How the propane industry plays a role in our story generation

Our mission at LP Gas magazine is to provide you, our readers, with the most insightful, impactful information about the propane industry. We want to inform, educate and entertain in a variety of ways.

We do this with our own writers, editors and content producers, with a handful of freelance contributors and with the contributions of those within the industry who are generous enough to share their expertise.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the ideas that lead to the stories and editorial initiatives that you see in LP Gas. Did you ever wonder how we get our story and content ideas? Here’s an explanation.

⦁ Our team: The LP Gas staff meets weekly to discuss all the good content in the works for our print and digital platforms. Nothing beats face-to-face communication, which can lead to brainstorming and ultimately an idea for the magazine.

⦁ Meetings and trade shows: I come away from industry meetings and educational sessions with pages full of notes. The challenge is deciding exactly where and how to share this valuable information with our readers. Some of it might appear in magazine sections like Supply Points or The National View, in a column or as part of a full-length feature story.

⦁ Conversations: Whether during a call or an in-person visit with an industry member, again, a simple face-to-face conversation can lead to a story idea. The natural give-and-take between our team and a knowledgeable industry member can produce that well-timed idea.

⦁ LP Gas events: We hold two events annually – our LP Gas Hall of Fame in April and our LP Gas Growth Summit in September. Both events offer great opportunities for us to hear from industry members and pick their brains about a particular topic.

⦁ Industry surveys: We’ll often survey our readers for a certain project, or we’ll survey event attendees following an event like the Growth Summit. Our Top Retailer forms are especially valuable to us because many retailers will answer our questions related to topics like business opportunities and challenges, operations, or they’ll share an idea related to their company.

⦁ Industry reports: Some stories can be hidden within reports or white papers. We’ll look for stories that show industry trends. What is the data telling us?

⦁ Editorial Advisory Board: This group that appears monthly in LP Gas is an invaluable resource. I probably don’t thank them enough for serving on our board, answering our monthly questions and just being there if we have other questions. Did you know that our Rising Leaders initiative was born out of a conversation with Conger LP Gas President and CEO Dan Richardson?

⦁ Current events: There are times when events taking place outside the industry can have an impact on readers’ businesses, leading our team to cover those events in an article. A few that come to mind: COVID-19, presidential elections and ransomware attacks.

⦁ Random tips: Sometimes tips arrive from a random email or phone call. We love to hear, “I have a story idea for you.” Bring them on. As you can see, we glean story ideas in many ways. Our storyboard continues to grow. Let us add your idea.

Welcome, Mason

Last November, LP Gas welcomed another team member. Mason Kopy joined LP Gas as a digital media specialist. Mason has been teaming with Sydney Fischer, our senior digital media specialist, on much of the content you see on our website and social media platforms, and he’ll have his hand in more of the video content that we have planned for this year. Please join me in giving Mason a full propane industry welcome.

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