LIFE SENTENCE
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve said this on these pages: one of the best things about being in this role is the people that you meet along the way. Who I’m normally referring to when I say this are the feature car owners, workshop owners and staff, or similar. But it’s all too easy for me to take an external focus, when some of that credit also should be pointed towards the team of people who help put this magazine together each month. Some of those contributors have been with the magazine for just over a decade ago, and I’m also proud to call many of them good friends.
Kevin Shaw joined the team by writing his first feature car article back in Issue No. 62 in mid 2010 and Shane Wishnowsky joined a month later, so both have just ticked over a decade of service. That’s an impressive feat in this fickle day and age. While it’s far from being a full-time job for either of them, it’s far more time-consuming and involved than it may appear, and what the pay would reflect. The guys, and our kick-arse long-term South Island contributor Rod Dunn, all have busy day jobs, so their NZV8 work has to fit in around that, along with family and other commitments — which I know from firsthand experience can be a juggling act — and I truly appreciate the efforts and loyalty of both of them. Photographer Adam Croy, aka Strong Style Photo, has also been an essential part of the team for more than a decade. Beginning as a staff photographer for NZV8’s parent company Parkside Media, Adam climbed to run the photography department before branching out into the world of freelance photography in more recent times — yes, he’s available to you should you want a shoot of your own vehicle … or be an eligible bachelorette.
Long-term readers would have seen both the writing and photography from these guys grow over the years, and evolve as the magazine itself has. That couldn’t happen without the design talent of Mark Gibson, who, as I’ve mentioned before, has also been an essential part of the team for longer than he’d care to remember (March 2009). While it’s hard to come up with fresh design ideas, Gibbo comes through with the goods month after month. Like Adam, Gibbo started off in-house and moved to a freelance role somewhere along the line.
One who’s stayed on staff is our sales guru extraordinaire, Dave Burns. Burns has been in the unenviable position of selling ads in NZV8 and our sister titles since 2013, and that’s only after being employed by the company for a few years back in the early 2000s and taking a break before rejoining again. While he’s not single-handedly responsible for ad sales, chances are that we wouldn’t be here now without his efforts, or the efforts of the team that he works in.
Let’s not forget TJ, either. Tony’s had articles in more individual issues of NZV8 than anyone else, missing only one or two along the way and narrowly edging me out — I’ve missed having an article in about four or five issues since the magazine’s inception — although the total number of pages written would rapidly turn that equation on its head.
This month’s column started as me trying to give recognition where it’s due: to Kevin and Shane for 10 years of contributions and being good buggers, as that’s a great effort and one that’s truly appreciated. In reality, though, the magazine wouldn’t be what it is without any of the guys mentioned above, nor the other unsung heroes behind the scenes, nor you — the loyal reader.
Cheers for the good times, and watch this space, as there are some interesting developments ahead. Cheers,