I saw this on a poster hanging outside one of the offices in our building and it makes me laugh every time I walk past it. So, you’ve read Elliot Maras’ column by now and maybe re-read it a couple of times. Here is what I can pass along at this point: Keep calm & carry on.
Friend and colleague moves on
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Elliot since I joined the company in 1999 and even working with him for a couple of years on Automatic Merchandiser. As most of you already know from your interactions with him, he’s a great guy and definitely a thought leader in the vending industry. However, he has a great opportunity ahead of him and will still be working for our parent company, Cygnus Business Media. Please join me in wishing him well on his new challenge.
Managing editor steps into new role
As mentioned, Emily Refermat has accepted the position of Editor of Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com. Many of you may remember meeting her either in person at a show or over the phone as she’s been writing for the industry under Elliot’s guidance for over 6 years now. I’d also like to introduce a new member to the Automatic Merchandiser team, Wade Vonasek, who joins as the Associate Editor and Digital Projects Manager. Wade comes to us from another publication within our parent company that serves the Vehicle Repair industry. Wade will be handling most of the product and press release news that you submit in the future. While he’s new to the vending industry, he’s very excited to learn as much as he can in the coming months.
Every business has experienced a “change of guard” so to speak, and the publishing world is no exception. In-fact, having an editor writing for the same magazine for over 20 years is something pretty amazing. So where does that leave us? Well, while the names on the masthead may be different, the mission of the magazine is still the same. Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com is dedicated to facilitating the success and growth of the vending/OCS industry by taking a stand on industry issues and by providing actionable insight, future trending and “hands-on” information regarding products, technology, industry and operations management. We’re also hard at work coming up with new ways to provide you with the content you’ve come to expect. Look for some new updates to the website, multi-media as well as our social media pages in the next couple of months.
In fact, this issue provides you with one of the most valuable pieces of trending we offer, the annual OCS Industry Report. The information for this report was gained from a survey conducted by the editors of Automatic Merchandiser as well as chatting with both manufacturers and operators. With this report being the most positive OCS Industry Report delivered in recent years, I think you’ll be interested in where there have been successes as well as areas for improvement for the last half of 2012 and provide you with insight as you plan for 2013. If you have any thoughts or comments on the report, please give me a call or email me. I’d be interested in hearing from you.
