YOURS OR MINE?
EDITOR’S OPINION
Communication, to be effective, must be two-way. We at Fire Engineering have more than forty thousand of you out there, most at just the receiving end of what we are calling communication. Each day I search my office mail for your comments and suggestions—negative or positive. Every two weeks I receive copies of all the reader service cards on which you have taken the time to record messages. I read every one and answer those required, either by mail or by phone.
So what?
I spend a lot of time in the field with you (as many of you know) either in the instruction phase or at trade shows and conventions. Those of you who know me know that 1 love talking with you about our job, our magazine.
So what?
The point is that I have tried to make this your magazine since the first day I left the smoky tenement hallways. 1 want the editorial product to be able to go where you want it to go, to shape and reshape it to your needs. I want to be able to introduce you to national and international peers, subordinates and superiors, those whose opinions and ideas you respect. It’s easy, if you have but one tool on your side: communication.
So what?
The point is that we do not receive sufficient feedback. Oh yes, there are encouraging, complementary letters that help me personally very much. But you can’t print them too often. There are always a few in disagreement who do so in writing. That’s great, because we can now have dialogue equals information equals knowledge. As I said, we are a family of more than forty thousand. I turn to you often and you never fail to help.
Take some time to send some questions, suggestions, or comments. I can assure you that they will not fall on deaf ears. You know how you hate it when you don’t hear from the family often enough.
Without your dialogue, this would be a lonely job. This would no longer be your magazine—you would have let it become my magazine. And if that’s the case, I would no longer want to play.
