Videos, Blogs, and Articles ... Oh My!

Unlike many businesses that measure success on the P & L statement, we are judged by how long our product remains near the crapper at your office. Here at The NEWS we realize that while our bread and butter is the tabloid-size magazine you hold in your hands each week for those tender moments, an increasing number of people look to the Internet to learn about the HVACR industry. However, I don’t suggest you carry a bulky laptop onto the throne with you; The NEWS will continue to serve that purpose quite nicely.

Our Website, www.achrnews.com, has been completely revamped. It is full of content, simple to navigate, and quite easy on the eyes if I might say so myself.

If you happen to be adept at multitasking with interactive media, click on www.achrnews.com right now and you will find:

• Editorial Archives: We don’t mean to brag, but we have more HVAC articles than Lindsay Lohan has DUI arrests. Actually, the Website only has more than 22,000 archived articles, so perhaps we are behind the bad girl of Hollywood. But nonetheless, you can search for any article The NEWS has published since 1999. For instance, I just typed “IAQ” into our search engine and a total of 1,720 articles were found. Incidentally, I just typed in “IAQ” on Lohan’s site and there are no references to IAQ - she is quite shallow.

• Videos: The NEWS’ Website now includes exclusive on-demand videos. In addition to a new video being added each week to our homepage, readers can also view all videos in the archives section. In just the past few months, The NEWS has recently posted videos of retired comedian Dom DeLuise - Erkel has not been returning our phone calls - talking mold, Dave LaGrand of Nordyne speaking on global warming, and Ron Collier teaching about performance-based pay.

• Rotating Product Gallery: This gallery allows Website visitors to view new HVACR products in a clean and easy manner. This gallery allows Website visitors to quickly scroll though 14 different HVACR product categories. Click on the category and a selection of products will come up. Click on an individual product and the reader gets a photo of the product, a brief description, and a link to the manufacturer’s Website to get more information.

• Blogs: Trust me, the blogs are the most exciting part of our redesigned Website. The addition of blogs was my idea, and if they become popular, it will help me tremendously with the guys upstairs. Four of us will be blogging on a regular basis, Publisher John Conrad, Editor-in-Chief Mike Murphy, Business Editor John Hall, and me. Also, Senior Editor Mark Skaer will throw one your way occasionally. Here is an example of how much better my stuff is compared to those old farts. My first blog entry appears at www.achrnews.com:

Survey Says: ABC Heating & Cooling Over Heidi Klum
Coors Brewing Co. released an interesting survey concerning the importance of air conditioning. According to www.coors.com, a survey of 1,500 adult men ages 21-44 found that nearly 75 percent of men would rather have air conditioning in their homes during a heat wave than win a date with a supermodel, receive an extra week paid vacation, or win backstage passes at their favorite band’s concert.

So at this point, I would request all my contractor readers to stand up, walk over to a mirror, and take a good look at yourself. Your average John Q. Public would rather see you on a 100°F day than supermodel Heidi Klum. It’s true. Coors surveys are very legitimate. I know Ted Kennedy loves them.

Now the real question, would these same men still choose air conditioning if it meant having to go on a date with Bea Arthur?

And yes, there is a picture of Heidi Klum in my first blog entry. If that does not get you to the site, I don’t know what will.

Publication date: 09/24/2007