Managing editor reflects on a decade with GPS World

By Tracy Cozzens, Managing Editor

In February, I hit the 10-year mark with GPS World magazine. That milestone caused me to stop and reflect on all the changes in my work over the past decade.

In 2006, our web presence was mostly taking the print magazine and replicating it on the website, complete with a Table of Contents for the current issue. We had dozens of categories and subcategories, slicing and dicing the industry into micro-segments. I found it increasingly difficult to decide which category to place stories into, because so much research and so many products have multiple applications.

We’ve now greatly simplified the categories, but they still overlap. A Mobile story will touch on Transportation and OEM. A Survey story is also a Mapping story. A UAV story has applications for Defense or Mapping. Because of this, I invite you to see our categories as a jumping off point, not as independent silos. Peruse all the pages of our magazine — you may be surprised at what you find.

Another massive change over the past decade is our way of thinking. GPS World is no longer just a monthly print magazine with a now-and-then web story or editorial. We are the major industry web presence, with almost 1.5 million page views annually.

In 2006, I spent perhaps 20 percent of my time on the website. Today it’s closer to 80 percent.

In many ways, I have gone back to the early days of my career as a daily newspaper journalist to post news every day on both gpsworld.com and our sister Geospatial Solutions website. You can easily tap into these news streams through Twitter (which, coincidentally, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.)

I’m looking forward to another 10 years with GPS World, and I hope you come along for the ride.