Shop Talk Editor
Pete Nofel





Milling Around USA

Red Hot Typewriter

Shop Talk Editor: Pete Nofel

Bio:
Pete Nofel's been in the writing and editing business for nearly 30 years, and has always
been interested in technology. Along with a journalism degree from Kent State University,
he had an area of specialization in aerospace technology.

He began is career as a daily newspaper reporter for a paper outside of Cleveland, Ohio,
and soon moved to writing for the business-to-business magazine field. Along the way,
he ventured into technical writing, beginning that effort with a ten-year stint with a large
contractor for what was the NASA Lewis Research Center (currently
the NASA Glenn Research Center).

It was while working for NASA that Nofel developed an interest in metalworking.

When he left the NASA contractor, he went to the editorship of Gases & Welding
Distributor magazine, a national bimonthly magazine, that featured both business and
technical advice to its readership.

After several years as editor, he was tempted back into technical writing by a headhunter
who placed him in a writing position in a super-regional bank, at an office three blocks
from his home.

But, his first love was magazine work and after eight years with the bank, he had the opportunity
to helm Modern Applications News, one of the premier B2B publications in the metalworking
business. MAN, as it was known, focused on the job shop and contract manufacturing segment
of the metalworking industry, going each month to about 70,000 subscribers.

As editor, he helped move the magazine from paper to an all-digital format. Sadly, just as MAN
was going to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital distribution, the economy
took a hit and manufacturing technology sales dropped by more than 70 percent. With the
tough times, advertisers retrenched and MAN lost its ad support and ceased publication as a
magazine, ending a 43-year history.

However, the ease of entry into the digital information age convinced him to follow his love of
machining and create a blog that would focus on the news, events, new products, and case
histories associated with machining. In the course of developing that, he became associated
with MachineShopWeb and was offered the post of editorship which he gratefully accepted.


Contact Pete at: pete@redhottypewriter.com

Awards and Special Invitations:

Winner of the 2000 Critique and Awards Program Gold Award for Electronic Media, Video:
Non-credit Educational Video Project, from the Agricultural Communicators in Education for
"Seed Treatment for Agrinomic Crops"

Awarded membership in Penton Media's “30% Club” for producing a 37-percent profit for
"Gases & Welding Distributor" magazine

One of a select group of editors invited to Germany by power-tool manufacturer Metabo for an
in-depth briefing of their North American marketing strategy and tours of their plants and
distribution centers in Frankfurt and Stuttgart.

Third Place, Editorial Excellence in a Regular Column or Department, 8th Annual National Awards
Competition, American Society of Business Press Editors.

One of a select group of editors invited by Sperry Corp. to the European lectures in Rome and Madrid
on artificial intelligence by Prof. Edward A. Feigenbaum of Stanford University.

Third Place, Best Series, United Press International Ohio Newspaper Awards.