Ian Clay joined IP&E in 1997, an event he
describes as ‘something of a culture shock’.

“I had been working for Nexus Media,
which was a large and forward-thinking
publishing house that used Desk Top
Publishing and Quark Express, a relatively
new but ground-breaking publishing
software package.

“On my first day at IP&E I was confronted
by the ‘editorial office’ which contained some
word processer/data entry type computers
but nothing like the Apple Mac-dominated
environment I had come from. However,
being young and adaptable, I remember not
being concerned. It was all publishing – just
with different technology.

“But, as well as old technology there was
old thinking and inefficient practices which
had to change to bring the magazine,
particularly its look and feel, up-to-date. The
editor when I joined was a publishing legend
named Karl Lacy, a man never short of an
opinion. He was brilliant, experienced,
funny, cantankerous, endearing, maddening
and a huge influence on many trade
journalists who worked with him.

“Karl was brought up in the publishing era
of hot metal and galleys and proofs, and was
unused to the aesthetic possibilities, speed
and flexibility that DTP promised. However,
to his credit, he allowed us ‘youngsters’ to
have our heads and we
introduced Macs and
Quark to the editorial and
production offices,
although he refused to use
the technology himself.

“I became editor of
IP&E after just a year of
joining the magazine. Karl
moved on to launch other
magazines for IP&E’s
publishers but kept an eye
on what we were doing to
his magazine from a
distance, occasionally popping his head
around the door to congratulate or berate the
occupants. On the rare occasion he offered
praise, you knew it was hard earned and well
deserved!

“With the new technology and the
excellent people employed on all fronts we
increased the frequency of the publication
from four to six times per year and added
supplements.

“After nearly seven years in the editor’s
chair I look back on my time at IP&E with
much affection. It was hard work, but the
magazine became well-respected for offering
a huge quantity of editorial information with
a good mix of features and articles.”

• Ian Clay is now a director at Technical
Publicity (www.technical-publicity.com). He
still pitches regularly to IP&E’s editorial staff
on behalf of his clients.