CMP and before

I was editor of What’s new in Electronics (published by CMP, part of United Business Media) from April 1997 to August 2009. In in May 1999 oversaw a revamp that saw the best read (according to independent research) monthly title in the UK electronics market move from it’s A4 to a tabloid format. One driving force behind this move was the transition to web-based archiving of all the information that WNIE published each month. I originally set up the WNIE web site in 1997.

n Before taking the editors role at WNIE, for seven years I covered new products and the distribution sector for Miller Freeman’s weekly newspaper Electronics Times as well as supplying news and features copy across the whole electronics sector.

In 1994 I won the Technology Writer of the Year award with the judges commenting "technical subjects need to be written well to serve the readers’ purposes. Colin is at ease with his subject".

While on ET, I conceived and edited the Distribution Times supplement that was published six times a year. This innovation had along-term effect and improved ET’s market share and provided an on-going increased profile within the distribution sector.

I also conceived and edited a supplement celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Tektronix, a major company in the test and measurement sector. The company supported the supplement through advertising and encouraging its suppliers and distributors to advertise. None of the companies had any control over the editorial. The supplement included interviews with the company's chairman and three divisional CEOs carried out in Oregon.

After joining WNIE I edited similar supplements covering a number of companies including International Rectifier and Bulgin Components, all of which have been published in ET.

n I joined what was then know as Morgan Grampian (afterwards Miller Freeman now CMP Electronics Division) in June 1982 and prior to joining ET I spent periods on both Electronic Engineering and What’s new in Electronics writing copy and carrying out editorial production work.

n Previously I spent two years as production editor on a weekly, The Accountant, and started my journalist career in May 1977 at the Society of Electronics & Radio Technicians, working its monthly journal Electronics Technology as well helping to organise conferences on a variety electronics subject including microprocessor testing and reliability.