Personal & Professional Development Magazine, The Journal for Lifelong Learning (launch issue)
Author: Not Applicable
Publisher: Abbey Publishing & Exhibitions (UK) Ltd, Apex House, 28 Ruskin Avenue, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 3BP. Tel 01992 651514 for subscription details
Date of Publication: August/ September 2000
ISBN: Not applicable
Price: Published ten times a year at annual subscription rate of £60
In my particular training organisation we subscribe to a number of professional magazines which are circulated around the training staff. In addition we get a fair few ‘freebies’. The result tends to be a backlog of publications waiting to be read. It was against this background that I was hoping the new PPD magazine would stand out from all the rest and I admit to being a little disappointed.
The magazine is essentially no different from all other main stream personnel & training publications and I was surprised to see that on the launch issue, the blue colour scheme chosen for the front cover meant that the large blue PPD logo is lost into the deep blue background. The majority of the pictures inside are postage stamp size and I found it difficult, even with my glasses on, to see much of the details in them.
I did like the way in which each article has a faxback number allocated to it so that readers can fax back the sheet at the back of the magazine to find out more about the articles.
The magazine is divided into sections headed either, News, Advertorial, Feature, Venues, Products & Services, Multi Media Video & Tapes or Training Equipment which I did not really find useful and the contents page at the front only list the whereabouts of Features, News and Products & Services!
The editor Graham Guest writes that the magazine "aims to cover favourite topics like learning methods, e-learning, coaching, mentoring, training of trainers and so on, but we also want to put a new spin on some old ideas and challenge some well – established beliefs." Having read several of the articles I do not see great evidence of new spin or challenge and have to conclude that for me this is just another magazine on the pile.
Product Review conducted by Stephen P Radburn, Training Consultant, Derbyshire Constabulary. Nick@radbu.freeserve.co.uk.
