[RITSlist] A Rocket Survey
Richard Hutchins
rdhutchins at sbcglobal.net
Mon Jul 2 15:22:19 CDT 2007
David and Bill,
I know that I shouldn't even get involved in this
discussion, but there are some very compelling
arguments made here and the input is very much along
the lines of the discussions the Pub. committee has
had and is continuing to have. Remember, there are
nearly 1,000 members and we are trying to serve all of
them. Not so surprising is the fact that the variance
of opinions runs pretty much along the same lines as
does those expressed by the two of you. But, It all
boils down to trying to balance the scales between
costs and income. we would really like to be able to
provide Rockets, Digests, calendars and the
newsletter, but it just can't be done in a manner that
will please everyone.
It was a huge jump to increase dues to $35.00 and
that doesn't even bring the bottom lines into balance
when the costs of all of those publications are
considered, plus the other costs necessary to operate.
The committee is in constant contact and is trying to
consider everyone and everything. However, there
would be nothing gained by keeping the membership
informed of our discussions since things change on a
daily basis. Digest #24 is a good example, first it
is finally at the printers ready to go, after many
months of procrastination by the editor, then other
things happen and now we are at a stalemate with it
again. Perhaps other members should be trying to
encourage that editor to release it for print. It has
some very good articles in it that the members are
missing because of the determination of that one
individual to hold the membership hostage. Frankly,
Long time members are well aware of the problems, over
the years, with this same editor, which is the main
reason that we are having this discussion today.
There are 11 members on the board of directors, whom
we try to keep informed, as well, but some people just
seem to expect more than others.
I like the statement "Let's see what the Publications
Committee comes up with BEFORE we start yelling
'Foul'. Keep in mind, however, that whatever the
Committee recommends still has to be approved by all
of the board. The decisions are not easy to make and
probably will not please everyone.
Dick Hutchins
--- DAVID SCHMIDT <dschmdt at verizon.net> wrote:
> Bill,
> you made a fallacial statement here. You state that
> the pubs committee is replacing a 60 to 80 page
> digest with a 30 page magazine. In the case of
> digests 22 and 23 that is true...BUT, after that the
> members are receiving 128 pages of published
> material per year instead of a single 60 to 80 page
> digest. IMHO, that seems to be a rather nice
> tradeoff. And the material is published ON TIME !!
> Something RITS has not been able to accomplish for
> quite some time now. In fact, when I was first
> inquiring about RITS many years ago, the first thing
> I heard was that they never got their materials to
> the membership and that I needed to be careful.
> As I have told you in our private conversation on
> this topic, if retiring the Digest would allow
> sufficient funds to become available so that the
> Rocket could be expanded to say 40 pages with a
> single feature length article of say 10 to 12 pages
> included, that would be optimal IMHO. That would
> conceivably give us a faux 40 page digest within the
> Rocket albeit spread over an entire year. I also
> like the idea of spacing it out over a 12 month
> span. It gives me something to look forward to each
> quarter instead of a single "high" when the one
> digest is delivered. It also would give the variety
> that myself and others appreciate. Also, as an
> author, I would think that you would appreciate the
> ability to be able to spread an article over a
> couple issues thus relieving you of the demands of a
> single hard deadline.
> Let's see what the publications committee comes up
> with BEFORE we start yelling "Foul".
> Regards
> David Schmidt
> Beach City Texas
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Arkrail at aol.com
> To:
> Cc: rdhutchins at sbcglobal.net
> Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 8:28 AM
> Subject: Re: [RITSlist] A Rocket Survey
>
>
> On Jun 29, 2007, BILL POLLARD wrote:
>
> >>
> >> There is a place for both publications. To my
> knowledge, neither the
> >> board nor the publications committee has
> formally affirmed any formal
> >> position regarding the two publications, or
> explained their intent
> >> for the two publications to coexist.
> >>
>
>
> We still haven't seen any response to my original
> comment (above), from either the publications
> committee or the RITS board. If a decision has been
> made on the publications, it needs to be shared with
> the members in a timely fashion (meaning well in
> advance of the Chicago convention). Otherwise,
> members will be left to make their own
> interpretation of the situation based on the
> information that is available. That "available
> information" includes the following tidbits:
>
> The publications committe report (page 3-4 of the
> current ROCK) says: "By the time you read this
> report, we will probably have decided what to do
> about publications through the next two years, and
> have our proposal ready for presentation to the
> Board of Directors at the convention in Chicago. We
> are getting together in May for that purpose."
>
> Later in the same report: "Digest #24 may be
> completed this year, which will close out any
> obligation for members to receive Digests."
>
> We are also advised that "missing" Digests 22 and
> 23 were summarily replaced with two Rocket magazines
> (2005-1 and 2005-2). For the record, that's
> replacing a 60-80 page publication with a 30-page
> publication, each issue of which is apparently
> costing RITS as much or more than a Digest. After
> reading the above comments, it seems reasonable to
> conclude that RITS is moving toward discontinuing
> the Digest. If that is the case, the membership
> needs an opportunity to provide input before that
> decision becomes final.
>
> In his response below, publication chairman Dick
> Hutchins basically confirms that the Rocket is not
> really a suitable publication for long, in depth
> feature articles about a specific aspect of Rock
> Island operations. That is not to criticize the
> Rocket -- the Rocket and the Digest are two separate
> products -- two vastly different formats, and each
> offering a publication for quite different types of
> articles. Whether the topic is some obscure RI
> historical detail (like 15-passenger motor cars on
> the Searcy branch in Arkansas), or a lengthy
> "how-to" article on modeling a specific locomotive,
> RITS needs the Digest if the RITS membership is to
> continue to receive these types of articles.
>
> It is incumbent on the board and publication
> committee to craft a future publication plan which
> specifically preserves both the Digest and the
> Rocket, such as the once discussed plan to produce
> 3 quarterly Rockets and one annual Digest each year.
>
> Bill Pollard
>
> In a message dated 7/2/2007 1:08:59 AM Central
> Daylight Time, hutnet at earthlink.net writes:
> I will inject here, (pardon the injection) that
> we did hear a lot of
> complaints about the length of the covered
> hopper article in The Rocket
> 2007-1. When the magazine is limited to 32
> pages, apparently some
> folks prefer to have variety rather than lengthy
> articles. But then,
> you know the ole saying "you can't please all of
> them"
> Dick Hutchins
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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