms. It has during that time won three major awards in the USA.
On the subject of Flash-related animations in digital publications Penton Media is fully aware of these and plans to make full use of them.
Can you explain the difference between writing for a print publication and writing for a purely digital title?
In the case of ED Europe, there really is no difference. Because of the way it is designed we can run short news stories, full-length technical features and opinion columns in exactly the same way as a traditional print publication.
Now ask me that question relative to writing directly online and that’s a very different journalistic proposition. Penton Media editors now write directly to websites and the way headlines and other related information is written has to be within certain parameters that suit web journalism.
So we now see a complete Penton Media portfolio where editors write for traditional print, digital and online media
ED Europe launched an HTML email newsletter. Why didn’t you simply create a shorter PDF magazine to cover the news? What are the advantages of the HTML delivery?
Three reasons for that. ED Europe’s NewsLine newsletters provide readers with a fast, convenient, easily absorbed information service. For Penton Media it has created an additional revenue source while also doing the valuable job of driving traffic to our websites.
You have been one of the pioneers of online video in the European electronics industry. Do you see video continuing to grow as a medium in our industry?
Penton Media are committed to online video in a big way and yes I do see the use of video as a B2B communication tool expanding. Penton Media has an Engineering TV department that works in conjunction with publications and editors to produce very high quality professional standard coverage. For me and many of my editorial, colleagues at Penton one of the major video innovations has been the way in which we report on exhibitions. To be able to shoot a three-minute interview with somebody that has been deeply involved in the development of new products and technology and have them explain it directly to our design engineering audiences has to be one of the most immediate and informative ways of communicating complex information.
In addition to our editorially created video coverage Penton Media is now looking at hosting vendor videos on our websites. Conceptually, these are videos produced by companies that want to promote their products and as such can considered as being a modern high-tech form of advertising. Penton Media will be hosting these videos for a fee and the number of weeks/months the video will appear for will depend on the level of fee paid.
What is the one thing you’d like to change about the way companies do PR in the electronics industry?
Generally speaking the successful PR executives and PR agencies do a pretty good job of presenting and distributing information to the media.
But while we are on the subject of PR agencies I will just release one particular bee-from-my-bonnet. PR agencies in a bid to do the best for their clients will often promote the use of editorial columns to publicise the client. And why not? Its a powerful form of promotion that contains that all important credibility ingredient called editorial integrity; although sometimes I wonder, and call me a tad cynical here if you wish, if the real attraction is more to do with the fact that editorial coverage is free.
Without going into a full scale, force 10 rant here let me put the point simply. There are agencies with foresight that appreciate magazines do need advertising income if they are to stay in business. Sadly, there are others that will soak up all the editorial support they can without thinking that in the long-term publications are a business and understandably need to turn a profit or otherwise face closure; a situation that benefits no publicity agencies.
If an industry feels there is a value to having B2B media circulating in its sector then it needs to consider supporting that media with advertising.
And let’s get one thing straight; I am certainly not talking here about a pay-to-play editorial approach. Clearly, that would ultimately denigrate the content of any journal and would not serve the interests of either readers or advertisers. What I am saying is that all industry clients and their agencies should recognise that in the long-term maintaining independent, well written and well produced business media is in everyone’s interests.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, when you’re not writing about electronics?
Wining and dining with family and friends, travelling in Spain, playing classical Spanish guitar (badly)
What’s your favourite gadget?
A corkscrew
Tags: Advertising, Awards, CIE, Clients, Digital Magazines, Digital Magazines and Print Publications, ED Europe, Editors, EiN, Electronics, Email, EPE, ESC, ESE, Europe, Interviews, Newsletters, Online, Penton, Spain, USA, Video
