Bill et al:
INAV, moving forward is going to be available for electronic delivery
via download. As noted on the front page of the new website
http://www.indoornewsandviews.com/:
"... moving forward, approximately one month after publication and
mailing of the new paper issues, we will make electronic copies of
the new issues available in the subscriber's only section."
Any subscriber can get password, and a month after mailing, they can
download the latest issue, as well as the back issues down to #102.
As for the subscription fee, I will give a short summary, and we plan
to start an annual accounting in the future. In a nutshell, yes, the
subscription covers mailing and printing. But Bill, from everything
I have seen, most of our subscribers still want paper copies. Until
I get 150 emails/letters (we have about 200 subscribers) from folks
saying otherwise, I think moving from hardcopy would be unfair to
most of the subscribers.
BTW – INAV is volunteer only, no one gets paid, or makes any money.
In fact, the tone of that comment is right on the line of being a bit
offensive. Everyone who puts time into this is giving up family
time, building/flying time, work time. While I'm sure no offense was
intended, I would ask that all choose their words carefully when
making statements about the finances of INAV in the context of it
being a volunteer run newsletter.
Second, I think $15 is very reasonable. Yes, we tend to get the
issues out a bit late, but they get out. Also, we are trying to
maintain a 40 year old tradition here. Nothing is free, and even if
we moved to wholly electronic (note I said "if"), I would still want
to charge a subscription to maintain a website and database.
This publication is of course run and produced for the Indoor
community, so if as I noted, 3/4 of the subscribers write in and
request your proposed changes we would of course take that into
serious consideration. However, until I get a majority of
subscribers looking for change, we will keep doing what we are doing
and trying to put out a better newsletter each quarter.
Sincerely,
Tony Pavel,
Editor INAV
PS – the "summer" contest issue is done, month and a bit late and on
the way to the printer. Sorry for the delay – but expect to be
seeing it soon!
--- In Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com, "Bill Gowen"
<b.gowen_at_...> wrote:
>
> I have a couple of suggestions for the INAV staff which I would like
> to share with the list membership as a whole:
>
> 1. Many have asked about an electronic delivery of INAV and reasons
> have been offered for not doing it that way. Here's an
alternative -
> how about electronic copies for those who want it that way and paper
> copies for the others? I am presently in charge of the electronic
> distribution of my club newspaper and it takes maybe 30 seconds to
> send it out. Doing a split delivery system would obviously reduce
the
> work load and expense of getting an issue out. I would MUCH prefer
an
> electronic copy. I can store thousands of documents on my computer
and
> access them any time I need to. My copies of INAV are in bulging
> binders that are heavy and cumbersome. A lot of times I will trust
my
> memory instead of trying to find something in my hard copies. At my
> age this is not always a good idea!
>
> 2. I have been told many times that INAV is an all volunteer effort.
> My literal interpretation of this is that there's not supposed to be
> any money left over after printing and delivery costs are paid. If
> this is the case, and if electronic delivery is essentially free of
> both expense and work, why is it necessary to charge for INAV? If a
> subscriber wants to get a hard copy there could be a subscription
fee
> that would cover the costs of providing it. For those receiving an
> electonic copy it would just be a matter of asking to be on the
list.
>
> I would be interested in hearing both from the editors and
publishers
> of INAV as well as the list membership in general.
> Bill Gowen
> Decatur, GA USA
>
Received on Sun Oct 08 2006 - 12:06:17 CEST