Possibly the only pun I think you’re allowed to use, right? Right

So I was looking for a way of announcing this blog but only once I had a few posts up and running plus figured out how to make the bloody Twitter timeline show up in the WordPress Pocket theme.

And then I went and left Future…

I’ll keep this uncharacteristically short and save any meatier posts to when I figure out what I’m doing next. Some housekeeping:

  • I’m still with Future until the end of October although that lawnmower illo is there for a reason.
  • Everything’s fine, thanks for asking, although it’s proving to be a bit Stockholm Syndrome after 20 years. No axes to grind here and we part as friends – Future is currently restructuring and we both agree it simply doesn’t need a me. We’ll soon find out who does.
  • The R&D team that created Future’s more innovative digital editions and standalone apps have been absorbed back in relevant areas of the business so Future’s core brands will now benefit from those smarts.
  • Future was, is and always will be a genuine meritocracy that offers the most amazing opportunities. During my 20 years (I moisturise a lot), I’ve written for film magazines, edited games magazines, relaunched music websites, created football apps, won pitches, lost pitches and the main reason this blog is here – headed up the team who launched Future’s portfolio onto Apple Newsstand as digital editions. I hope I’ve done it reasonably well (hence the 20 years bit) – all I know that is if I hadn’t done it well, I’d have been out on my ear sharpish.
  • I also did Disney Girl magazine. Aw yeah.
  • You’ll find a lot of column inches elsewhere on Future’s current restructuring, some quite disappointing in their lack of both sensitivity and appreciation of the wider context (checks tongue for bite marks). The smartest of them tend to be on TheMediaBriefing IMO. Here’s Jasper Jackson at DigiDay‘s recent Publishing Summit Europe detailing my runthrough of Future’s new content strategy (summary: prudent), on Future’s advertising challenges (summary: complicated) plus Henry Taylor interviewing Future CEO Zillah Byng-Maddick (summary: honest).
  • I’ll likely write something up in the future but no angsty spleen-venting should be expected. I’ve bloody loved my time at Future and I have nothing but the bestest wishes for all who still sail in her. If we still do that gender assignation thing.

That’s it for now. Best get me a job plus change the About page. Exciting, isn’t it?

 

Mike Goldsmith