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E L E CT R I C AL CONNE CT I ON
W I NT E R 2 01 5
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Electrical Connection
has always prided itself on its promotion of
OH&S. But sometimes mistakes happen, and sometimes those
mistakes are funny, says
Electrical Connection
’s first technical editor
Allan Alderson.
“
Electrical Connection
’s editorial direction was pretty defined from
the outset, especially when it came to promoting safety,”
he says.
“But, that’s not to say that we didn’t make mistakes. In the Summer
quarter of 1995 we did a cover feature on mega ohms. We decided
that we wanted to do a photo shoot for the cover image, but looking
back it really got away from us.
“I explained exactly what a mega ohmwas to the then-group
editor and the ideas started to fly. But we got carried away and came
up with the idea of having a guy with rippling muscles on the cover –
because it was about testing strength.
“We hired the talent and we went out to a site with a switchboard.
It was then the photographer’s turn to get carried away, insisting the
model take his shirt off so we could see his muscles.
“The photographer’s assistant then oiled the guy up, so he would
glisten in the light.
“After the magazine went to print, we received two really nasty
letters from electrical inspectors saying that it was mental to have
that level of nudity in front of a live switchboard!
“For a magazine that claimed to be a representative voice of the
industry, it really wasn’t good enough.
“I remember dying that day. It was just my fourth edition of being
an editor, but you live and learn.”
“So did the suppliers. In those very early days, we received great
support from the late Kevin Irwin at MM Electrical Merchandising.
He helped us to commercially get the magazine up and running.
“Kevin also helped by getting MM’s suppliers involved too. We
are forever indebted to him for all the help he gave us in those
early days.”
Electrical Connection
would like to take this opportunity to
also thank Ampere, which has advertised in every edition of the
magazine. And to HPM Legrand, Ideal Electrical and Fluke, all
of which appeared in the very first edition, as well as Clipsal by
Schneider Electric, which has also been a long-time supporter
of ours.
“Trade magazines provide a fantastic opportunity to support
industry associations and suppliers, without becoming their
mouthpiece,” Jeff says.
“The story is all-important, which is why we rely on industry
experts to provide technical and business content.
“There’s no such thing as a fully educated electrician, because
the industry is constantly changing and evolving. And we have
changed along with it.”
A lot has changed over the past 20 years, but it turns out that
a lot stays the same, too. When looking through the very first
edition of the magazine in preparation for this article, it was hard
not to notice the similarities in content.
Twenty years ago,
Electrical Connection
looked at the
important issues surrounding multimeters, estimating accuracy,
PLCs, smart homes, RCDs, licensing, illegal and non-compliant
electrical work, smart meters, smoke alarms and the burgeoning
solar industry.
All of these issues have been covered again in the past year.
Someone quite heavily involved in defining the editorial direction
of
Electrical Connection
in the very early days is Allan Alderson.
Allan was technical editor of the magazine from 1995 to 1996.
“In one sense it feels like a lifetime ago, but in another it was
only yesterday,” he says.
“I remember that one night, about 20 years ago, I got too
drunk at a party. I was with a mate of mine, who happened to
be a colleague of Jeff’s, banging on about how I was sick of
engineering and that I didn’t want to do it anymore. I made the
declaration that I thought I wanted to be a writer instead.
“My mate then organised a meeting for me with the then-
group editor John Hardcastle and Jeff.
“They should have kicked me out of the door; I had no editorial
experience or skills. But they were kind enough to give me a go.
“The next two years were sheer hell and a hell of a lot of fun,
putting together the first eight editions of the magazine. It was a
great learning ground for me.”
Allan pulled together a team of contributors and explained to