With that said, I do believe that the staff will make a good judgement call, so I support opening up to all advertising. As far as the books go - as explained by Barry, a lot of our members are old school. They still like paper books. If our demographics significantly change I can see us getting away from paper books, but I don't see that happening right now. Ria N2RJ On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 at 14:29, Michael Ritz <w7vo@comcast.net> wrote:
Lee, if it comes down to that we all have a real problem! If we open up our QSTs and find big ads for products like Depends, Life Alert, or Kohler walk-in bathtubs, it'll be a sad day for all of us. ;-)
73; Mike W7VO
Mike, I wonder if it is how the question is phrased. At several forums last year we asked two questions in following order -
1. How many in room would oppose non-amateur specific advertising in QST? Responses were mixed with some being vocal for or against.
2. Then we asked If your choices were more generic advertising or a an increase in dues to cover lost revenue, which would you prefer. The response was overwhelming in favour of the advertising.
The bottom line is that more and more of smaller "ham stores" and vendors are disappearing and they need to be replaced. If we should start to see the larger ones pulling back then what are our choices?
This one is a no-brainer folks.
Lee
On April 23, 2020, at 10:30, Michael Ritz <w7vo@comcast.net> wrote:
"....those of who we accept advertising from and what form that advertising is (print vs electronic)."
The ARRL website's front page (one of our most valuable assets, from a marketing standpoint), is full of ads, so it appears we are already doing as you suggest there. In fact, it appears the " ARRL.ORG" front page now has more ads than content. (Mostly for ARRL books and trinkets.)
I would caution against moving towards ads in QST, (or even "On the Air"), that specifically are not related to amateur radio. I have talked about QST with many members in my Division, and often ask them what they think about the magazine. The hard fact is that the overwhelming opinion I've found is that they mostly read the ads, and sometimes they find an article they enjoy. (I sort of fall into that same boat too, I'm afraid.) I personally believe ads for more non-ham related products and services, such as hearing aids, medicare insurance, cell phone services and the like would not be well received by the membership, and would greatly dilute the magazine's value to them.
I will be VERY curious to see how many print version cancellations we get for QEX and NCJ in the next year or so since we now give the content away digitally and how that affects revenue. Howard was convinced it was sustainable. I'm a bit more skeptical, but the demographics of those specialized members will define the outcome.
73; Mike W7VO
On April 18, 2020 at 11:09 PM Matt Holden < mtholde@gmail.com> wrote:
Ron, WJØN, has been in the business of selling the dream of vacationing and living, in Northern Minnesota, for quite a few years. His views on publication sales give me pause that we need to start thinking outside the box, and our comfort zone, for our next streams of revenue. I'm not suggesting we scuttle selling books and magazines. "On The Air" magazine and our current e-book catalog are steps in the right direction. We board members need to be supportive of our advertising sales and publication teams exploring the expansion of the boundaries of the topics we present material on, those of who we accept advertising from and what form that advertising is (print vs electronic). 73, Matt Holden KØBBC ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Ron Brochu < wj0n.duluth@gmail.com> Date: Sat, Apr 18, 2020 at 12:05 PM Subject: Virtual meeting with ARAC To: < k0bbc@arrl.org>
Hi Matt,
I was among those who sat in on your recent online presentation to the Arrowhead Radio Amateurs Club. After listening to your comments about former CEO Howard Michel, I wanted to weigh in.
First, let me stress I'm only speaking for myself and not ARAC or anybody else. I'm not exactly a ham's ham (I gave up the hobby while raising our two kids and only recently returned) but do have considerable experience in the business world, currently co-owning three publications - Lake Superior Magazine, BusinessNorth, both in Duluth, and the Scenic Range NewsForum in Coleraine.
My interest isn't in Mr. Michel. I know little about him. But my experience in business and journalism has taught me an organization needs a CEO who is best versed in numbers, marketing and revenue, not one who's an expert in the industry he oversees. I'm an ARRL member but not a big follower of ARRL issues, yet from what little I see, it certainly seems the organization shouldn't have a "ham's ham" at the financial helm. Save that type of person for the board of directors, not the day-to-day business operations.
Last night, I stumbled into the "100 Watts and a Wire" podcast and heard something that prompted me to write this e-mail.. They mentioned Michel's feeling that ARRL shouldn't print and market books. Lake Superior Magazine does a lot of this and I can't help but agree with Michels. We sell some interesting books about the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking and other lake-related topics. Yes, they do sell and they're profitable. But the publisher has to put a lot of money up front to print the books, and to get the best profit, you have to print a lot of them, then sit on that investment until the books are sold. They have to be stored in a safe, climate-controlled place, which isn't cheap, and they tend to be overshadowed every time a new title comes out. For ARRL, I'd think online publishing (e-books) would be a better option.
Books can also become outdated quickly. I recently bought a discounted ARRL book about Arduino and Picaxe. Once it arrived, I knew why it was discounted. Most of the info was way outdated. The technology of our hobby changes very quickly these days, and once that happens, the aging books aren't worth much.
I really don't care how you vote on these matters. I'm just somebody who has some management and publishing experience who's sharing his knowledge. I always enjoy your presentations and wish I had taken DXpeditions when I was a younger man. But such is life.
We've met before, but there's no reason to think you'd remember that. I'll look you up this fall if you happen to be at our rescheduled hamfest in Carlton. Thanks for listening and best regards.
Ron Brochu WJ0N Duluth
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