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E L E CT R I C AL CONNE CT I ON
W I NT E R 2 01 5
ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Twenty-twenty vision
T
he year was 1995. John Howard was
named the leader of the Liberal
Party, OJ Simpson was found not
guilty of killing his former wife and her
friend, the DVD format was announced and
Ginger Rogers died aged 83.
At the same time, in a small office in
the Victorian suburb of Carnegie,
magazine publisher Jeff Patchell and
his team at Patchell Publishing (now
Connection Magazines) were putting
the final touches on the first ever edition
of what was then called
The Australian
Electrical Contractor Connection
.
Twenty years, and four names, later
The
Australian Electrical Contractor Connection
is
this year celebrating its 20th anniversary.
You know it as
Electrical Connection.
“Back in 1995, Patchell Publishing already
published two magazines - one for plumbing
contractors (
Plumbing Connection
) and one
for building contractors (
Building Connection).
Both of these are still being published today,”
Jeff says.
“Based on the response we got for our
other titles, printing a magazine for the
electrical sector simply made sense.
“We wanted to apply the same
philosophy of independent, educational
and relevant content to this industry. We
wanted to raise the standard of the whole
industry, so that’s what we set out to do.”
To achieve this, building a stable of
technical writers and contributors was
important. Coming from a plumbing
and building magazine background, the
technical electrical industry was a new
beast to be mastered.
Further, Jeff understood that in order to
find a place in the market he had to build
relationships with industry associations,
wholesalers, suppliers and, of course, the
primary audience – Australian electrical
contractors and electricians.
“Back in those very early days, Jeff
worked quite closely with NECA’s national
secretary Peter Glynn to ensure that the
entire industry would benefit from the new
publication,” former NECA national chief
executive James Tinslay says.
“Jeff was determined to take the ‘every
man’ approach he had successfully applied
to plumbers and builders and apply it to
electrical contractors. There was nothing
else like it in the market.
“Other magazines out there were full
of ads but had no content. Even the front
cover was a paid for advertisement!
“When
Electrical Connection
came along
with independent editorial and advertising
it was so refreshing.
“Over the years, we started working
closer and closer together, to where we
are today with having newsletter in
every edition.
“Now,
Electrical Connection
continues
to play an important role in the industry,
educating its readers on the issues of the
day. In particular, electrical safety and
licensing have been issues where the
magazine has really played an important
role. It pushed hard (and continues to
do so) for widespread safety switch
adoption; it always works in the
contractor’s best interests.
“In my time with NECA, I spent a lot
of time with Jeff and Paul talking about
what was affecting the industry and they
always found ways to help. The magazine
has always been on the front pushing for a
unified industry.”
When
Electrical Connection
was first
conceived, NECA already had its own
member publication.
“NECA at that time was called Electrical
Contractors Association of Australia (ECAA).
We employed a journalist full time out of
our Victoria office, to produce a monthly
magazine in house,” James says.
“When
Electrical Connection
began, we
understood that it was aimed at the whole
industry, not just our members, and it was
all the better for it.”
Jeff adds, “When I began talking
to Peter about
Electrical Connection
,
he immediately saw the benefit of an
independent, unified publication.
Electrical Connection
is
turning 20.
Paul Skelton
looks
back at how the magazine
has survived, thrived and
dived into many of the issues
surrounding the industry.
Four names on, Electrical Connection is
this year celebrating its 20th birthday.