Hello,
Some interesting questions have been raised here, and I'll try to answer them. For those who don't know me, my name is Philip Hanson, I am the Editor and founder of Professional Window Cleaner Magazine, and funnily enough I used to be a moderator on this forum, before Tosh and Ian Giles took up the mantle (and what a splendid and difficult job they do!)
The squeegee issue (or "Teaser" as I call it) has so far been produced for every issue of PWC and serves two very important purposes. Firstly, as a relatively new magazine, it is important to me that as many window cleaners as possible see PWC magazine and hopefully they will enjoy the articles that can be read, and this will lead them to subscribe or purchase that issue from a distributor. Secondly, because advertising space is sold in the magazine, it is necessary to have a high circulation, so that those advertisers can get value for their advert. But also, window cleaners can have some articles to read without having to subscribe, so really its a win-win situation. (I apologise if anyone is receiveing this teaser who does not want it, email me and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again)
But, as I'm sure you can imagine, producing the teaser issue is a very expensive process. PWC is now more than a year old, and subscribed circulation is now approaching a very respectable level, so the teaser issue has been successful in its purpose and will soon be discontinued. In fact, issue 7 might very well be the last issue for which a teaser is produced.
My intention in starting PWC was to provide window cleaners with a good-quality source of well researched information. At the time of the first issue, the Work at Height regulations were about to become law, water-fed pole systems were just starting to become generally accepted and there were other important changes happening in the industry. There was widespread confusion about all of these issues, and I'm sad to say that back then, the Fed was doing absolutley nothing to inform its members (of which I was one) or the industry generally about them.
I am very pleased to say that since then the magazine has been well received by window cleaners and the feedback I receive about it is mainly positive, though I am always willing to hear constructive criticism. Due to a complicated set of reasons, a new magazine for window cleaners has definately
not been welcomed by some in this industry, and I'm sure that you would be amazed to learn of some of the things that have transpired as a result. Its clear that certain organizations, and even certain individuals have been profiting for a long time from the fact that window cleaners "don't know any better" and that there hasn't been anyone to question what what they were doing.
"Window Talk", the Federation's magazine has been criticised in the past, not least by me (before the days of PWC- see
HERE). One thing I have noticed in recent times, is that it seems to have been re-vamped, and if the presence of PWC has caused the Fed to raise their game in this respect, then that's good news. While it now does
look better, has the quality of the material improved? That's up to you to decide, and window cleaners themselves
are deciding what they want, and they can only do so because they now have a choice.
I would like to thank those who have expressed positive views about PWC here, and I will take time to think about those comments which were not so positive. I genuinely want PWC to be a magazine that window cleaners enjoy reading.
If you like the magazine, have any opinions about articles etc, do let me know. These days window cleaners have access to information like never before. This very forum was, in my opinion, the beginning of a revolution in window cleaning. I would probably not have started PWC magazine had it not been for CIU, and I think we owe a debt of gratitude to Mike Boxall who started it, and was prepared to devote a great deal of time and money to get it off the ground. Having spoken with Mike on several occasions, I know that this forum was pioneering in its time, and is still the busiest of all the window cleaning forums, and I think his contribution is often overlooked.
-Philip
