Barney's Rubble
The Expanding Redmond Universe
The more, the merrier.
There are three Redmonds. The word is a nickname for Microsoft, a company so
aggressive it makes Mike Tyson look like a wimp. There's also
Redmond
magazine, named after the nickname given to Microsoft. Oh, and then there's
also that little city in Washington!
While Microsoft is reporting record revenues, well on its way to becoming a
$50 billion company, the Redmond Media Group is actually expanding a good deal
faster.
In 2004 we had one magazine -- Redmond. In 2005 we launched Redmond
Channel Partner for resellers, VARs and systems integrators. Last November
we kicked out our third new magazine in 25 months with the debut of Redmond
Developer News for corporate software developers. I happen to think that
Redmond Developer News is very, very cool.
I'm losing count of all the other new stuff -- three e-mail newsletters, three
new Web sites and one new event.
That was all according to our grand plan: To cover the entire Microsoft business-to-business
ecosystem.
If you think we're ambitious, get a load of the owners of our company. A month
after we dipped our toes into the developer space, our owners threw us all the
way into the pool by buying Fawcette Technical Publications (FTP) and giving
it to us to run!
Some might not recognize the FTP name, but all must recognize at least one
of its products. There's Java Pro, Enterprise Architect, .NET
Magazine and Windows Server Systems Magazine, all of which are alive
and well on the Web. The crown jewel in this deal is clearly Visual Studio
Magazine, a 15-plus-year-old publication. If you're a VS developer, this
is your bible.
We also scooped up VSLive!, a fantastic show for developers that in recent
years has welcomed Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer as keynoters!
Our group is moving beyond pure Microsoft coverage. We operate ADTmag.com,
a multiplatform development Web site, and ESJmag.com, a site covering mainframes,
super-high-end servers and related applications.
So what's the point of this unceasing bragging, you ask? First, I like to brag
because it's usually the only praise I get. The real reason is to show just
how much content we can now bring you. As of today, we have some 30 newsletters
and more than a dozen high-tech Web sites.
It's clear we've done a lot for you (you can thank us later). Now it's your
turn to give back. Tell me what you love and hate about our Web sites and newsletters.
How can we make them better? What could we do that no one (besides you) has
ever thought of before? What new ones should we launch? My direct pipeline is
[email protected].
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.