Years ago when I worked at a local newspaper, I attended a colleague’s funeral and during the eulogy our editor read from a stack of letters — fan mail — that readers had sent the reporter, who died far too young. The editor explained to mourners that these letters — typed or written long-hand; this was pre-Internet — were cherished by journalists almost as much as a paycheck.
Today we collect e-mail — I’ve saved virtually every one sent in response to my 10 years of opining here — no one writes long-hand and print publications are dying so fast there are Web sites devoted to keeping tally. All of which made this e-mail to Network World management from longtime reader Teo Malos more satisfying and poignant — and, at the risk of appearing boastful, I’m going to share it with the group.
Greets Gents,
Network World is a wonderful resource. Thank you!
In 1978 I dropped out of my K-12 and into IT. Back then I relied upon Datamation magazine to learn the vocabulary, concepts, and trends in IT. From there I went to Jim Warren’s publications which became Infoworld which I read weekly until publication ceased. The articles were great. I really enjoyed Bob Metcalfe, Stewart Alsop, Cringeley and the InfoWorld labs.
Since 1996 I’ve been the Technology Director for the Ventura Unified School District.
Now your publication, Network World, is the one I look forward to reading each week. I read it cover to cover. First a headline and advertising scan. Next I read the regular columns — all of them. Then I go back to the beginning and drill into each article of interest (most of them.)
Your coverage has helped me evaluate products. It has alerted me to issues I needed to be alert to. I’ve often sent links to colleagues and my staff to NWW articles.
Of late NWW has grown smaller. Even so, all the content remains excellent. If I had my way, I’d have you shrink it to a Reader’s Digest size format and make it a bit thicker than it is now.
After I’ve read NWW I pass it on to staff and ask them to read articles that I’ve already read that they need to know about. Typically one NWW goes from my hands to two other sets of hands before it is recycled.
I don’t know how often readers tell you how much they appreciate your print publication — so I thought I should.
Sincerely,
Teo Malos
Thanks, Teo. … And I’ll mention the Reader’s Digest idea to the powers that be.
