At Your Service

We’ve had some changes over the past few months, so I thought it would be a good time to tell you a bit about the people who write these pages. I believe we’ve now got the right mix of people and talents on our editorial staff to do the best possible job for you.

Mark Stephen, who has been our associate editor for over a year, literally grew up in the plastics industry. His father has a plastics machinery sales company and Mark worked in the family business before he joined us. In addition, he spent six months as a machine operator in an injection molding plant and another six months in an extrusion plant in order to gain practical experience with plastics equipment before joining the family firm.

But there’s another side to Mark. He has an Honours B.A. and an M.A. in history from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, N.S., and a real flair for writing. He has a dry wit, and is a lot of fun to work with.

Umair Abdul, who reminds me of the “Energizer Bunny,” joined us as editorial assistant in March. He graduated this year from a combined program offered by the University of Guelph and Humber College with a bachelor of applied arts in media studies and a diploma in journalism. We scooped him up after he completed a student internship at our company. Umair was one of six recipients of the Vice-Provost Award for Academic Excellence in his university/college program.

Umair is one very bright guy and he has excellent journalistic skills. I’m impressed with the speed with which he’s learning the ins and outs of the plastics industry. If you’ve noticed an improvement in the quality and quantity of news items in our weekly enewsletter, it’s largely due to him.

Jim Anderton, our technical editor, has been a regular freelance contributor for quite a while. He writes our View from the Floor column, which we’ll be re-positioning to focus more on technical tips. Jim has a B.A. in law/economics and has done post grad studies in material chemistry and engineering. Like Mark, Jim has worked as an injection molding machine operator.

I’ve been with Canadian Plastics for twenty-six years, first as its editor and later as its publisher. Over that time, I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about the industry, its people and its challenges. For the time being, I’m acting as the magazine’s editorial director as well as its publisher. I’m not doing the day-to-day writing, but I’m working with Mark and Umair on editorial planning.

Our editorial objective remains the same. You’ll find it at the top of our masthead in every issue: “Canadian Plastics reports on and interprets developments in plastics markets and technologies worldwide for plastics processors, moldmakers and end-users based in Canada.”

Or, as I like to put it: “Our job is to give you the information you need to do your job better.”

We’re at your service.