In the January Coupe Capers, Skip wrote a front page editorial/article saying some good things about the web sites many of you have made and the valuable information here on the list.
The issue of the Capers should get to the majority of you Real Soon Now.
Here are some of my thoughts on the issue:
VERY interesting discussion starter Skip included on the front page.
Skip discussed the favorable dynamic of this list where someone asks a
question, many people reply and we get to the point where the correct
answer usually comes out.
Based on this, Skip asked if we still need a printed Coupe Capers. The
printing and mailing costs are the club's biggest expense. Rough
numbers from when I was editor: $200/month for editor, $800-1000/month
for printing and postage. (When Skip was Editor before me, he got no
"Editor" pay. Just the "executive director" money he gets now and some
travel reimbursment. I asked for and was granted monthly pay for the
job and that carried on to Carolyn.)
However, an article I read today said that 60% of households still don't
have internet access. 'Bout right. Our Ercoupers are a little bit
wealthier than the average in the U.S., but we also have a drain on our
finances most don't have. Our average membership age is probably 50.
These things affect computer ownership. I don't think that our members
yet have universal, convenient access to web-browsing/e-mail.
Though I think we'll all be electronically enabled in 10 years for sure
and in five years maybe, I think we will still serve the community best
by continuing paper issues.
Come to think of it, I tend to read my Coupe Capers in various locations
-- during breaks at work, at supper, in bed, whatever, and not in my
office in front of my computer.
In addition, I try to keep the most recent copy with me in my briefcase.
This gives me access to advertisements and phone numbers when I'm at the
airport.
I could, easily enough, simply print the pages I wanted from the
web-site on my printer for less than the cost of my share of the
commercial printing and mailing.
The things I'd like to see on a members only (password access) portion
of a web site are:
Current articles (posted when editing is finished,
not waiting for the publication date)
Members Ads (posted as soon as received and typed in)
Commercial Ads (sell easy updates and the ability to do timely
sales)
Text of type certificates
ADs
STCs
Old Coupe Capers articles that are not outdated
Things I'd like to see on a public access portion of a web site:
Sales propaganda as if we were the manufacturer
Realistic specs and performance of Coupes
Honest articles about the merits and drawbacks of each Coupe
model.
Articles like "Why to buy a Coupe," "How to buy a Coupe,"
and "Pre-purchase inspection"
Stories that would promote Coupe ownership
Pictures
The public page would be our showcase. The members only pages would be
our value added reason for having members.
The mailing list of which we are members is a good discussion session,
kind of like a few minutes of daily fly-in. It's nice and it's had a
lot of good information over the 6-8 months I've been a member. But, it
is raw information. Taking the distilled good stuff from it and putting
it in Capers or a members web-site (which would require permission of
the authors) would be a big boon. Last summer, I sent a few such
distillations to Carolyn. Then I got too busy. (Now I'm 589 messages
behind on reading those messages. <sigh>)
We might be able to manage a mechanism by which the Editor could easily
post stories and pictures to the web site. Ease of maintenance is
critical.
Though we could save printing and postage money, we do want to put some
of that into increased Editor's wages. The Editor is the person who
takes the rough (often handwritten) submissions and makes them into
readable articles. When I was doing it, I also spent time finding and
supporting regular columnists, sending technical articles for review by
experts, doing my own research and more. To add web site hosting to the
Editor's job would, IMHO, merit a pay raise. Perhaps we should have a
web-page editor as well as the Coupe Capers editor.
I might propose a $10 (?$15?) web/e-mail only membership as described
above and keep the paper-copy prices as close to the current ones as
possible.
What do the rest of you think?
--
Ed Burkhead
East Peoria, Ill.
N3802H, 415-D
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