In the magazine world, it’s been time to think about 2012 for a while. No, I don’t mean the Mayan calendar and predicted apocalypse. I don’t even mean the Rush album, which I bet a few of you have (and let’s face it, I’ll bet that “a few of you” in that case is 100% male). We’ve been talking editorial calendars, topics, opportunities in various media, etc., and that’s how we got to today’s idea: editorial advisory partner firms.
We’re lucky here to work with a bunch of great individuals from the engineering community on a regular basis, including the people on our editorial advisory board. I want to build on that by establishing formal ongoing partnerships with a handful of engineering firms who are forward-thinking - not only in their work for clients but also in terms of presenting their work and successes to others.
The coming months will offer new opportunities forESto connect with readers via a variety of electronic media, in addition to more established avenues like the print issue, digital edition, and e-newsletters. Is your firm using any of these to promote its value to clients and potential clients? If so, you’re probably also producing the types of engineering solutions that serve your clients’ long-term interests as well. That’s the kind of firm I have in mind.
The basic idea here would be to work with each partner firm on approximately three print articles each year, for an “anchor” of a print commitment to share worthwhile projects and opinions with our subscribers. But another key component would be the opportunity to make use of a recurring presence on our website using some other media. This could involve your firm contributing regular blog posts, or a podcast series, or an occasional video about successes in the field, or some combination.
The idea is to take whatever capabilities or talents your company already has in these areas and provide a simple way to amplify the reach of that effort by joining forces to spread good content usingES’ avenues to reach the building community. Of course, we’ll be promoting this content in the usual variety of ways, too, and these partners will be listed in every print issue, of course. By partnering with firms, we aim to avoid an overload of time investment for any one person, and to let our readers benefit from the collective insights of a firm doing good things.
That’s why I’m asking you to engage in a little mild violence toward this issue. Rip out the page, stick it in an envelope or walk it over to your firm’s marketing director, and ask them to have a look. For convenience, I will have something about this up on my blog at the website by the time you receive this.
I’m looking for only five or six companies, tops. Why not yours?
SPRING INTO FALL
As the temperatures heat up, so does the activity surrounding our High-Performance Buildings event coming this September to the well-known Tysons Corner area just outside Washington. This locale is super-convenient via car or flights to either Dulles or Reagan National, so it’s a good time to make some plans. One of our two keynote speakers is Dr. James Freihaut. His official title is Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, but that’s not all he does. From the conference website (www.esmagconference.com):“Dr. Freihaut serves as director for Technology and Operations of the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster (GPIC) for Energy-Efficient Buildings. Located at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia, the GPIC works to improve energy efficiency and operability and reduce carbon emissions of new and existing buildings, and to stimulate private investment and quality job creation in the Greater Philadelphia region, the larger Mid- Atlantic region, and beyond. The GPIC will focus on full spectrum retrofit of existing average size commercial and multi-family residential buildings. Dr. Freihaut’s keynote will focus on the GPIC Hub’s vision of energy efficient buildings, and he will discuss plans to achieve that vision.”
There’ll be some great ideas and practical tips on hand, in the keynotes and throughout the two-day event, so visit the website to learn more and reserve your space today.
