True History of the Giants Gang

Media Giants was formed in 1893 as an online content company, a full 76 years before the ARPANET would be developed by the American military and academics to safeguard that nation's computers against thermonuclear attack. By the mid-1980s, the ARPANET had become the internet, which then saw the development of the world wide web to create individual web pages requiring content.

Media Giants' long prepared-for vision was finally ready to be realised.

Here are some of the more notable milestones and moments in our company's proud history:

 

1893: Early members of the Giants' e-content team outside our original headquarters in South Melbourne, Victoria. Like Yahoo and other cool web companies to come a century later, Media Giants' HQ had beanbags ... featuring actual beans. (Company founder Lance Melrose is second from left)

 

1934: Deep in the Depression, workers on the Giants afl.com.au production desk were fed only wheat chaff and water, a tradition that continues to this day.

 

1957: Media Giants has always invested in state-of-the-art technology to support our internet content business. Here, a worker performs routine maintenance on the back-end of a prototype of the Giant version of a tablet computer, affectionately nicknamed the iGiant.

 

1968: As Australia's leading online content company, with an almost mystical reputation for creativity, pushing the boundaries of content and developing new ways of communicating for our clients, Media Giants has always attracted attention from other media, left gaping in our wake and trying to understand the Giant success. Here, key staff pose for Life magazine (now folded, apart from an online presence - see). (Company founder Lance Melrose is pictured, second from left)

 

1973: The Australian media space has always been volatile. Here, Media Giants company founder Lance Melrose and a young Rupert Murdoch go toe-to-toe over who has the better Dreamteam/SuperCoach offering.

 

1982: The Giants' early attempts at harnessing new-fangled technology utilising a “mouse” to navigate a computer desktop went horribly, horribly wrong.

 

1985: Giants staff pose proudly next to the company's first rocket, which carried Giant-1, our initial WAP content satellite into orbit. The rocket later crashed, unfortunately, just off the coast of Florida. Luckily, we were able to blame the resulting oil spill on a major petroleum company. (Company founder Lance Melrose is pictured, second from the left)

 

1985: Unfortunately, Media Giants gained international headlines for all the wrong reasons after company founder Lance Melrose became carried away while co-presenting the Walkley Award for Best Online Content alongside Sophia Loren.

 

1989: The Giants work hard but we also know how to party! Here, company founder Lance Melrose entertains the children of unnamed Giant workers at the company Christmas party.

 

1997: Another day, another client meeting. Giant directors Nick Place and Michael Roberts prepare for a routine catch-up with a Sydney real estate client.

 

2001: A clear difference between Media Giants and other media companies is our corporate culture, which includes treating every single member of staff as a respected individual. (Company founder Lance Melrose is pictured, second from left)

 

2003: During the infamous dot-com crash, Media Giants faced a difficult choice: fall back on our offline media skills and work within traditional media or form a mariachi band and attempt to tour South America? We chose the Baja option and the rest, as they say, is history. As our competitors fell in the dot-com carnage, we survived to fight another online day. (Company founder Lance Melrose is second from left)

 

2004: The ill-fated attempt at a Giant-mobile. Being at the cutting edge means Media Giants will always risk pushing the online media envelope a little too far. (Company founder Lance Melrose is pictured driving, second seat from left)

 

2004: Media Giants is forever at the cusp of the latest internet trends and technology. Pictured is an early Giant attempt at claiming the market edge when "kiosks" were set to become the future of internet delivery at a street level. Tragically, nine Giants were killed soon after attempting to create an early "portal".

 

2006: A dark day for the Giants as Fly Dog is arrested, following what is now only occasionally referred to as the rubber chicken incident.

 

2006: In the online news world, as much as back in the days of daily newspapers, being first to a story can be all-important. Here, Giants reporters get the edge on Sportal and other content providers in the race to attend a Jana Rawlinson presser at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

 

2008: Covering Australian news is always a risky business. Here, a Media Giants reporter working for Citysearch helps police with their enquiries at an Australian Fashion Week launch.

 

2009: A corporate headquarters says a lot about a company. When Media Giants moved into new digs in the old Rosella factory in East Richmond, we spared no expense on the foyer.

 

Present day: Media Giants prides itself on its cutting edge and sophisticated podcast set-up, deep within our Richmond HQ.

 

2014: A Media Giants reporter prepares to head off to a press conference at Docklands.