Printed BTS

[Elsie Smith]

Hi All, realize that the club's transitioning. One of the things that's
been replaced is the printed version of the BTS.

I had someone call me for info on the Holiday Party who does not use a
computer and who misses the print BTS. I understand about the print
BTS, but it at least having the deadlines was more of a prompt to
have information gathered in a timely manner for all upcoming events
especially those that require registration.

I also thought that the advertising in the BTS was offsetting a lot
of the printing/mailing.

This is a rant of any old lady, but I'm on the computer all day so I
have the means to look up stuff if I remember it (like the mileage
contest deadline).

Maybe next time an actual USPS mailing goes out for renewals for
those with membership numbers in the 1-300 (or 500, or under 1,000)
range they'd get a short questionnaire to see if they want to receive
a printed BTS. And, how much they'd be willing to pay per issue to get
it ($2, $3, $5). And if they care if it's in color or black and white.

It'd probably work best for renewals because we send them
the updated directory. It'd be slightly added work for Karen
to stuff in a small questionnaire, but I think us with membership
numbers below 1000 would appreciate having the option of
getting a print version.

I'd be willing to work with Karen to figure this out, including
costs for black and white versus color copies.

Comments?

[JimVonBaden]

I would be interested in how many currently receive it printed?

I really do not care to have a print version, and suspect most of us feel that way.

Jim

[DiscoPete]

I liked receiving the printed version. I'll indicated that if a survey comes my way.

[JonG]

I visited a print shop near me this morning and showed them the April 2013 glossy, about 20 pages.
$45 for setup
$20 for first copy
$10 for 2nd to 100th copy
I didn't get into labeling, postage and handling costs .. maybe $5 each

Let's say we get 10 people willing to send us a check in advance.
That's $20 .. $22 a copy mailed to your home.
If we get only 2 people, then $43 .. $45 a copy.

And "a copy" means each month that we publish a BTS. This shouldn't be confused with an annual subscription; which would be 12 times "a copy".

Still interested????

[JimVonBaden]

I visited a print shop near me this morning and showed them the April 2013 glossy, about 20 pages.
$45 for setup
$20 for first copy
$10 for 2nd to 100th copy
I didn't get into labeling, postage and handling costs .. maybe $5 each

Let's say we get 10 people willing to send us a check in advance.
That's $20 .. $22 a copy mailed to your home.
If we get only 2 people, then $43 .. $45 a copy.

And "a copy" means each month that we publish a BTS. This shouldn't be confused with an annual subscription; which would be 12 times "a copy".

Still interested????

It would be cheaper to print it out on copy paper, in full color, at home. by FAR! Even many magazines have stopped publishing hard copies. IMHO, even if it loses a few members, the days of printing are over. The advantage of digital is that you can have as many pages as you want, all full color, even interactive with GIFs and videos!

Jim

[Georgeinva]

the days of printing are over

"put the blame on VTR"

[JimVonBaden]

the days of printing are over

"put the blame on VTR"

VTR?

Jim

[Georgeinva]

the days of printing are over

"put the blame on VTR"

VTR?

Jim

If you are Buggled by VTR then Google it. Hard to believe that I was the only one sitting in front of a TV on August 1, 1981.

[JonG]

ok. I give up. What does a Video Tape Recorder have to do with a Printed BTS?

[JimVonBaden]

the days of printing are over

"put the blame on VTR"

VTR?

Jim

If you are Buggled by VTR then Google it. Hard to believe that I was the only one sitting in front of a TV on August 1, 1981.

I'm pretty historically astute, but nope, got nothing, and I don't think VTR is what Google says it is: https://www.google.com/search?q=class+v ... pr=1#q=vtr

Adding the date brings up this:

What Happened on September 1, 1981
Full Calendar
Home Dates by Year 1981 September 1
Day of the Week: Tuesday

Historical Events
Fiona Brothers sets women's propeller boat speed record (116.279 MPH)
Military coup under general Kolingba in Central African Republic, President Dacko flees
Northern Ireland’s first religiously integrated secondary school opens
RKO radio network premieres America Overnight talk show

Famous Birthdays
Adam Quick, Australian basketball player
Clinton Portis, American football player
Famous Deaths
Albert Speer, German NSDAP-architect/minister of Army at 76
Ann Harding, actress (When Ladies Meet, Devotion), dies
Bùi Thanh Liêm, Vietnamese cosmonaut, dies in a MiG-21 crash at 32

Jim

[dcgsrider]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AVi ... Radio_Star

Here you will find the answer to all of life's vexations, or at least this one...

8/1/1981 MTV...under famous birthdays

[Georgeinva]

ok. I give up. What does a Video Tape Recorder have to do with a Printed BTS?

"In my mind and in my car
we can't rewind we've gone too far.
Pictures came and broke your heart.
Put the blame on VTR
You are the radio star.
Video killed the radio star"

It is about the march of technology and those who are left behind long for a simpler time. Jim said "the days of print are over". Print like "the radio star" or for that matter terrestrial radio are if not dead then they are dying. You see all of the world problems can be traced back to the fate filled day in August 81. Most thought we were entering a new age of enlightenment. Sadly they were wrong. Almost a year to the day later (8/17/82) the first commercially available compact disc was available. Just when those of us who prefer quality over quantity and personality over plastic thought things could not get any worse... they did. What we did not know at the time was that the first Millennials were now among us.

Once again I might be too hip for the room. But for the life of me I can not figure out why Devo was nominated for security of education.

[Chiba]

Pardon me for interjecting here, but I do know a little about it

Cost was the #1 issue. Only about 75-80 printed copies were going out every month. If they weren't folded, they cost almost $3 apiece to mail. If they were folded/taped, the cost went up to almost $5 each because of the machine costs involved at the printer. Printing costs went up and up and up every year - paper, ink and labor cost more every time I turned around. I shopped bids every year and went with the cheapest of the good, reliable printers, but even they could only hold costs down so far. Postage discounts didn't kick in until something like 200 copies (and it may have been more than that), and even then it only got the cost down to about a dollar a copy.

#2 issue: participation. Getting content was like pulling teeth most months. Beg, borrow, steal - only a very VERY small number of people could be bothered to contribute, and almost nobody was willing (or able) to do so on a regular basis. Go back and look how many issues I wrote almost entirely by myself. All those members who complain about not receiving it could never be bothered to contribute to it. Like everything else in the club, it boiled down to a small number of people who were willing to do the work and a large number of people who were apathetic about the whole thing.

I'm not trying to sound whiny because most of the time, I didn't care. I was happy to do it by myself when I had to simply because I loved doing it. When I needed help, however, very few people stepped up. When Kurtis needed help after I left, NOBODY stepped up. I mean, come on. I gave almost a year's notice that I was leaving, and I mentioned it at every club meeting for over six months that once I moved away somebody would need to take over. Not one single person volunteered, and Kurtis got STUCK with it.

At this point probably the only cost effective thing to do is print out a couple pages on somebody's HP at home and stuff them in envelopes with a $0.48 stamp on them, like the old days (the 1970s, I mean).

If I was still a club member - and again, pardon my commentary as an outsider now - I would tell anybody that wants a print copy that maybe they ought to earn it by contributing. Volunteer. Put out some effort and make it worth while. Advertisers bailed out because the club members themselves didn't care about BTS, so why should they bother? (that is more than just a guess, but that comment did not come from every former advertiser)

[Georgeinva]

large number of people who were apathetic about the whole thing.

I'm not trying to sound whiny because most of the time, I didn't care. I

[JimVonBaden]

ok. I give up. What does a Video Tape Recorder have to do with a Printed BTS?

"In my mind and in my car
we can't rewind we've gone too far.
Pictures came and broke your heart.
Put the blame on VTR
You are the radio star.
Video killed the radio star"

It is about the march of technology and those who are left behind long for a simpler time. Jim said "the days of print are over". Print like "the radio star" or for that matter terrestrial radio are if not dead then they are dying. You see all of the world problems can be traced back to the fate filled day in August 81. Most thought we were entering a new age of enlightenment. Sadly they were wrong. Almost a year to the day later (8/17/82) the first commercially available compact disc was available. Just when those of us who prefer quality over quantity and personality over plastic thought things could not get any worse... they did. What we did not know at the time was that the first Millennials were now among us.

Once again I might be too hip for the room. But for the life of me I can not figure out why Devo was nominated for security of education.

OK George, you got me!

Jim