Late New York City Mayor Ed Koch earned fame by routinely asking Gotham citizens, “How’m I doin’?” His sidewalk chats were a great way to gain feedback on ways to improve the city’s services. His efforts paid off with two landslide re-elections.

We certainly want to know how Midstream Business readers think we’re doing. We commissioned an in-depth survey by Media Research Corp. of America last fall to poll our subscribers. The research firm mailed survey forms to a random sample of 1,000 Midstream Business readers.

First, who reads Midstream Business? No surprises here. Survey replies came back from people who match the audience we want to serve. Our typical reader is in the peak of his or her professional career, holds an executive or management position and received one or more college degrees. Most spend nearly an hour reading each issue.

More than half of the respondents are business owners or senior executives. Nearly one-fourth are investment fund managers, high-net-worth private investors or analysts. By business, the largest groups are pipeliners with sizeable representations in upstream firm management, engineering/construction firms and gas processors.

Respondents rated their most popular trade association memberships as the Gas Processors Association (GPA), the American Petroleum Institute and the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships (NAPTP).

We asked respondents to list industry conferences or events attended in the past year. One in five attended Hart Energy’s Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference & Exhibition. Close behind were the NAPTP annual investor conference and GPA’s annual convention.

So what do they think of our content?

More than eight of 10 respondents rated Midstream Business “informative.” An impressive 93.7% said they had taken a specific action—such as discussed an article with others, saved a story or called someone—after reading the magazine.

The survey asked how Midstream Business can be improved. More than three in five asked for more domestic and less international news. Some 40% asked for more case histories and two-thirds rank our business profiles as their favorite feature. Industry Briefs also ranked high in readership.

Some 37% want stories about smaller operators vs. major midstream firms. Large percentages asked for shorter features—but more of them—in every issue and more analysis of financial numbers. When asked what we need to add, the most common reply said the magazine needs to do more stories on gathering and processing and transportation. A solid majority ranked our play updates—such as the Bakken cover story in this issue—as a top interest.

Finance and investment spur interest in this growing business segment. We frequently quote analysts and investment firms, and the survey results asked for even more stories on moneyrelated topics.

More than 70% said they feel the magazine’s writing and layout are fine. The survey form had room for comments and there were plenty, mostly good with some critiques as well. I’m reading all of them.

The survey’s entire report is impressive. Slicing and dicing the information has created a book as thick as the telephone directory for a fair-sized city.

Thanks to all of you who took time to provide feedback. We know your time is important, and we continue to work on improvements that will make Midstream Business an even better read. The middle of the oil and gas business bustles even in challenging times, such as now. We believe it has a bright future, and we want to make this publication a must-read for anyone interested in the business.

Paul Hart can be reached at pdhart@hartenergy.com or 713-260-6427.

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