Managing Editor Inc.

Managing Editor Inc. (MEI) is a privately owned software company that develops and integrates software for publishing to print, the World Wide Web and other digital outlets such as tablets. MEI delivers editorial workflow, ad tracking and automated pagination solutions, plus integration and support, to magazines, newspapers and other professional publishing markets. The company also provides integration and design services for publishing to Apple's iPad and tablets from other developers.
The company is an Adobe premier development partner and the exclusive distributor of the vjoon K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform in the Americas.
Description
MEI was founded in January 1990 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as Managing Editor Software Inc. with the goal of providing cost-effective publishing software, support and integration to traditional print publishers. Since then, the company’s base has expanded to include a broad range of customers producing magazines, newspapers, books, brochures and other materials for multiple publishing channels, including the Web and tablets.
MEI develops its own software, including the proprietary layout placement engine that powers its ad-layout solutions. The company employs 65 people at its headquarters in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, and maintains a network of authorized distributors and resellers all over the world.
MEI’s flagship product, the Page Director Ad Layout System (ALS), is used by print publishers worldwide to automate ad-layout and issue planning. The precursor to ALS, called “Page Director,” was invented to manage the complex process of figuring out newspaper color positions. Another early MEI success was the Roundhouse Tracking System, predecessor of IPS AdTrac, which tracks ad production for newspapers. MEI has migrated its desktop technologies to server platforms as needed and has also developed Internet transport technologies to enable IPS AdTrac.
The company was named a laureate in the Computerworld Smithsonian Collection in 1999 and 2000 for ALS and Roundhouse respectively, and both solutions have been honored by the Smithsonian in its permanent collection.
MEI’s ad-layout solutions are used by nearly 2,400 publishers, including the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Miami Herald, the Gannett Co., Belo Corp., Morris Publishing Group, and many others.
In 2002, MEI expanded into editorial workflow, becoming the exclusive distributor of the vjoon (formerly SoftCare) K4 Publishing System in the Americas. K4 uses a database to organize and manage the work of writers, editors and graphic artists in Adobe InDesign and Adobe InCopy. K4 customers include Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, Access Intelligence, The Atlantic, Roll Call-CQ, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, Martha Stewart Living, McGraw-Hill, the New York Times, Playboy, Rodale and Wenner Media in the United States, Rogers Media and Transcontinental in Canada, and Grupo Televisa and Excélsior in Mexico.
Since 2010, MEI has offered design services, integration and consulting focused on the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Adobe's software for publishing to electronic tablets. MEI's iPad clients include Reader’s Digest and Yards Brewing Company of Philadelphia.
Executives
*Dennis McGuire, Founder, President and CEO
*Robert Baldwin, Founder and S.V.P. of Technology
*Mark Leister, S.V.P. of Business Development
*Steven K. Haught, Vice President of Sales
*Linda Bruce, Vice President of Enterprise Sales
Software
As of December 2010, MEI’s own software offerings were:
:*Page Director Ad Layout System (ALS) - The company’s flagship automated ad-dummying software.
:*Page Director Classified Layout System (CLS) - Automated, rules-based classified pagination system.
:*ALS for Magazines - Automated ad layout software built specifically for magazines.
:*Shared Layout System (SLS) - Collaborative, database-centric production hub.
:*AdForce - Smaller-scale, semi-automated advertising layout and issue-management system.
:*ClassForce - Smaller-scale, semi-automated classified layout system.
:*Integrated Production Suite (IPS) - a package of MEI products that incorporates display and classified ad planning with editorial across an entire publishing enterprise.
:*IPS AdTrac - Enterprise-wide advertising workflow system that manages all components of advertising production.
:*FiFi XT - QuarkXPress XTension that automatically restores file path information for graphic and ad files so that lost file links can be updated.
:*Fido Plug-in - Adobe InDesign plug-in that automatically restores file path information for graphic and ad files so that lost file links can be updated.
:*Split & Folio - Plug-in or XTension that takes a QuarkXPress or InDesign dummy and divides it into smaller units to deal out to multiple users.
:*ALS XT - Allows ALS users to open page dummies directly in QuarkXPress.
:*CLS XT - Allows CLS users to open page dummies directly in QuarkXPress.
:*Ad Import Plug-in - Allows ALS and CLS users to open page dummies directly in Adobe InDesign.
:*InPorter - Add-on tool for the K4 Publishing System that automatically ingests most types of content and their metadata into the K4 workflow.
Services
* Integration and support for MEI’s legacy ad-layout systems.
* Consulting, integration and support for the vjoon K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform.
* Consulting and design for iPad and other mobile tablet publishing.

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