The expert in the mirror
When I was in sixth grade, I decided I wanted to write a book. I didn’t know what kind of book or what the plot would be, I just knew I wanted to write a book.
Well, at age 25, the book still hasn’t been written and I still don’t have a clue what the plot will be.
How do you even go about finding a topic of interest to people? You know, those topics interesting enough that people won’t put it down after reading the first two paragraphs?
Each month our magazine staff puts together features and departments that are timely, newsworthy and helpful to readers. Problem is, how do you know what people want to read? To answer that, we need feedback.
The “POS Perspective” column that runs in MRT every other month has generated passionate opinions, comments and suggestions from readers. Because you are enthused, we continue to run the column. But we still need more letters, comments and story ideas from you.
We need this input because we produce a monthly magazine, Web site and monthly newsletter to keep you up-to-date on news and information. Your input is helpful in determining future article topics.
I have a suggestion. Instead of letting the editorial staff figure out what you want to read in our magazine, Web site and newsletter, how about emailing me three topics you would be interested in reading a story about? It won’t take longer than two minutes to think of the topics and write the message.
You could even write an article yourself. We would love to publish an article written about two-way radio dispatch or mobile telephone communications. Anything involving equipment and systems design, installation, operation and maintenance is useful knowledge. Use your experiences as a guide. Technicians and engineers who have solved a particular problem or who have developed a new technology are good storytellers.
What do you get out of it for your time and effort, you ask? As an author of an article for MRT, you will receive increased visibility that may lead to advancement within the company. You might improve the company image by demonstrating technical competence and capabilities. Or if the article is about a product, then you can explain the technology and functions in greater detail than what might be revealed by a press release.
If you’re worried about your writing skills being less than superior, don’t worry, we have editorial guidelines available. You also have us, the editors. After all, we do have to justify our jobs somehow.
If our readers send in topics and articles of interest, we know we’re reaching our audience with pertinent information. Just keep in mind when choosing your subject that it should be broad enough for all our readers to relate to. What works for a base station engineer may not work for a tower builder.
Meanwhile, I’m gaining valuable research experience that will some day help me find an interesting plot and get me started on writing my book.
Maybe I’ll start with “The night was humid as the radio technician approached his workbench…”
