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Meta Trade Mag

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of trade magazines that exist, and the niches that some of them occupy. Years ago, I used to subsribe to all the 3D design, DV, CG, and CAD magazines I could. It was free, and I could look at all the new stuff. There were about half a dozen worth subscribing to, and many of them started to go out of print as the market got flooded.

Then I chanced across an issue of Sea Power magazine. Seeing advertisements for radar-sighting systems to target your anti-aircraft gatling guns is just plain bizarre and awesome at the same time. It was refreshing to read articles written for people who already were familiar with the industry. You got a better insight than watching an episode of Evening Magazine where they talk about the new high-tech jet planes stationed at the local airbase.

After encountering a couple more trade magazines on strange industries, I thought it would be a great thing to have a trade magazine about the trade magazine industry. You could cover things like ratio of ads to articles (is there even a difference in a trade mag?), whether or not there was even a scrap of balanced journalism, overall readability, etc.

I abandoned my dream of publishing my own Trade Magazine trade magazine for law school, and somewhere during that time the internet became useful. I was looking to see if someone had made a TradeMag trade mag, and came across TradePub.com. It was the perfect way to gain knowledge of totally foreign industries. After a six-pack, here is what I ended up subscribing to:

Pig International - For the modern pig herdsman.
Tissue World - Such delights as "Ramping Up for Flu Season".
Packaging World - "Offers a smart mix of case studies, new products, machinery, technology and materials updates, special reports on topical issues, packaging awards." Thank god I have TiVo, in case the awards show gets broadcast at the same time as the Oscars.
Offshore Engineer - For my yet-to-be-acquired oil rig platform. I am consdering putting a Krusty Burger on it.
American Printer - Degloving injuries, and how you can avoid them.
Presentations - A mershy version of Tufte's PowerPoint treatise.
Firehouse - As a fire chief, I need to know when the latest hoses hit the market.
Beverage World - If you want to be the first to know what the next Sparks is going to be, this is the mag for you. Incidentally, the answer is not B^e.
Locksmith Ledger International - Actually quite practical, if i were thinking of becoming a thief.
WaterWorld - Wastewater treatment magazine. Infinitely more entertaining than the Kevin Costner movie of the same name.
Equipment Today - Bulldozers! Woot Woo!
Photonics Spectra - Lasers and fiber-optics. I was going to bring back the Pink Floyd show at the Laserium. First, I have to bring back the Laserium.
Military and Aerospace Engineering - What all 4-star generals read on the crapper.
Army/Navy Store and Outdoor Merchandiser - Cultivate your Travis Bickle side.
Workboat - The little tugboat that could, featured about 8 times per issue.
Tire Business - This just in: Class action lawsuits force Firestone exclusively into the huarache market to minimize liablity exposure.
Aircraft Maintenance Technology - Now, when i see random fluid leaking from the wing of the plane while in-flight, I can tell the stewardess that clearly an inappropriate amount of torque was applied to the lift-lever flap hydraulic line in violation of the Airbus A300 service repair handbook, not to mention the corresponding FAA regulations. Then we all die.
Food Engineering - I will be able to make the BEST sandwich in the world after a couple issues of this one.

Sorely missing from the mix was a magazine solely on booze, and anything on the adult entertainment industry. In any event, I should now be able to increase my random party trivia chatter by several orders of magnitude.

### Update 01-20-2005 ###

Be sure and "go large" on your duties and responsibilities. I just got this email today:

"Thank you for filling out a subscription form for Tire Business/2005-01-15 at TradePub.com or one of our partner sites. Unfortunately, due to the publisher's qualification requirements they are unable to grant your subscription request.

You did not qualify due to one or all of the following reasons:

• "Other" was selected as a response to one or more questions which may not meet the publisher's qualification criteria.


• The publication selected is not available in the country you reside in.


• Publications are only free to working professional. Not students.


• The publication's other specific demographic targets were not met. Such as what you specify or authorize the purchase of.

If you feel that your business, job function, title or responsibilities are such that you could have selected other available choices listed that would better describe your demographics, then please click here http://wwwrj.tradepub.com/free/tb/prgm.cgi and resubmit your subscription request."

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