Choose the Form!

Randy Stott, Associate Publisher & Managing Editor

In the 1984 film Ghostbusters, Bill Murray and company were asked by Gozer the Gozerian to “choose the form” of their destructor. It was a no-win scenario for the heroes, because no matter what they chose, they were still going to face death.

I, too, am asking you to “choose the form.” But unlike Gozer, I have no villainous intentions, because the form I want you to choose is not the form of your destructor, but rather the form attached to the front of this magazine. I want you to fill it out. By doing so, you can choose whether you want to continue receiving Power Transmission Engineering, and you can also choose the form that works best for you (print or digital).

If, by some chance, there’s no form attached to your magazine, you still have to choose. There’s another form on page 63. Or just go to www.powertransmission.com/subscribe.htm if you’re reading this online.

In all seriousness, we NEED your response. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been receiving the magazine non-stop for more than a decade (Thanks, by the way, if that’s the case) or if you’ve just signed up. If you want to keep receiving Power Transmission Engineering, you MUST fill this out.

You see, we’re completely overhauling the way we handle your information. That includes your name, job title, company affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address and so on. We’re doing everything we can to protect that information and to use it responsibly.

Many of you are aware that the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect last month. No doubt you’ve recently received a flurry of e-mails asking you to re-opt-in to various lists, because publishers like us want to be able to continue serving you.

But in many ways, what we’re doing goes way beyond the GDPR. Yes, we want to protect your privacy. Yes, we want to use your e-mail address and personal information responsibly. But more importantly, we want to provide you with information that’s of value to you, and we want to provide it in the way that makes most sense to you, not us. So we’re asking you to confirm that you want the information, and we’re asking you to specify how you want to receive it.

More importantly, we’re asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself. It’s not because we’re nosy. It’s because the information you provide helps us do our job better. Knowing who you are, where you work and how you’re involved with power transmision products helps us craft our magazine, newsletters and websites in a way that appeals to the broadest spectrum of readers.

If, for some reason, you don’t find our information useful, please fill out the form anyway. It really helps us a lot.

For all of you who follow my advice and choose the form, I offer in advance my heartfelt thanks and appreciation. Your input and feedback allow us to continually improve.

For the rest of you, I get it. You’re busy. Just don’t be surprised if you get a visit from the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.