Mark Smith, founder of the magazine that became Windows IT Pro, has a great article today looking back on the 15 years since he started it. The first issue went out on August 24, 1995.
I didn’t start writing for them until about three years later, as I mentioned in my earlier post about how I got started writing. (I guess this post is part 3, more or less, of that series.)
At the time, the Windows NT juggernaut had a separate print newsletter that covered Outlook and Exchange, called Exchange & Outlook Administrator. They were looking for someone to write a Q&A column, which I was happy to do because answering reader questions meant that I didn’t have to come up with column topics all by myself (at least not most of the time.) Interacting with readers is really my favorite part about writing for the magazine, actually, but more on that in a minute.
I wrote for E&O for a couple of years, then took over the Exchange UPDATE column from Jerry Cochran in 2002 when he joined Microsoft. Writing a weekly column was quite a bit different than my previous work; coming up with something to write about every single WEEK turned out to be tough for the first, oh, seven years or so; now that the column is bi-weekly it’s much easier. The Exchange world is dynamic enough that there’s always something interesting to talk about.
Along with the UPDATE column, I’ve written dozens of feature articles for Windows IT Pro itself, plus a few reviews, buyers’ guides, and other ancillary materials. I really enjoy the people I work with; they are a first-class group of professionals and have, for the most part, a great sense of humor. I’ve learned a lot from them, too. A good editor can make a large difference in the finished quality of any writing, this not excepted.The same core group of editors works across multiple publications, and that continuity has been quite helpful. Thanks to Amy, Peg, Karen, Karen, Karen, Jason, Zac, Lisa, and the many other people I’ve been privileged to work with.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Dave Bernard, Dan Blunk, and the many other people who work for the Penton custom media team. They’re the ones responsible for foisting my webcasts and seminars off on a largely unsuspecting public. (Actually I’ve been doing this long enough that I think the bees are beginning to S-U-S-P-E-C-T something, if you know what I mean and I think that you do.)
We’ve just been working on the editorial calendar for 2011, and I’m pleased to say that we’ll be covering some really interesting topics… but you’ll have to subscribe to find out what they are!
Happy anniversary, Windows IT Pro. Here’s wishing you many more.
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