The year is 2002 and Britney Spears is the reigning pop princess.
Social media didn’t exist with the launch of Facebook still two years away.
In technology terms these were simpler times but there was still plenty of volatility.
US stock prices took a massive tumble that year and US President, George Bush, was preparing for war labelling Iran, Iraq and North Korea an axis of evil.
Locally, bankrupt airline Ansett Australia formally ceased operations and Media Puzzle won the Melbourne Cup.
In 2002 John Howard was Prime Minister and Simon Crean was the Opposition Leader.
Crean replaced Kim Beazley and kept the seat warm until Beazley returned to the role of Opposition Leader (for a second time) in 2005. Aah Australian politics it hasn’t changed much has it?
But the biggest event of 2002 for our industry was the launch of Climate Control News (CCN) magazine, Australia’s very first independent news service for the HVACR sector.
Despite the age and maturity of refrigeration and air conditioning, it took until April, 2002 for the industry to have its own magazine. And here we are 200 issues of CCN magazines later and it is still the only independent monthly news publication in the country.
Sure there are quarterly magazines, a number of well produced overseas publications, even local magazines produced by industry groups. But readers get the viewpoint of the industry group, it is not an independent news source.
Since its inception in April, 2002, CCN has grown significantly. It is no longer just a magazine, CCN has a strong social media presence, a daily news web site, its own annual conference and of course, its very own awards program the HVACR Leadership Awards.
And yes we keep growing thanks to you – our readers and advertisers – who have supported us from day one.
This celebration is all about you, Happy 200!