Here’s to all the advertisers who stepped up this past year to provide high quality content for editorial in both the English and Chinese versions of Microwave Journal, as well as online white papers, webinars and the papers/workshops that will be featured in the technical conference at EDI CON in March. While these efforts are geared toward identifying prospective customers, they also help keep the industry informed and engaged.   For that, we are most grateful.

With planning for next year’s budgets and marketing programs underway for most of our advertisers, there is considerable interest in tracking changing marketing trends. From the Journal’s perspective, there has been increased activity in a number of areas ranging from high impact print campaigns and use of online rich media to more educational webinars and sponsored white papers. Marketers were especially interested in expanding opportunities in the China market judging by their support for Microwave Journal China and EDI CON.

A best practice in B2B technical marketing emphasizes campaigns that educate potential customers with relevant and timely information, delivered in the appropriate medium to reach the targeted audience. For many Journal advertisers, that means an integrated program combining various aspects of print, electronic (web, newsletters) media and live events. Our strategy in China has been to expand our portfolio in this market with products that have successfully served the industry for over 50 years.

One area that we felt could be improved upon is the relationship between the technical conference, the exhibition and the attending delegate. Industry organized events are quite common outside the microwave field and are generally successful provided the organizers and contributing participants take care to make the content serve the needs of the audience. Like Microwave Journal, the goal of EDI CON is to share educational information provided by the industry for engineers working in high-frequency electronic design. Therefore, we have asked the industry to step up and provide that content. I am pleased to state that the technical conference is nearly 100 percent complete with papers submitted to the technical sessions, workshops and panels. Likewise, the main exhibition space has only a handful of uncommitted booths remaining.   

 The emergence of leading telecommunication equipment manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE are clear indicators that China has become a major player on the international stage and that international companies looking to expand their business potential would be wise to consider China. Microwave Journal China is poised to have a second great year and EDI CON is on track to extending the microwave community into this vibrant market.