Reed Business Information
275 Washington Street, Newton, Massachusetts, 02458
617.558.4660
http://www.designnews.com
The Wind-Up
Design News, which targets design engineers in the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) market, covers the entire waterfront of new technologies. Whether it's a new
application designed by airline manufacturing giant Boeing or the latest in electronic toys you're planning to buy for your children this holiday season, the origins of the
technologies are likely to get covered in Design News. Market coverage includes aerospace/defense, computers/office, consumer electronics, medical/healthcare, semiconductor
manufacturing and telecommunications. The technologies on the magazine's radar also run the gamut: engineering software, metals, motion controls /automation, plastics/nonmetals
and power transmission. Design News, which runs 18 times a year, is heavily focused on technology applications. "We cover just about every type of company you could image that is
making products that contain electronic and mechanical parts, from toasters to trains," says Editor-in-Chief Karen Field. Recent edit includes a cover story on Chrysler's new
Tomahawk motorcycle, which is now available in the Neiman Marcus catalogue, a cover story on diesel engine technology and the latest technology in electronic scooters.
Although the 57-year-old publication (170,000-circ) could be considered a granddad of trade magazines it refuses to rest on its laurels, launching a $1 million redesign in
January that increased the size of the magazine and beefed up the artwork and photography. "Many of the engineering magazines have the type of reporting that is generally single-
sourced and some of it seems to come directly from press releases, there's not much of a reader voice," Field says. "Part of the effort here is to feature more of the faces behind
the design/engineering/development teams to have a more personal look and feel so that our readers will feel this magazine is not just for them but about them." In addition to a
digital version of the publication - updated daily -- there is a biweekly e-mail newsletter blast. Each newsletter tackles a single topic concerning technology design markets,
such as power trends, transportation, motion control and materials.
The Pitch
Communications execs have to be able to pitch technology stories that are relevant to Design News' editors: How does it compare to competing technologies? How does the
technology advance the category it falls into? One way of improving your chances of getting into the book is to arrange a demonstration of the technology being pitched. Tech firms
constantly make visits to the magazine's Massachusetts office to show exactly how a technology works and how it pushes the (fill-in-the-blank) needle. You can streamline your
efforts by readily providing access to the engineer(s) who created the technology. "We can't do a good job unless we can get past the sales and marketing people," Field says. "We
need to talk to the engineers who have developed the technology to better understand its relevancy to our readers." She adds that she is sometimes frustrated by PR execs'
inability - or unwillingness - to get engineers to go on the record, which often means that an otherwise significant story may have to get nuked because editorial doesn't have
enough details to merit treatment. Lead time is a minimum of two months, but Field prefers a longer lead time, particularly for hot stories. Breaking news works well for the e-
mail newsletter. How to contact editorial varies but as a general rule editors and reporters like a telephone call to get the ball rolling. "Even if you want to send an e-mail in
advance, a phone call is still the best way to contact reporters, but it has to be a significant [technology] development and the inside track on a story," Field says. (See
sidebar). "But for generic press releases we prefer e-mail." Aside from offering exclusives (surprise) Field says communication execs need to be able to "put the pitch into
perspective. Is this a category-definer? The PR person needs to help the editor understand the specifics." Looking ahead to '04, check the editorial calendar online. Among the
major issues that will be covered include consumer electronics and sensors, which applies to just about everything you can think of where data is being collected, ranging from
computer to airport security. The magazine will also be ramping its coverage of automotive and medical technologies. Still, "PR people don't need to feel limited by the edit
calendar because we're able to get in stories that we feel are significant in just about any issue," Field says.
Design News Contacts
- Editor-in-Chief: Karen Field, 617.558.4329, [email protected]
- National Editor: Paul Teague, 617.558.4356, [email protected]
- Senior Web Editor: Paula Porter, 617.558.4429, [email protected]
- Motion Control Editor: Rick DeMeis, 617.558.4339, [email protected]
- Materials Editor: Joe Ogando, 973.226.1628, [email protected]
- Contributing Editor: Terry Costlow, 847.966.0937, [email protected]