The last time I interviewed Kerry Stevenson it was for Fabbaloo’s 10th Anniversary. This isn’t an interview but I am writing about him again.
Kerry’s first story on Fabbaloo was on October 27, 2007. Fabbaloo will celebrate 20th Anniversary next year. This reminded me to ask Kerry the exact questions that I did in 2017 again in 2027. I know some of his answers will change, especially how the 3D printing industry has changed over the last 20 years. I know that some of Kerry’s answers still hold true today.
One of Kerry’s biggest motivators as an editor is to help people make progress.
In 2017 Kerry said: “My job, and yours, is to make this world a little bit better than it was when you arrived. If everyone can do that, we’ll be in good shape.” This was true in 2007 and it remains true today. Fabbaloo continues to seek out start-ups at trade shows that we attend. He always wants to hear about a breakthrough innovation from a start-up rather than a slightly new product from a well established business.
Kerry was recently included in an all-time greatest list of top 10 journalists who have genuinely contributed to the development of the global 3D printing industry, in a long post by industry veteran Pawel Slusarczyk.
No. 1 on Slusarczyk’s extensive list is the very deserved Joris Peels, now of 3DPrint.com. I first met Joris in Eindhoven on a visit to Additive Industries many years ago, prior to Joris working with 3DPrint.com. He is a wealth of knowledge on the AM industry and was a very welcoming host of his home city. Joris remains a friend of Fabbaloo and someone we always look forward to chatting with at conferences.
From the story:
“No. 4. Kerry Stevenson, Fabbaloo
The creator of the longest-running 3D printing website in the world (since October 2007!) I don’t know if anyone has written more articles over the course of their career than Kerry. An absolute legend, and the fact that he has been writing about 3D printing for almost 20 years makes him one of the most accomplished people in the industry.
Not all of Kerry’s articles work for me stylistically, and sometimes his opinions are completely off the mark. But that represents a tiny percentage of a gigantic body of work. Kerry Stevenson belongs to the small group of people who publish more opinion pieces than they simply report industry news (which is what most people focus on). His opinion pieces were a major inspiration for me in the early years, back in 2013 and 2014, when I was writing my first articles for the Polish Centrum Druku 3D.
His 3D printer reviews deserve a special mention: meticulous, thorough, and rarely shorter than four separate parts.
Oh, and it’s hard to find a nicer, friendlier person. Kerry, even when he is being critical, sounds like a florist selling a bouquet to a young couple in love.”
I have worked with Kerry long enough to know that he will probably be slightly embarrassed by Slusarczyk’s description. He would much rather talk about an unusual new 3D printing process, an unknown startup or some strange patent he has just discovered.
Perhaps that is why this recognition is so appropriate.
Fabbaloo was never intended to be about Kerry. It was intended to be about the ideas, people and technologies pushing 3D printing forward. Almost 20 years later, it seems doing that consistently counts for something.
I’ll have much more to say when Fabbaloo reaches its 20th anniversary next year.
