Alan M. Meckler

Alan Marshall Meckler (born 1945) is an American internet pioneer and publishing executive. He was the founder and Chairman of Mecklermedia Corporation until the company was acquired by Penton Media in November 1998, and founded several print magazines including Virtual Reality World, CDrom World, and Internet World. Until August 2014, he had been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mediabistro Inc. whose media assets were sold to Prometheus Global Partners, leaving a company renamed MecklerMedia Corporation which is producing trade shows world-wide in such fields as 3D Printing, Bitcoin and Facebook marketing.

Born in New York City in 1945, Meckler was raised in Great Neck, NY, and the son of Lilian Meckler and late Herman Meckler, a well known actor and one of the founders of modern equipment leasing whose Lease Plan International grew to 75,000 trucks in 1967 shortly after which the company was acquired by one of its largest accounts, PepsiCo, on whose board he sat. He is also the brother of the well-known director Nancy Meckler who is married to David Aukin.

He received both his BA and PhD from Columbia University. His 1980 doctoral dissertation, Scholarly Micropublishing in America, 1938–1979, was published by Greenwood Press in 1982. He is also the editor of "The Draft and its Enemies" published in 1974 by the University of Illinois Press

In 2013 Meckler began covering the field of 3D printing with the launch of the trade show Inside 3D Printing. The first version of the show took place at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in April, 2013. It has also been produced in 2013 in Chicago; San Jose, California; and Singapore. Versions are planned in 2014 in Japan, China, Australia, South Korea and Brazil. Meckler has also launched a new trade show for the virtual currency known as Bitcoin. The first show was launched in New York City in July, 2013. In May 2015, Meckler launched a show "RoboUniverse" in New York City and shows are planned for Seoul, Singapore, Shanghai, Mumbai and San Diego as well.

In 2014, with his son John Meckler, Meckler created a mutual fund devoted to 3D printing and additive manufacturing. 3D Printing and Technology Fund is the first mutual fund worldwide devoted to this investment coverage. On July 10, 2015 the fund changed its name to 3D Printing, Robotics and Technology Fund. The fund trades under the symbol TDPNX.

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