Happy New Year from the
C mbat Zone
● by Kevin Berry
Grit your teeth, readers. It's what you've come to expect in
December issues of magazines — the
dreaded year-end retrospective. The
cynical would say this is just a cheap
editorial trick to fill column inches
without research or original thinking.
The more discerning reader would see
it as a chance to review the large
amount of high quality material
presented in 2012. ("Whoa! I'd
forgotten about that article! I'll just go
to my library of SERVO back issues
and re-read that.")
So — cynic or civilized — torque
down your set screws and get ready.
Combat Zone has been a regular
feature for seven years. During that
time, we've tried to shift with both the
trends in the sport, and with the ebb
and flow of contributors. This year
featured many more event reports
than usual, with fewer build reports
and product reviews. Looking over the
12 issues, I'm proud of our
contributors for the breadth, depth,
and quality of the articles they
submitted.
One new feature this year was
the History of Combat series by our
own Morgan Berry. In five articles, she
traced the sport from the murky (and
surprisingly hard to uncover) origins to
some of the ongoing events like Robot
Battles at DragonCon and the
granddaddy of the all, RoboGames.
Stand by next year for more on the
remaining — and pleasantly persistent
— events in our sport.
One thing most readers probably
don't understand is how hard it is to
supply a monthly publication. I call it
"Feeding the Monster." The Monster
demands content, month after
month, with hard deadlines, without
excuse for failure. Combat Zone tries
to present four to seven quality
articles each month. While we have a
solid cadre of regular writers, we
often fall short of this goal.
It's not hard at all to contribute.
Anyone who participates in the sport
as a builder, organizer, supplier, or
spectator is welcome to work with us
on articles. Our editorial staff is very
encouraging and tolerant for
beginners, and anyone interested in
submitting to the Combat Zone is
more than welcome. I'm happy to kick
ideas around, review draft articles,
even proofread (as long as you've run
spel and gramer check first!). We can
talk you through taking and
submitting photographs, and how to
cover an event.
28 SERVO 12.2012
