I'm writing this month's column during the COVID-19 outbreak. There is a lot of stress and uncertainty in our world right now, and I'm working hard to approach the situation with an attitude of gratitude. I'm personally thankful for the health of my family, a job that I love and the ability to work from home, while also homeschooling my children. Finally, I'm very grateful for the T&D World and Endeavor Business Media Energy Group that keep everything running smoothly, even during these challenging times.
T&D World has been providing information to engineers and utility professionals for more than 70 years. We've made a few upgrades that will enable us to do an even better job and I'm excited to share what we've been working on. In addition to T&D World, the Endeavor Business Media Energy Group now includes the following brands covering the electric utility industry: Utility Analytics Institute, Transmission Hub, Utility Products, Distributed Energy, and Agora Summits. This all enables our team of experts to cover the entire energy industry in a comprehensive manner, like no one else.
Evolving and Engaging
Media channels have evolved, and T&D World is now reaching more utility decision makers than ever, so it makes sense that while we remain dedicated to being a trusted source for information, we deliver it in formats that today's audiences expect — at their desk, on their phone, in long-form content in print, or in slide shows.
T&D World is evolving and is engaging with our audience through expanded digital offerings such as bootcamps, webinars, new enewsletters and continuing education courses. Personally, I've been more digitally engaged while at home practicing social distancing. I hope you will also take a few minutes to look around at some of these brands' websites and sign-up for a free enewsletter or print subscription. Finally, I'll sure be happy to see you all again after the travel bans expire, so don't forget that we are offering a series of live in-person events so you can make connections with other deep industry experts, such as at the upcoming T&D World Leadership Forum: Wildfire & Risk Mitigation conference in Portland, Oregon.
Award-Winning Team
The T&D World editorial team is known for creating high-quality content that attracts and engages leading utilities. Their dedication was recently recognized by being awarded five awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). The ASBPE Azbee Awards of Excellence program is one of the most competitive there is for business-to-business, trade, association, and professional publications. The awards recognize outstanding work by content teams producing magazines, newsletters, and digital media.
I'm pleased to share that our T&D World editorial team won the following 2020 Azbee Awards in regional and national categories:
- Editor's Letter – Global Viewpoint: Martha Davis, Senior Director of Content
- Group Profile – Line Legacies: Amy Fischbach, Field Editor; Martha Davis, Senior Director of Content; Nikki Chandler, Associate Content Director; Susan Lakin, Art Director (Editor's Note: Susan also just celebrated her 28th anniversary working with T&D World!)
- eNewsletter – Lineman Life: Amy Fischbach, Field Editor
- eNewsletter – Energizing: Nikki Chandler, Associate Content Director
- Photo Gallery – Dawn of the Drones: Ameren Missouri Surveys Storm Damage: Amy Fischbach, Field Editor
It's exciting to be acknowledged by ASBPE for credibility in covering the electric power industry and experimenting with new content formats. Creating award-winning B2B journalism requires being embedded in industry, understanding critical factors at play, and the ability to synthesize knowledge into useful information. This group of award-winning journalists have a combined 75+ years of energy & B2B media experience between them.
Teamwork
Now this award-winning team is even topping themselves, demonstrating how great they really are through the COVID-19 outbreak. This group embodies the high performance and perseverance described by Churchill: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Despite numerous personal adversities — some stranded in Paris during a travel ban, earthquakes in Salt Lake City and homeschooling children — the editorial team is working even harder than ever to capture the strength, resiliency and humanity of our industry during this public health crisis. I am truly blessed to have a team that works hard every single day to build upon the T&D World legacy, earn the continued trust of our audience, and who are not satisfied being the very best in our field, but strive to be even better.
Please join me in congratulating this phenomenal group of editors, dedicated to helping utilities solve their biggest challenges.
Also please also join me in welcoming our new editor, Jeff Postelwait ([email protected]), and the staff from our new sister publications to the expanded Energy Group. They all make T&D World a "powerhouse!" Pun intended.
