From Good to Great: A New Focus on Insulation Outlook Magazine
As his role as president of the National Insulation Association (NIA) draws to a close, Vaughan Privett leaves us with his parting thoughts, words of wisdom, and favorite memories. But most importantly, the passion he has for Insulation Outlook magazine will have positive effects for years to come. Vaughan has served as president of NIA for the last year. His leadership, knowledge, and overall enthusiasm for the insulation industry have helped shape and remold the vision of NIA and its future.
“It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to serve NIA on the board for the past 10 years and as president,” said Privett. “I’ve been fortunate to have followed several dedicated presidents who began new directions for NIA. NIA is moving forward and is dedicated to serving its membership.”
While spending considerable amounts of time traveling to each regional association as well as TIAC, Vaughan had a specific course of action: to push Insulation Outlook magazine. With the help of Michele Jones, NIA executive vice president, and her staff, Insulation Outlook magazine is now a powerhouse of talent, publishing know-how, and enthusiasm.
In February, NIA welcomed Melissa Jackson as director of publications. Melissa joined NIA from The American Chemistry Council where she was editor-in-chief of Chemistry Business magazine. Melissa’s primary responsibility with Insulation Outlook magazine is to oversee and drive the editorial content as well as spearhead advertising, circulation, and production efforts.
“This is an exciting time to be joining Insulation Outlook. We have big plans for 2004. One of our top priorities is to significantly grow the magazine’s readership. We will also build on the magazine’s solid editorial foundation, taking it to the next level and making it an even more valuable tool for our members. At the same time, we won’t be shy about marketing the magazine to potential new advertisers. With such a talented and dedicated staff on board, I predict a breakthrough year for Insulation Outlook,” said Jackson.
In January, Kristin Follin joined NIA as membership/circulation manager. One of Kristin’s primary responsibilities will be to increase circulation numbers for the magazine and pay particular attention to ensuring that it’s in the hands of the right people within the insulation industry. Her professional background is in the publishing industry, specifically magazine circulation and marketing.
“Insulation Outlook has so much potential. Its editorial content is stellar, but more attention needs to be paid to getting it to the right people. I’m excited to be working with Melissa and the rest of the magazine staff. I certainly won’t have any trouble finding the support I need to accomplish my goals. Vaughan and Michele are behind me 100 percent,” said Follin.
The new Outlook team, as it’s referred to now, has a couple of familiar faces as well. Julio Guerrero continues to serve as art director, coordinating ads and production for Insulation Outlook. Maria O’Brien is Insulation Outlook’s assistant editor and also maintains the magazine’s online publication database. And Frank Barbee serves as the director of advertising.
With that said, it is no wonder that Vaughan Privett is Insulation Outlook’s biggest supporter. Insulation Outlook is his “pet project,” and he feels it is NIA’s greatest opportunity to be the “voice” of the insulation industry. Its past identity as a member-focused magazine has now shifted to an industry-focused magazine. Improved editorial content, increased technical information, more promotion of NIA’s products and services, and increased and improved advertising are now the staples with which Insulation Outlook will mature.
The March/April double issue will focus on the “State of the Industry.” This idea, formulated by Michele Jones, is an effort to help set new directions of technology enhancement, study the evaluation of products, involve members and vendors more in decisions within NIA, review training opportunities, lobby for legislation, and put some excitement back into our industry.
“NIA is growing. Out with the old and in with the new. Good to great—that’s our goal,” said Privett.
In September 2002, the Insulation Outlook Task Force was created to evaluate the magazine’s strengths, weaknesses, and, of course, its potential. From its initial meeting, the task force drafted a 3-year growth plan intended to help Insulation Outlook achieve a higher level of success. Here’s a review of some of the objectives:
- Expand the circulation to a greater “end-user” audience, such as plant managers, maintenance managers, facility engineers, and energy managers.
- Gain increased visibility through attendance at industry trade shows, conferences, and meetings.
- Target readership through the purchase of industry-specific lists.
- Provide subscriptions to attendees at NIA training programs, such as the National Insulation Training Program (NITP) and the Insulation Energy Appraisal Program (IEAP).
With these initiatives in place, Insulation Outlook is well on its way to being a standard in the insulation industry, as well as an even more attractive advertising vehicle for the magazine’s supporters. Ideally, the circulation department will have a great foundation from which to pull demographic data of Insulation Outlook’s subscribers—including who they are, what they do, where they are, how they purchase insulation products and services, from whom they purchase them, and how much they purchase.
Additionally, Privett’s Outlook program continues to bring in subscription requests. Vaughan enlisted the help of NIA’s members to promote Insulation Outlook with gift subscription forms. NIA members were provided with a quantity of free subscription cards. Members then did one of two things:
- Offered free gift subscriptions to customers of their company by means of a promotional mailing, or
- Assigned quotas to managers, technical sales reps, estimators or distributor sales reps to sign up their customers for gift subscriptions.
The program has been a big success, and we hope to keep it going for years to come. Add this to the support of the NIA Foundation, the creation of the Insulation Outlook Task Force, and the development of several new training programs that will educate your customers and their staff, which in turn lead to sales, and you’ve got the vision that Vaughan has created—success!
“Success comes from your association with the association of others,” said Privett. So as we say farewell to our leader, we certainly will not forget the legend he leaves nor the appreciation, support, and passion he has for NIA, its staff, members, and contributions it has made to the insulation industry. He leaves us with happy memories, the continued vision of success for NIA and Insulation Outlook, and best wishes to his successor, Dave Andrew, NIA’s 20042005 president-elect.
This article appeared in the January/February 2004
issue of NIA News.
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