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Home » Blogs » Management & Strategy » A Tribute to Industrial Distribution Magazine
Thomas P. Gale

A Tribute to Industrial Distribution Magazine

By    Thomas P.  Gale 
January 13, 2010 Comments (9)
More about:  Distribution Trends,  Industrial,  MDM Blog
The announcement that Industrial Distribution was folding was a blow to the entire distribution industry.
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The announcement on Jan. 6 that Industrial Distribution magazine was folding after nearly 100 years is a blow to the entire distribution industry. Its last publication was the November/December 2009 issue. The publication had been for sale by Reed Business Information, a division of global publishing giant Reed Elsevier. When it couldn’t be sold as part of a package of publications in the past year, it was one of a few magazines shut down last week.

The “back story” on this is a familiar one in any industry that has experienced consolidation. For decades, ID magazine was part of Cahners Publishing Co., a pioneer in business-to-business publishing. Cahners was acquired in the 1970s, and then kept becoming part of a larger conglomerate.
 
Decisions about the magazine were made less with regard to its value in this niche and strategic opportunities and more on how it fit into a much bigger system. At a certain point, the numbers take over and cost-cutting strips away the very resources that created the value. The sad part of this story is the impact on the heart and soul of any publication – the people who month by month, day by day, formed the relationships and chronicled the evolution of this industry. 
 
I was sincerely sorry to hear the news. Modern Distribution Management is 43-years-old, and is one of only a few subscription newsletters that old. In 1967, MDM founder Van Ness Philip left his job as editor of Industrial Distribution, then published and owned by McGraw Hill, to launch MDM. He had a vision for a way to create value; his experience at ID lead to the birth of MDM. It turned out to be a solid foundation.
 
In my 18 years as editor and now publisher of MDM, I’ve hired and worked with former ID staffers, and have always respected the quality of publication, reporting and the integrity of its staff. MDM Associate Publisher Craig Riley, who has been part of the MDM team for more than two years now, was publisher of ID for six years and worked for the publication for 20 years.
 
It has only been in the past five years or so that MDM and Industrial Distribution have been competitive, as MDM has built out its online offerings –  email newsletters, Web site and Webcasts. I truly believe our competition in the space we overlapped made both of our publications better.
 
It’s never easy to lose a valuable institution. I’ve spoken this week with distributors whose fathers and grandfathers were quoted in the publication – from the 1920s on! Before the Internet, it was the primary network for anyone in this field of industrial distribution, connecting manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, distributors, and service providers.
 
I know the staff will land on its feet and continue to find ways to contribute and add value to this industry. As someone who has been involved in business-to-business publishing for more than 25 years, I tip my hat in honor of what has been the primary educational and communication medium for this industry for a century. Industrial Distribution, by any standard, had a long and productive life of service.

 

 

 
 
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  • Dave January 29, 2010 12:44 PM
    I think it speaks volumes about both publications and their readerships that today, the most popular story on MDM is about ID. Distributors and manufacturers take note--the publishing market is under seige. If you like your current media outlets, support them because there are government bailouts in their future!
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  • Jason Bader January 15, 2010 12:55 PM
    Hey Tom -

    I am glad that I went looking for this piece after speaking to you earlier today. Great tribute to some really great folks. I always enjoyed seeing Jack and Victoria at the various venues and I know that our paths will cross again. Thanks for putting this out, Tom.
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  • Peg Fisher January 14, 2010 11:37 PM
    Hey Tom -- your wonderful tribute speaks for many -- contributors and readers and advertisers -- who relied upon Industrial Distribution to keep us well informed. Thank you! Peg
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  • Scott Stratman January 14, 2010 6:01 PM
    Tom - thanks for the tribute. It was Jack Keogh who helped me get many of my articles and studies published. He always spent time with us consultants to get our input on certain situations and the industry. He was very gracious every time you met him or he called on teh phone. It is sad to see such a great publication go by the wayside. Having had many articles and picutres in the mag. over the years, I now wish I kept more them around. It was a great source of information and communication. Good job Tom and thank you Jack for all you have done for the distribution industry over the years.
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  • Mort Harris January 14, 2010 5:17 PM
    Industrial Distribution has been a big part of my business career from writing an article of our company to being part of
    their sponcered seminars on Integrated Supply. ID and Jack have championed industrial distribution second to none and the
    industry will miss this great man and the work that he has accomplished. I believe he will always be a part of industrial
    distribution in the future, as he should be!
    Mort
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  • Phil Samuels January 14, 2010 1:33 PM
    Not only is your article on point, I would suggest that the luminaries who chose to comment about it, reinforce your message. These are "thought leaders" in the industry and we have lost another forum for them as well. Good luck Jack (and to your staff), we look forward to seeing you at ISA and other industry events.
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  • John Buckley January 14, 2010 11:54 AM
    Tom,
    The industry will miss the communications outlet. We also will loose the insights of a group of talented professionals.
    It is a shame that the magazine got caught in the middle of a bad economy and changing waves of communications
    technologies.

    They will be missed.
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  • Skip DeVillling January 14, 2010 10:41 AM
    Tom, your tribute to Industrial Distribution Magazine was right on target! When I look around my office, I see clippings of articles from Industrial Distribution Magazine framed from now and years ago about friends and associates I have come to know through this industry. The articles concerning sales, management, personnel, etc, were anticipated each time the magazine was published. I always looked forward to seeing the staff at the conventions and hearing their prospective on current events of the industry. Jack Keogh was the quintessential friend to the industry and you could count on getting the facts - pro or con. We all wish Jack and his staff the very best in their future endeavors.
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  • Mike Marks January 13, 2010 10:48 PM
    Tom,
    We are in violent agreement. Tell Jack that I owe him a beer.
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