Visions newsmagazine

Mallinckrodt Medical’s quarterly newsmagazine, Visions, was distributed to 5,000 employees worldwide. Its goal was to keep the company’s far-flung employees informed about the changes occurring within the organization, educate them about the company’s products, and foster a feeling of unity – a challenge for a company with multiple locations in the United States and 15 other countries. My tenure as editor covered a period of time that ranged from one of the most profitable in the company’s history to a major “re-engineering” of the organization to keep pace with the health care reform movement then sweeping the country.

A hallmark of the Visions newsmagazine was the emphasis placed on the global nature of its audience. For instance, a network of “reporters” served as a resource for potential business-oriented articles as well as those related to employee activities. An annual listing of national and religious holidays and days closed at Mallinckrodt Medical’s major sites in all 15 countries was published. Eventually, feature articles from each edition were translated into Japanese, Spanish, Dutch and German and inserted into issues shipped to countries where those languages were spoken.

As editor, I was responsible for developing story ideas, selecting freelance writers and assigning them stories, working with the graphic designers and photographers to develop illustration ideas for each issue, editing copy and securing approvals. I established and maintained the network of international Mallinckrodt Medical reporters. I worked with a local translation firm to obtain translations of articles and then secured approvals of those translations from representatives in each country before sending them to print. I also was responsible for overseeing the work of a communications assistant and providing college interns with a meaningful education into the workings of a corporate communications department.

My writing for Visions included the quarterly “President’s Message” and “One Last Word” columns, editorials addressing major issues within the company.

Visions designed by ProWolfe Partners.