Editorial – Six of the best and plenty more to come!

Today is our SIXTH birthday. We celebrated last Friday with a trip to Ascot. A real fun laugh for the whole team and we managed to leave with our shirts! […]

Today is our SIXTH birthday.

We celebrated last Friday with a trip to Ascot. A real fun laugh for the whole team and we managed to leave with our shirts!

The races were a metaphor for ELN is some ways, as we have taken a gamble on more than one occasion during the past six years. Starting ELN in the first place was a massive gamble. When Geoff asked me if we could set up a different kind of news service for the energy sector, I thought he was mad.

We had no budget, no knowledge of the energy sector, no contacts and no readers.

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Geoff and I thank you all for supporting our mad idea!

We took a gamble on the writing style, to be more tabloid and accessible to all and made a bold decision to cover the whole energy sector from renewables to oil and gas.

We took a gamble on using video and making broadcast quality films to bring stories to life.

We took a gamble on creating an events division and putting on conferences and then an awards program.

And we took a massive gamble on our team…and that’s the one I’m most proud of.

At the beginning, as a small independent publisher owned by two blokes who had to pay for everything out of their pockets, budgets were tight and we made a choice. A choice to take on young people and train them to become reporters, cameramen, editors and sales people.

It may have been determined by cost initially but it’s now become what we do and what makes us unique.

ELN isn’t about Geoff or I, it is a team effort brought to you by a really talented bunch of young people. They have the energy and enthusiasm that marks us out.

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The young ones who bring the energy to ELN (bloke in blue excluded!)

We’ve had apprentices and graduates. None knew about energy. None had worked in the media. But wow have they learned!

Over the past six years many have come and gone and I’ve been happy to have helped them onto great careers. I’m sure the same fate awaits our current crew who are the best of the lot.

Energy needs young talent, it’s screaming out for engineers and scientists and researchers and sales people. We have perhaps been ahead of the curve by encouraging the young to have responsiblity and go with their ideas. I hope the mainstream sector can do the same.

The next year we have lots more planned starting next week with our latest venture, a virutal conference packed full of content. We are planning another dazzling TELCA night in a new venue and working on an amazing line up for this November’s Energy Live conference. We have new ideas to offer you more insights on energy but more on that in the months to come.

Many of our innovations are now copied by others. That’s great, more engagement is what we need.

Thanks to all of you for reading us all these years and a massive thanks to the sponsors who allow us to keep this site free for you to use. At time when paid for subscriptions or plying your ‘news’ with sponsored pieces is the way to go for our competitors, we remain free. We also write the news we think warrants writing about.

Without their backing and belief we couldn’t operate and they are fantastic at accepting that sponsorship can’t influence editorial independence.

So thanks for the past six years. We’ve seen two governments, three Energy Secretaries, the creation of new legislation and u-turns on solar, fracking and various financial schemes.

Oh and Hinkley still hasn’t got started!

Can’t wait for what’s coming next…. whatever happens we’ll bring it to you the ELN way!

 

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