I am delighted to announce that I have launched a brand new website which offers a completely new source of news and information on aerospace media and events. The site address is as follows www.mediatzu.com  

Firstly and most importantly news articles on www.mediatzu.com are free to view and there are no subscription charges.  

Secondly I have added a media forum where visitors can post comments or open up subjects for discussion. There is also a Twitter link so live "Tweets" can be added from, and during, major exhibitions and events. You can also sign up as a member (either for Media Tzu or as a follower on Twitter), once again there is no charge for this, it just means you will automatically be updated when a new item is posted on the site.

You may wondering how can the new site can offer all this free content and still cover costs, what's the catch? Well if you visit the site you will notice that on some pages there are Reports for sale as pdf downloads. Hopefully visitors to the site will be sufficiently interested to occasionally purchase a Report and help fund the ongoing work on www.mediatzu.com  

There are also Free Reports, for example the brand new Women In Aviation Report, published by the Royal Aeronautical Society's Women in Aerospace and Aviation Committee, is available as a free pdf download, simply visit http://mediatzu.com/#/waac-report/4536203660 to download your copy.

I believe that Media Tzu is unique in that it is the only website out there providing news and information on developments in aerospace media and events. To enable the site to thrive and become a real hub of information and activity I will be delighted to receive news regarding your media campaigns, advertising and communications. I hope you like the new site and it becomes one of your favourites.

Kind regards
Peter Bradfield
peter@mediatzu.com
tel + 44 1362 860061
www.mediatzu.com

The Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society are delighted to announce that Simon Luxmoore has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Royal Aeronautical Society; his appointment starts on 2 November.  This follows the announcement earlier this year of the retirement of the current Chief Executive, Keith Mans. There will be a short handover period during which Keith will be visiting many Branches of the Society, both in the UK and overseas.

Simon joined the Dowty Group in 1989 and held a number of positions within the company, starting as a project manager for Dowty Aerospace Gloucester.
In 2004 he was promoted to the role of Senior Vice President/Deputy CEO of Messier-Dowty International, reporting directly to Chairman and CEO, Louis Le Portz.  Prior to this Simon was Group Vice President of Messier-Dowty’s Boeing and Military Business Unit and Managing Director of Messier-Dowty Limited.

Simon is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a former Director of the SBAC (Society of British Aerospace Companies).

The End of Aerospace Publishing As We Know It is an independent assessment of the future trends in aerospace publishing. This brand new Report examines the most recent trends in aerospace publishing (including advertising revenue/spend) and predicts the future implications for aerospace publications up to 2015 and beyond.

The current challenges and market pressures facing the aerospace industry, together with the latest development in online publishing, means that there will be some major adjustments in how aerospace publishers compete in the future.  Based on extensive research carried out during the last five years, data has been compiled and analysed to illustrate the current state of aerospace publishing. This information has been combined with our unique resources and analytical capabilities to predict future developments which will have a major impact on aerospace publishing.  The Report also includes a series of innovative solutions and suggestions how aerospace publishing can adapt and thrive by utilising opportunities created by digital media.

The End Of Aerospace Publishing As We Know It is a 22 page report available as a PDF download. Priced at £55 (€ or $ equivalent) the information in this Report will be extremely valuable to anyone in aerospace marketing communications or aerospace publishing.  To order your copy simply email your details peter@media-doctor.co.uk or telephone + 44 1362 860061. If you are still not convinced and wish to find out more you can receive the 2 page Introduction as a PDF download completely free of charge just email  peter@media-doctor.co.uk asking for the free download.

Bell Helicopter, a Textron company, has announced that it selected Team Detroit as its official advertising agency following a competitive review process.

Team Detroit will work in conjunction with Bell’s marketing team to capitalize on the company’s strong reputation and rich heritage to build a stronger more relevant brand that resonates with its target audience. The agency will provide strategic communications planning, media buying, traditional and digital creative development and production.

“For nearly 75 years, Bell has been setting the pace in the vertical lift aircraft industry,” said George Rogers, President & CEO, Team Detroit. “They have a terrific history and a remarkable story to tell, one that is backed by innovation and technology. We’re excited about this new collaboration and the opportunity to be a part of Bell’s continued success.”

“From our initial conversations dating back to almost a year ago, we’ve always been extremely impressed with Team Detroit,” said Joe LaMarca, Jr., Vice President of Communications, Bell Helicopter. “Team Detroit is a one-of-a-kind agency with a proven track record, experienced individuals and a passion for new ways of thinking. We’re ready to get started.”

Team Detroit Inc. brings together five of WPP’s largest marketing and communications agencies in one central location, including: JWT, Y&R, Wunderman, Ogilvy and Mindshare. Created in January 2007, WPP restructured its service offerings to offer best-in-class talent and more effective marketing partnerships to its client base in
Michigan.

Team Detroit’s client roster includes Bosch, Compuware, Ford Motor Company, Oakwood Healthcare System, Ohio Art, Shell Oil Company and Warrior Sports.

We were sorry to hear of the death of John Fricker on 5th July, one of the greats of aviation journalism. A number of people have been in touch and kindly submitted their memories of John. The following three boxes are from Bill Sweetman and Paul Jackson who have kindly sent the following tributes:

Bill Sweetman writes;

“John Fricker, veteran aviation writer and aviator, died late Sunday in the UK. John was one of a handful of writers whose combination of aviation expertise and narrative skill got me interested in doing this job in the first place, as a young reader of Flying Review magazine. I suspect that Graham Warwick or Guy Norris, along with many others, would say the same. I knew John personally around the aviation writing scene for more than 30 years and respected his low-key air of authority, his dry humour and his ability to keep up on the world of aviation and defense. (Doug Barrie comments that "he'd forgotten more about the industry in a year than I'll manage to accrue in a lifetime".) I recall a few years ago talking to him at the Singapore air show about how he got started, and realized that he was by then about the last one around who had worked with the legendary C.G. Grey.
“By the time I met him he was already a veteran, and had moved on from traditional publishing to producing a confidential, small-circulation newsletter, Milavnews, which was often way out in front of the rest of us. He was also one of the first Europeans that Ziff-Davis hired when the company decided to bring their Show Daily to Paris in 1967 - and had ill-health not stopped him, the last show would have marked his 42nd year on what is now AvWeek's Show News.  John was not only a writer but an aviator:  he had logged over 7,000 hours in 469 types - many on air-tests for various magazines - and he was the first Western writer to fly a MiG-15.
“Happy landings, John. “

Paul Jackson, Editor-in-Chief of Jane's All the World's Aircraft writes:

The biographies of many classical composers note that they studied under one or more eminent members of a previous generation before making their way in the world of music. This is seldom done for composers of the written word. Few have the chance to sit at the knee of a doyen of their chosen profession; and fewer consider it worthy of a CV note.

            Three decades ago it was my great good fortune to be invited to assist John Fricker in his small, home-based aviation market intelligence business. Through what was, surely, an administrative mix-up, he actually paid me for learning from him how the job should be done, while simultaneously being fed with contacts, leads and opportunities which would advance my career.

            A perceptive, able and informed writer John most certainly was, but what struck me most of all was his enthusiasm for all facets of aviation. He described to me his first day as a junior writer on The Aeroplane Spotter in October 1943 and how he didn’t want to go home that evening because he was totally absorbed by the atmosphere of an aviation editorial office. I felt like that on my first day with John, too.

            While never boastful, always courteous and ready to offer encouragement, he would decline to accept inaccurate or badly written work. Our greatest disagreement concerned the acceptability of split infinitives — which is another way of saying we got on remarkably well. After the time came for us to pursue separate avenues, I was always conscious of the professional advantage my time with him had bestowed.

Continued from the above posting

Whenever the opportunity presented itself, I would listen to stories of his aviation experiences. They were an inspiration to me to redouble my efforts to climb to the top of my profession, but I knew that the tide of the age interval between us had already washed away some of his footsteps: Scrounging flights, as a schoolboy air cadet, in World War 2 bombers undertaking air tests; flying on operational RAF sorties as a journalist in Korea, Malaysia, Kenya and the Middle East; piloting a captured German single-seat experimental aircraft with only 3½ hours solo in his logbook; unlimited, all-night wine and naked dancing girls provided by aerospace companies’ media entertainment budgets during the Paris air show; a little bit of aerial reconnaissance over a Russian bomber factory while piloting an Antonov biplane above Moscow during the height of the Cold War.

All gone; long gone. Yet John’s contribution to aerospace will endure always. An eventful life but, most of all, a productive life. Pick a dozen of today’s aviation journalists and, collectively, they just might be able to match the experiences and achievements of this one man.

He taught me not to write in clichés, but I must disobey the maestro, for in his own case this is not an ill-considered phrase: Genuinely, we shall not see his like again.

Paul Jackson

Editor-in-Chief

Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft

The speaker programme for CEAS (Council of European Aerospace Societies) 2009 has just been announced.  The programme committee has created an outstanding conference programme reflecting the significance of the event and the key issues facing the aerospace industry.  CEAS 2009 has the title “New Beginnings: Challenges for Aerospace Innovation”, this theme is reflected by the number of distinguished and eminent speakers together with the wide-ranging portfolio of subjects to be covered.  The complete speaker programme can be viewed by visiting www.ceas2009.org  As an indication of the top level presentations being made the following list keynote speakers has just been announced;

Ian Lucas MP - Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform
Dr Andras Siegler - Director Transport Research, European Commission Daniel Calleja-Crespo - Director Air Transport, European Commission
Eric Dautriat - Director Clean Skies, European Commission
Jean-Jacques Dordain - Director General, European Space Agency
Iain Gray - Chief Executive, Technology Strategy Board
Dr David Williams - Director General, British National Space Centre

CEAS 2009 will take place at the Manchester Central International Convention Centre from the 26th – 29th October. Up to 1,000 aerospace professionals, companies and organisations are anticipated to attend the conference. The four-day conference programme focuses on research, innovation, technical developments and studies across both civil and military air and space applications.  The conference is providing a unique insight into the future of the global aerospace industry and how the industry is facing today’s challenging circumstances.  

For more information about CEAS 2009 and full details of the speaker programme visit www.ceas2009.org

For more information and to register for the conference contact Liz Norfolk, Conference & Events, Royal Aeronautical Society:   tel 020 7670 4345   email liz.norfolk@aerosociety.com

Air Transport World, a Penton Media publication, is pleased to announce that Senior Editor and Asia/Pacific Bureau Chief Geoffrey Thomas has been honored with the Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award (AJOYA). Thomas was also presented with the Award for the Best Strategy or Financial Submission for his article on the US airline deregulation experience, "Deregulation's Mixed Legacy" which appeared in the August 2008 edition of ATW.

The RAes World Leadership Forum international Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards are considered to be the world's most important awards for aviation writers and broadcasters. The awards ceremony took place at Le Méridien Etoile, Paris, on the evening of June 14. Judging is done by aerospace journalists and those directly involved in aviation and aerospace.

"We are thrilled that Geoff has been recognized by his peers for his outstanding work and we congratulate him on his selection as Aerospace Journalist of the Year,” said ATW Editorial Director and Associate Publisher Perry Flint. “With his broad interests and deep knowledge of aviation history and lore, Geoff has brought a new dimension to our reporting and coverage of the airline industry. His keen insights and analysis on topics ranging from airline safety, the environment and aircraft technology have made him a key part of the ATW team."

The 2009 Paris Airshow delivered a vital boost to the aerospace industry. After months of doom and gloom the 2009 Paris Airshow saw numerous order announcements, high visitor numbers and a general feeling of positive anticipation of improved times ahead.

In terms of advertising there were mixed signals. The level of advertising compared to the 2007 Paris Airshow was down, both in the Show Dailies and trade publications. In fact some of the weekly and monthly trade titles seemed to realise very little benefit from publishing a “show issue”.  

One growth area was the increased level of “on-site” official advertising and sponsorship. Many advertisers from the previous show renewed their advertising for the 2009 show while new advertisers such as Airbus, Flir Systems, ITT, Bombardier and Powerjet added to the level of on-site advertising. The advertising from Airbus was particularly noticeable. Firstly because of the number of high profile sites they secured and secondly because it was the only advertising by Airbus at the show.  Following the recent Air France tragedy Airbus pulled all their advertising from the Show Dailies. This left the Dailies with some large gaps to fill at short notice and was a contributing factor in the reduction in advertising in the 2009 Show Dailies.

Despite this the trend continues that the Show Dailies are the key battleground for “show” advertising. Therefore the Paris Airshow Media Report focuses on predominantly on advertising in the Paris Airshow Show Dailies.

To obtain your copy of the 2009 Paris Airshow Media Report contact peter@media-doctor.co.uk  or tel + 44 1362 860061