Aviation Today: From Gutenberg to Google

Don't you hate it when a company makes cosmetic changes to a moribund product and then tries to palm it off as "new and improved"? It's like slapping rouge on the face of a corpse. Well, we hate it, too. That's why, when I tell you that we've vastly improved the Web site for our aviation group, you can take it to the bank.

Access Intelligence, the multi-media company that produces the magazine you hold in your hands, has devoted considerable resources, personnel and time into completely revamping its aviation Web site. Please check out our handiwork: www.AviationToday.com.

The new site retains the best features of its previous incarnation, notably the strong editorial content of our "brand name" aviation publications. You'll still get access to the same comprehensive news coverage and interpretive analysis.

Case in point: The cover story of this issue of Aviation Maintenance provides an incisive profile of Ron Chapman, Cessna Aircraft's senior vice president of customer support, who is retiring after nearly 40 years at the storied company. From her in-person interview with Chapman at the company's headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, AM editor Joy Finnegan extracts universal lessons for any reader who wants to better serve customers.
At AviationToday.com, we're striving to become the industry standard, as well. That's why we've added a host of new features in a clean, user-friendly format, such as podcasts, webinars, a daily news feed, more comprehensive databases and buyer's guides, a more powerful search engine - you name it. Don't take my word for it; go see for yourself.

The Internet has made news intraday, instantaneous and accessible to all. The Internet's profound transformation of business and daily life is especially acute in the aviation field, which places a premium on deploying the latest technology.

Many digital pundits proclaim that "print is dead" and that the Internet will completely replace magazines and newspapers. On the contrary, the Wild West of the Web makes the quality press - such as the magazine you're reading right now - even more important. Print publications help make sense of the Internet's informational overload and function as molders of elite opinion.

Let's debunk a big myth, right now. Print is not dead. Web-based media should be used to enhance your print message, not obviate it. Anyone with a message to communicate must adopt a hybrid media strategy that combines both print and online venues.

The Rise of Hybrid Media

With the Internet, consumers of news can choose from a smorgasbord of innovative media. Hyperlinks have changed all modes of communication, allowing readers to take ownership of how they receive information. Fewer people consume news in a static, linear fashion. More and more readers skip from one document and medium to another, fracturing time and space.

Despite the myriad media options now available, reaching customers, employees and partners with the right message remains as difficult as ever. It behooves you to deliver the right information to the right people, just in time, so they can do something useful with the information. That's why we've upgraded our Web site to utilize all forms of Web-based media, to give you and your market instantaneous access to breaking, up-to-the-second information.

The conventional means of reaching and persuading people are no longer sufficient. You must also deploy online tools as supplements. Print communications and marketing are still powerful, but they lack the compelling "call to action" and immediacy of podcasts and webinars. The nature of the Internet is to function as an interactive community; using the Internet to reach a targeted audience allows you to connect with a maximum amount of people, regardless of their location or time zone.

Rest assured, you don't need to be a technologist to use these solutions. In my next column, I'll elaborate on some of the specific and easy-to-use tools that AviationToday.com makes available to its audience.

As you evaluate our new Web site, please don't hesitate to contact me with suggestions to make it even better. AviationToday.com exists to serve your online needs. But remember, long before Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, or Bill Gates of Microsoft, there lived a media mogul of even more profound influence, named Johann Gutenberg. His revolutionary technology still pervades society, more than five centuries later. So, put your feet up, flip through the pages of Aviation Maintenance, and continue to enjoy the uniquely tactile pleasures of reading print.

John Persinos is publisher and editorial director of AviationToday.com. You can reach him at: 301-385-7211, or jpersinos@accessintel.com.