Sixty-Eight?
From the editor

You hold in your hands a volume that will soon be considered a landmark of trade journalism; a single issue so momentous that it puts even mainstream classics like Rolling Stone’s first “Women In Rock” double issue and Entertainment Weekly’s thought-provoking “What Is Cool?” cover to shame. This here mag isn’t just another issue of Club Systems, it’s a guidebook, a moment in time, and a first-ever. Because in profiling all the Club World Award nominees, ALL 68 OF THEM, we’ve also taken an all-inclusive snapshot of the American nightclub industry circa January 2003 – what it looks like, the technology it’s using, the music it’s dancing to, and the places that are its hubs. And that has never been done before at any time.
The winners of the Club World Awards will be determined by an independent panel of expert judges (we’ll reveal them next month) and announced on March 26 during our Club Show in Las Vegas. The Club Show is (of course) another first-of-its-kind, an exhibition for nightclub professionals including an exhibit hall, panel discussions, and big-time parties at night. You must know this drill by now…but if you don’t, www.theclubshow.com.
I knew before I took on the challenge of this issue and the Club Show project as a whole that I’d need help, and I enlisted it in the form of the lovely, charming, and utterly brilliant Daphne Carr. She willingly submerged herself in this industry, to the point where she could contextualize the importance of a turntable and see the “big picture” of foam effects even better than a vet like me. Thank you, Daphne.
May the success stories in this issue spark countless million-dollar ideas, and let our nominees know in a permanent way that their efforts and creativity have not gone unnoticed.

Happy reading,

Kerri Mason
Editor,
Club Systems International
Kmason@testa.com