It’s a case of building on past successes rather than reinventing the wheel for COVER, writes new editor, John Brazier
As you will no doubt be aware by now, the editorship of COVER has been passed over and a new era for the publication has begun.
Yesterday marked Adam Saville's last day with COVER after three years of exceptional dedication and hard work, and everyone here wishes him the best of luck with the next chapter of his career.
Now that the mantle has been officially passed and Adam is taking a well-earned break before starting his new role with Vitality, I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce myself as the new editor.
One of the most exciting parts of the editor's role is the variety of work that it presents and there will be no shortage of that here."
I have been working in B2B publishing since 2009 when, as a not-so-fresh-faced university graduate, I was very quickly introduced to life beyond the safety net of higher education by the ongoing effects of the global credit crisis two years prior.
Since then, I have occupied just about every position there is going across the editorial desk, working on print and digital publications across corporate technology, consumer finance, FinTech, capital markets trading and energy sectors.
I have been a lowly staff writer turning around press releases and fetching my editor tea on-demand, a slightly less-lowly deputy editor that occasionally got to write an opinion column or host panel discussions during events, right up to taking charge of the brand as editor and cultivating far more grey hairs than I would have previously thought possible for someone my age.
Homecoming
I previously worked with Incisive Media, the publishers of COVER, back in 2015, so this is something of a ‘homecoming' for me. While I worked within a different division of the company and was rarely aware of much else outside of my FinTech patch, I am glad to be given the opportunity to re-join the company with COVER.
So far, I have been hugely impressed with the quality of editorial that the publication produces on a daily basis and the broad scope of events, multimedia projects and initiatives that it operates. One of the most exciting parts of the editor's role is the variety of work that it presents and there will be no shortage of that here.
But one of the main things I noticed very quickly about COVER was its approach to reporting on and raising awareness of mental health. Like everyone else, I have my own experiences in this space and it was genuinely refreshing to see a B2B publication tackling the issue with the professionalism and compassion that COVER does.
Ultimately though, what motivates me most are stories. I believe stories are one of the true universal aspects of the human condition; they are how we relate to one another and allow us to better understand who we are, where we come from and where we are heading.
Without wanting to sound too much like a first-year philosophy student, this has been one of the driving forces behind my career in journalism. I'm thrilled to have joined a publication that holds the human element of financial services in such high regard and will give me the opportunity to tell these stories.
Going forward
Initially you won't see too many changes in the way COVER goes about providing our coverage of the protection and insurance markets. We all know that one new hire that came into the business and tried to change everything in order to justify their presence. It just doesn't work.
Adam and the COVER team have done an exceptional job in creating high-quality editorial, events and other products, and it's my view that my job is to build on that success, rather than try to reinvent the wheel.
There is plenty to look forward to in the short-term, with digital events such as Mental Health and Wellbeing 360 coming up next month and some as-yet-unannounced events that I look forward to launching very soon, all while my diary is rapidly filling up with virtual coffee meetings to get to know those of you that form the dedicated readership of this title.
Having said this, there are projects I hope to be able to introduce a little further down the road, most likely when we are allowed to venture outside our homes freely, although I remain highly sceptical that is going to happen any time before autumn at the earliest.
In the meantime, do feel free to get in touch via email or Twitter to say hello. I will also be doing a "Meet the editor"-style Q&A video soon, taking questions from across the industry about COVER, impressions on the industry or even something a little more personal (within reason), so send your questions over on email if there is something you'd like to ask me.
Now, time to get to work.
