1/1/2000
We Must Provide A Diversity Of Experts Who Deliver Technical, Marketing And Management Information
By Dave Wooldridge
Through the contributions of your peers, Automotive Rebuilder has been able to provide much of that information
Many times when attending industry events, I’m asked about the people who write the articles and columns that appear in Automotive Rebuilder. Since I became editor of the magazine some 16 years ago, it quickly became apparent to me that there was a need for a diversity of information from a variety of experts. Yes, sometimes those feature stories appearing in the pages of Automotive Rebuilder are written by our own staff after numerous interviews with appropriate rebuilders and suppliers.
Other times, however, especially when it comes to the more in-depth technical material we publish, we depend on writers whose expertise transcends our ability to do a collective search of those with all the information needed. We depend on active industry participants who know the questions that need to be asked and either have gleaned it through hands-on personal experience, or who know where to go to find it.
Of those technical writers, Doug Anderson deserves special mention for his contributions over more than 14 years of providing the readers of Automotive Rebuilder with shop tips on solving specific technical problems faced by engine rebuilders. Doug has also been the main source of numerous major feature articles on rebuilding specific engines from their inception to later model applications.
As vice president of Grooms Engines, Parts, Machining Inc., Nashville, TN, Doug is one of those participants in our industry who truly understands the challenges faced by the machine shop and production engine rebuilder today. More importantly, he has been willing to share his knowledge and research on solving engine rebuilding problems with our readers for many, many years. I know that our readers truly value these in-depth technical rebuilding features because of the number of rebuilders who have told me so, and because of the many who call and ask if they could be sent a copy of a particular article which they have misplaced and earnestly want to replace.
So, it is with great satisfaction that I congratulate Doug on two recent awards for technical writing in the "How To" category presented to him by the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE). For trade press magazines with a circulation of 80,000 and under, Doug received a regional (Midwest) Silver Award for his September 1999 article on rebuilding the Chevrolet LT1 engine. Even more impressive, this same article earned Doug a national Bronze award when entered into competition against all other U.S. trade magazines with a circulation of under 80,000.
Just as with your business, the effort to provide the right products and services when they are needed – in our case technical, management and marketing information – is more important today than it has ever been. And in the coming year, we are already lining up additional contributors who are active participants in the high performance, heavy duty and passenger car and light truck rebuilding markets – writers who will give you information and a perspective on your business and customers that will make a positive difference in your sales, product quality and profitability.
dwooldridge@babcox.com