Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The People You Meet in B2B
More than a decade ago, when I was running part of Advanstar's operations on the West Coast, I had the pleasure of supervising Dealernews, a motorcyle trade magazine, and its related properties. I loved that business--the editors and salespeople would show up at the office in their riding leathers, there'd always be a herd of beautiful, powerful bikes in the parking lot, and our annual trade show was a trip--you'd see big, burly bearded guys in Hell's Angels jackets sitting down in a booth with guys in suits, doing business.
One of our salesmen was John McLaughlin (that's him in the picture, with James Dean), perhaps one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. John was always smiling, always positive, always successfully selling pages. After he lost his arm in a pretty horrific motorcycle accident, he was still able to pursue his other passion, golf, one handed, while maintaining and growing his territory.
John was the kind of guy who makes b2b media fun--he was a player in his business, not only a participant, but a pioneer. I just heard yesterday that he had passed away this year, at the age of 81.
He was inducted into the Motorcyle Hall of Fame in 2001. You can read his bio here. Here's a grab:
He will be remembered as a racer and a visionary who played an important role in helping to foster the modern era of road racing in America.
Godspeed, John. B2b media was lucky to have you, and I was lucky to know you.
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One of our salesmen was John McLaughlin (that's him in the picture, with James Dean), perhaps one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. John was always smiling, always positive, always successfully selling pages. After he lost his arm in a pretty horrific motorcycle accident, he was still able to pursue his other passion, golf, one handed, while maintaining and growing his territory.John was the kind of guy who makes b2b media fun--he was a player in his business, not only a participant, but a pioneer. I just heard yesterday that he had passed away this year, at the age of 81.
He was inducted into the Motorcyle Hall of Fame in 2001. You can read his bio here. Here's a grab:
He will be remembered as a racer and a visionary who played an important role in helping to foster the modern era of road racing in America.
Godspeed, John. B2b media was lucky to have you, and I was lucky to know you.
