I’ll be honest. When Bill Bruce of Foodbev Media finished interviewing me with the words, “oh and by the way, you’ll be editing a water cooler magazine”, I wasn’t all that thrilled.
It’s not that I had anything against the water cooler. I’d simply never noticed it before.
And so I jumped from consumer magazine writing into the world of the industry publication, intimidated by the subject matter and daunted by my own lack of knowledge. I wondered if I’d last the year. And here I am now, wondering where it’s gone.
Time flies when you’re having fun. Perhaps, as the editor of the only international water cooler publication, fun should not have been part of the job description, but I’d be lying if I said it was an unrewarding slog. Far from it. It has been extremely rewarding in terms of experience, in terms of enjoyment and in terms of education.
Cooler Innovation has taught me a lot. Not long after I started, I was invited to the BWCA conference held at The Belfry in Birmingham. The day was a series of talks and seminars. Behind the figures and statistics bubbled a real passion for the bottled water cooler. To a newcomer that expected brittle business talk, I was surprised and warmed to see that within the industry, creative thinking meets technical application, and it’s as much about customer service as it is about manufacture.
In the evening, I got to meet some of the personalities behind the products. If I may mention names, Ron Hounsell, Philippa Clow, Kevin James, Laurent Alozy, the team from Wenlock and entrepreneur Sean Chatterton all showed me that there was fizz in an industry that I had first thought looked a bit, well, flat.
Then there was the EDWCA AGM at 3M, which opened the doors to debate about zero-impact gases for compressors and the future role of the association in Europe. I missed the evening do, but the daytime shed light on the characters driving the mains-fed standards. I personally thank Mike Hurst, James Anderton and Luca Costantini – along with others in the industry such as Fred Cairns Palmer – who have helped with my own education and understanding of the industry, day-to-day and on a broader, more political scale.
There are too many names to mention, but over the production of six issues, I have had the privilege to speak with players across continents, and though my Dutch, Italian and French hasn’t improved dramatically from the experience (my American is coming along), my knowledge of the industry certainly has, as has my thirst to know more.
And what am I to do with it now, all this knowledge and awareness? Already I find myself fascinating friends by pointing out the brand and possible distributor of every cooler in every televised hospital/office drama. I’d like to think they’re impressed, but clearly the water cooler is nothing to them but a functional unit.
They don’t understand (and how could they) that the industry isn’t one niche story, but an intrigue woven with independent threads – filtration, vending, bottle manufacture, racking, delivery, customer service and sanitisation, to name a few.
I will of course continue to log on to FoodBev.com’s Cooler section to get my cooler news. There are uncertain but exciting times ahead and I’m eager to keep up to speed on several issues:
Cooler Innovation is safely back in the hands of the very capable Hannah Oakman. She and I would both agree that it’s a privilege to be involved in an industry that initiates, innovates and inspires across business, design and work ethic. In that respect, no other industry is cooler.
FoodBev Media group editorial director Bill Bruce would like to formally thank Rachel for her contribution over the past year. We’ll be talking about her around the water cooler for some time to come.
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