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How MBN
Started
Machining Business News began with the crash of the machining industry as a
result of the 2008 / 2009 recession. The editor of MBN, Pete Nofel, was
the editor of Modern Applications News – MAN – until it ceased
publication as a magazine.
Because of
his interest in the machining and metalworking industries, Nofel decided that
machine shop owners and workers needed information about how to keep a
competitive advantage, especially in economic hard times, so he started a blog
about the industry –
Milling
Around – in June 2009.
The blog
soon outgrew its format and Nofel launched MBN in September 2009, to
offer readers and subscribers information about industry news and new products.
Along with that information the site will also offer case histories that show
how shops are using products or processes to save money, time, and effort.
Who is Pete Nofel?
This is the part where I brag about having built the pyramids, discovered
America, and brought about world peace. Or, words to that affect.
In reality,
I'm a modest guy just trying to make a living in a tough profession during a
tough time. I recently met with six or seven people who were my classmates in
the Kent State University School of Journalism. All of us were either
unemployed, or working in another field. Add the double whammy of the crash of
the machining industry and it's little wonder that I'm trying my hand at my own
news site.
I began my
career as a
daily newspaper reporter for a six-day-a-week paper in an outer-outer ring
suburb of Cleveland. After getting my feet wet in the real world of journalism –
hint: we call ourselves writers, reporters, editors, or columnists; only
dilettantes call themselves "journalists" – I moved to business-to-business
magazine work.
I was an
assistant editor of
Modern Office Technology about the time when everyone with two pennies
to rub together were starting personal computer companies. As the name implies,
MOT covered advances in office technology on a monthly basis for about
150,000 subscribers.
From there
I moved to
technical writing, working for a NASA contractor for about 10 years.
"Technical writing" often meant computer program documentation, but also
included such other assignments as creating marketing literature and videos for
potential customers of the of the wind tunnel facilities at what is now the NASA
Glenn Research Center.
When that
stint ended with a contract reassignment, I moved into serious industrial
editing, becoming the editor-in-chief of
Gases & Welding Distributor magazine. GWD was a bimonthly
national magazine that covered the business and technical aspects of the welding
and gas trades.
But, I was
tempted back into technical writing with an offer too good to refuse: IT
documentation at National City Corporation – one of the Midwest's super-regional
banks. The job offered work three blocks from home with a $10,000 boost in pay.
My heart,
however, was in writing and editing. And, after eight years with the bank and 16
different bosses – it was a re-org-happy company – I found my niche at Modern
Applications News – MAN.
I found the
work satisfying and fascinating. Once the recession hit and brought down MAN
as a magazine, I decided to stay in a field I loved, covering how stuff is made
from other stuff. Thus, I began independent coverage of the machining and
metalworking industry with a blog called
Milling
Around in June 2009.
I've never
like the word "blog," it looks and sounds ugly. Not only that, I soon found I
was co-mingling topics, such as editorials, news, and new product coverage, that
deserved separate coverage. Thus, I started Machining Business News with
a general debut in September 2009.
I'm based
in Cleveland, Ohio, working out of my home, taking care of both my work and my
Scottish Terrier and my
Bull Terrier.
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