Magazine?

[turboplanner]

In the last Audited Annual Report, 2010, printing costs were $410,128.00 CFI and Don.

 

 

[Bubbleboy]

Does our over-arching controlling body in all things Aviation (CASA) send us a monthly mag with warm and fuzzy stories and personal accounts?...I don't thinks so!Do 9000 members need to read the same ads every month interspersed with an occasional article?....I don't think so....

 

Do we need to know the Pres's comings and goings....mmmm

 

Do we need to know Airworthiness Directives (AD) in a timely manner...MY WORD WE DO!!

 

Is the mag a good way of sharing AD's...I very much doubt it.

 

It's a shame the 'bored' didn't do a total reassessment of our need for a mag....sure its great to get something for the yearly fees, BUT, are u happy paying (11x 8=88...or just over 50% of your membership fee) to keep in touch?.....i don't reckon many would..

 

AD's and other URGENT and VITAL info could be sent to all affected members...pilots/aircraft owners etc...by snail mail and ALL the membership invited to be part of an official internet site...

 

I reckon thjere is a lot of fat that could be trimmed from the Communication 'bone'.....

I agree with you CFI. I joined the EAA for fifty odd dollars easily online and get my magazine emailed to me at the same time as every other EAA member around the world and a website with more useful information on how to do anything I need to do. RAA needs to introduce a membership for NO magazine as an option or can the magazine all together and put what few articles that are in there on the website. Why cant RAA get on board with the EAA as its already done on their website and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. If businesses want to advertise here, do so on the new RAA website.

Scotty

 

 

[fly_tornado]

In the last Audited Annual Report, 2010, printing costs were $410,128.00 CFI and Don.

As a recruiting tool, it would be cheaper just to offer free flying lessons to everyone who has made it through the first 10 hours.

 

 

[winsor68]

Ok... so how much in round figures does the magazine cost Ra-Aus per year?

 

It should be no more than the cost of postage.

 

 

[kgwilson]

Col Jones,

 

The beers off at the Red Rock Bowling club for a while & we got 400mm of rain in 2 days but otherwise no worries apart from the manhole cover disappearing up into the roof cavity, now recovered. Its still a good move if you are keen. Good fishing & South Grafton 30 mins up the road with Coffs a similar amount down the road. As for the Mag, I give it a cautious thumbs up. Good to see an article about a local too. Lyn is an inspiration to anyone who ever considered learning to fly.

 

The negatives have already been noted by others such as the classified picture crops & Incidents/accidents being masked as Pilot Notes but overall I like it including the Ads.

 

 

[bushpilot]

I spoke to reps of 'Sport Pilot' today and it was good to hear that modifications will be built into the next edition - notably:

 

• The word 'Pilot' in 'Sport Pilot' will be larger - as it otherwise can be mistaken for a general sports mag. (But the dodgy looking prop. will remain as is..)
   
   
  
• The general advertising will be less clustered.
   
   
  
• The classifieds photos will be much less heavily cropped.
   
   
  
• There will be more articles. (With the point made that if some of the 9,000 of us out there have interesting stories to tell - then submit them).
   
   
  
• Other general tidy ups. (Remembering that the current issue had to be put together pretty quickly).
   
   
  

 

 

So, as one of the early critics of the new style, I'm looking forward to seeing continuous improvement in what could become a great mag, with a broader public following.

 

 

[Powerin]

No doubt the Board has signed off on a Contract that will have a magazine produced for the next year or two.or about $40 per head. Then there are the advertising offsets. Plus, if the magazine didn't go out there would have to be mail outs for notice of AGM, etc.

I've been a big Internet user since the mid-90s (big is entirely relative when you're using a 14.4 kbits/s dialup modem :big_grin: ). But I still much prefer reading a printed magazine than an online mag. $40/year is about the cheapest magazine I could buy anywhere.

Don't forget that a website that engages and interests people takes a lot of vision, work and money...just ask Ian. Spending $13k on a new RAAus website is just a baby step. It certainly won't get any more visitors unless a lot of work is put into keeping it up to date and current. Who's going to do that? I go to the RAAus website once every few months and there's the odd announcement and new AD....if I'm lucky. I've already read all the other stuff...more than once! I might go there once every month if I had to download a magazine....IF I got an email reminding me when a new issue was available. You would still be paying someone a hefty fee to publish even an online mag.

 

Where do I see ADs? Here! Because the content here is great, there's something new everyday and I visit every day. Think how much blood, sweat and tears (and downright bloody mindedness ) it has taken to get this site to where it is today. If an Internet tragic like me only visits the RAAus site a few times a year, how often are the aviators who don't give a rats about the Internet going to visit? I know plenty of people that enjoy computers and the Internet about as much as a visit to the dentist.

 

The present mag comes in the mail and it's right there in front of you. I bet most of us at least thumb through it and see the odd safety tip and AD. Even in this day and age magazines are still a medium that the majority of people can relate to and you can still take it and read it anywhere without worrying about damaging or losing an expensive piece of hardware (and believe me, a tractor cabin is not the friendliest place for a laptop). For now I think it is still the best way to keep the membership involved and informed.

 

And finally, let's say we all give up our $40/year for the magazine and train 50 or so people to fly for free. What exactly will that achieve given that most of us have scrimped and saved to achieve our dream of flying? I'd far rather give my $40 to something like Angel Flight and give pilots who have worked hard to achieve their wings the chance to use their flying to help others.

 

I'm ranting again...forgive me.

 

Peter

 

 

[fly_tornado]

you could spread the $400,000 across a lot more than 50 peeople, even 100 people could benefit from some support, giving people a free ticket isn't the best option. or your could use that $400,000 to fund a fly now, pay later scheme.

 

My persective is that the magazine has a limited potential to reach an audience, it should be able to be cost nuetral if the advertising is managed properly.

 

 

[turboplanner]

One good project for the incoming members would be proper reporting of costs.

 

For example the "Printing" cost could also include printing names tags for Board Meetings for all we know

 

We don't have a separated cost factor for salaried time put into preparing magazine material, writing reports etc

 

And there are likely to be other costs not currently being applied to the magazine.

 

Equally, as Don has said, because the magazine is not reported as a separate item, we can't identify advertising revenue or sales.

 

If costs and income were posted so that we had a magazine income/cost report in the Annual Report, the above discussion would have a lot more teeth.

 

If you argue that retail magazine sales in shops are worthwhile in attracting new people to the organization to replace those who drop out, then there is an argument for running the magazine at a cost levy, if necessary, to members rather than trying to make it cost neutral or a profit centre, because members should then get the benefit in terms of critical mass.

 

However we have not been getting the cost reduction and operational steps forward resulting from our rapid growth, and that needs to be addressed.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

I am sure there would be a lot of hidden costs with producing the magazine.

 

I think that the RAA should definitely survey recent members and student pilots and find out how they found the RAA.

 

pretty sure most students will respond with interested in flying -> internet research -> flying school

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

I am sure there would be a lot of hidden costs with producing the magazine.I think that the RAA should definitely survey recent members and student pilots and find out how they found the RAA.

pretty sure most students will respond with interested in flying -> internet research -> flying school

True enough.

 

In my case:-

 

• A Camera Club outing to the local aerodrome and then a photographic flight in a Microlight. Pretty much sold on the idea of flying.
   
   
  
• Took my wife back for a flight and figured I would like another. The CFI offered me the front seat and that was my TIF.
   
   
  
• Went home and checked out the CASA web site and found RAA from there.
   
   
  
• Read JB's tutorials, which were on the RAA site back then, cover to cover.
   
   
  
• Went back to the flying school, enrolled, and prepaid 10 hours.
   
   
  

 

 

 

 

[fly_tornado]

and like me you didn't know about the mag until you had joined the RAA?

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

and like me you didn't know about the mag until you had joined the RAA?

Correct, and that wasn't until the third lesson.

 

 

[Powerin]

Turbo is correct. Without knowing the actual figures the discussion is just academic....but it's fun to speculate :big_grin:

 

It was said before that Australian Flying has a monthly circulation of 8000. It is a similar size to our mag and seems to have a similar amount of advertising. I would assume it has similar costs, in fact it probably has more costs as it would pay for a lot of its articles. I would further assume it is making some profit. I know it is part of a stable of magazines and I guess there would be economies of scale in publishing.

 

Our magazine has a rock solid guaranteed circulation of nearly 10,000 into a captive and highly specialised target market. And, as has been noted here, there is plenty of advertising. If Aus Flying can make a go of it with 8,000/month circulation how can we be losing money on our mag with 10,000? Are we selling our advertising space too cheaply? I counted the member's market ads in the June mag and there is over 100 ads with photos. So there's $3,000 income for a start. Of course, some of the advertisers in AF (Cessna, Piper, Lycoming etc) have a lot deeper pockets than our advertisers...but still.

 

 

[tangocharlie123]

So it sounds like everyone got there Mag.

 

as of 24/6/11 I still don't have one this is becoming bloddy annoying. Month after Month this happens.

 

Why do we pay the money.

 

 

[Guest Steven Runciman]

So it sounds like everyone got there Mag.as of 24/6/11 I still don't have one this is becoming bloddy annoying. Month after Month this happens.

 

Why do we pay the money.

TC,

 

I do not need to tell you that you should have received it by now. If you send me an e-mail with your details I will take it up with the editor for you. [email protected]

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[AviatorMagazine]

In the last Audited Annual Report, 2010, printing costs were $410,128.00 CFI and Don.

I'm the publisher of Aviator Magazine and as we are just in the middle of adding more recreational content, I thought I'd swing by and check out what the industry 'Bible' is covering so we don't duplicate topics when I came across this thread. I considered it for a while but felt I had to chip in my two cents' worth following the comment above that print costs were $410K in 2010. Any of you who have seen Aviator will hopefully agree that our print quality and design is easily the pick of the aviation magazine crop - we deliberately produce it as a glossy coffee table style publication (that's not to say it is any better than the others at all: it's just an in-house style decision we have for all our publications). Anyhoo, the moral of the story is that our print costs are by far and away our largest cost and we pay a hefty premium to get it to look as flash as possible. Our print run is similar to RAA Aus and the rest...BUT, without divulging anything overly confidential, our annual print costs for Aviator are almost HALF the figure quoted for your 2010 print cost audit. I really don't think that figure given can be correct. It must be for the overall cost of production and distribution, particularly as the 'publisher' back then was also the printing company but even if it was all inclusive it seems mighty high...

 

 

[turboplanner]

I'm the publisher of Aviator Magazine and as we are just in the middle of adding more recreational content, I thought I'd swing by and check out what the industry 'Bible' is covering so we don't duplicate topics when I came across this thread. I considered it for a while but felt I had to chip in my two cents' worth following the comment above that print costs were $410K in 2010. Any of you who have seen Aviator will hopefully agree that our print quality and design is easily the pick of the aviation magazine crop - we deliberately produce it as a glossy coffee table style publication (that's not to say it is any better than the others at all: it's just an in-house style decision we have for all our publications). Anyhoo, the moral of the story is that our print costs are by far and away our largest cost and we pay a hefty premium to get it to look as flash as possible. Our print run is similar to RAA Aus and the rest...BUT, without divulging anything overly confidential, our annual print costs for Aviator are almost HALF the figure quoted for your 2010 print cost audit. I really don't think that figure given can be correct. It must be for the overall cost of production and distribution, particularly as the 'publisher' back then was also the printing company but even if it was all inclusive it seems mighty high...

That does not surprise me at all, do you do investigative stories?

 

 

[AviatorMagazine]

That does not surprise me at all, do you do investigative stories?

LOL - I've known about this for a while now and we were even invited by the committee to submit a tender to publish the new mag which we did along with a rather strong worded letter urging them to find anyone else at all, even if not us, to publish it in terms of the sub-standard product they were getting for 'your' money. I was minded to publish a story as a lot of our time was wasted educating the relevant parties in the realities of publishing but at that point in time such a feature would have reeked of sour grapes. Even now I am reluctant to publish anything as the aviation community is so divisive (and so vocal when gripes are aired!) and it might be detrimental to the reputation of one of the only expanding sectors in our wonderful but impoverished industry i.e. recreational flying. There might not even be a story there BUT any good journalist researching such matters always begins by establishing who knows who and then just following the money...

 

 

[turboplanner]

So true.

 

Put an ad on here, I might even buy a copy

 

 

[Admin]

So true.Put an ad on here, I might even buy a copy

...and he would be supporting the industry 'Bible' (as he has so nicely put it) and be seen as doing so