Welcome to the new CX Magazine!

• Jason Allen, Editor

Since I took over as editor of CX back in March, I’ve been slowly changing the content and direction of the magazine. This August 2018 edition sees our new layout team, mark wood design, come on board to provide a completely new look and feel. I had the privilege of working with director Mark Underwood in a previous job, and I know he’s going to produce a great end product. I can now say that CX Magazine is 100% made in Australia, from creation to printing, with most of that happening here in Victoria.

Road Test

One of the first changes I’ve made was to our gear review process. In the past, a piece of gear would be delivered to the CX office, and myself, Jimmy Den Ouden and/or Julius Grafton would use, interrogate, try to break, and generally bother said gear until we formed an opinion. While entertaining, I wanted the reviews to be more robust and useful for those parting with their hard-earned.

That’s why our new ‘Road Test’ reviews are all written by industry professionals who have used the gear they’re reviewing in real-world circumstances. Often they’ve invested in the product for their business. We get to that heart of why a piece of gear is or is not a good buy, how they use it, anything that could be improved, and the quality of the distributor’s support.

How To

On the education side, our new ‘How To’ features are designed to teach a technician a particular technique or workflow on a given piece of gear, and as such are created by the manufacturers themselves. They’re like a little piece of the manual re-written in an easy-to-follow, conversational tone, with pictures.

I’m running as much of this kind of content as I can muster because I want to turn CX Magazine into a valuable resource for technicians. I want the time anyone takes to read it to be repaid by teaching them new skills, inspiring them with creative ideas, and showing them what’s possible with new tools and tech. I also want the magazine to be a reference library that builds over time, and is useful to revisit as readers enter new technical areas and start using new gear.

Theming

The third big change I’ve made is giving each edition an editorial theme. You’re currently reading ‘The Video Issue’, with a strong emphasis on the creation, display, and handling of video in both live production and installation. These themes help our content creators get inspired, and our advertisers to target their markets. Upcoming themes include ‘Integration’, ‘Projection’, ‘Communications’ and ‘The Great Outdoors’.

We Want Writers and Content!

As CX is expanding, we’re always after new content and new voices. If you have an idea for a story, and can send us an example of your writing, please email me at jason@cxnetwork.com.au and pitch your idea. We’d be particularly interested in interviews with inspiring people, profiles of exceptional productions, or technical insights from out in the field.

If you’re not inclined to write yourself, we’re always happy to get tips about exciting work that’s being done, people who should be celebrated, gigs that blew you away, or anything else newsworthy. Tip us off with an email to jason@cxnetwork.com.au

Duncan Fry – Get Well Soon!

For the first time in what I believe is the entire history of CX, regular contributor Duncan Fry is absent from the magazine this month. Just before deadline I received the following text message:

“I’m not going to be able to finish off my story for this month as I’m in hospital with pneumonia and a drip in my arm! Sorry for the late notice but I came down with this at a gig on Friday night and woke up in hospital. Today’s the first day I’ve opened my eyes. It’ll make a good story for the next issue though!”

So, there’s still just a little bit of Dunk’s World in this issue, and he even managed to collapse in the line of duty. Stay tuned for the full story next month!