Do we need the PI Magazine?

I asked myself that question about POCA, which has chronically suffered from late issues. I even thought about letting my membership lapse but then decided that I would be the only one losing out. I don't benefit from any of the club activities because I live far away, so why should I continue to contribute to an organization that delivers late? Again, because I would lose.
a) when they do come, they are an excellent read
b) I am doing my part to help the marque. Both clubs do their best to keep us from being forgotten, organize events and publicity to keep us in the public eye
c) The timeliness is less of an issue with the Internet. I know about events from the PI bulletin board. So reading about someone's car a year later doesn't really affect me
d) I get a great set of archives. Photos and descriptions of what people have done, what works, what doesn't.

Yes, it is frustrating to pay and not get what is promised. But the folks are really trying hard and don't always get the support they need (vendors, etc). I wouldn't mind something like a proportional discount on membership renewals based on past year's performance, which seems fair. Received 3 issues since last time you renewed? Pay 3/4 the renewal price. That might make the membership feel better and motivate people to get issues out, if that were an issue.

Trying to be constructive...

quote:

Originally posted by Charlie McCall:
I asked myself that question about POCA, which has chronically suffered from late issues. I even thought about letting my membership lapse

I let mine lapse this year. For the amount of money POCA is the articles were pretty weak and seemed to be more a soap box. The local chapters don't seem to do much. It was just to much money for that.

POCA is completely voluntary, so that alone makes it tough to put out a product on a regular basis.

PI, as I understand, is a "for profit" private enterprise. Or at least it was when Dave A. was the owner. I was always amazed how Dave and Linda would publish a quality magazine on a timely basis each and every quarter. Not a job I envy... I'm thankful Mr Pence is working towards publishing what he can.

If you didn't attend an event, it doesn't matter if you read about it 1 day later, or 1 year later, it is still news to you. The story is timeless. Stories about people's cars are timeless. Tech articles are timeless. Stories about history, people, etc, are timeless.

The only individuals truly "hurt" by a late periodical are the advertisers, because their ads are out of date and because they are not getting their ads circulated as often as they would like which likely results in less business.

For a business having time management issues, having to answer endless inquiries about when the magazine will be mailed is simply another chunk of time lost. It doesn't speed anything up, it doesn't make the magazine get mailed any more quickly. It doesn't get a magazine into your hands any faster. It only serves to remind us of our failure. Do you expect us to enjoy that?

Pantera International is a car club, not a publishing concern. We do a tremendous amount more than publish a magazine, like provide these forums, support events, assist members, and respond to inquiries from other organizations and businesses. We are in the midst of planning our event for the POCA fun rally this year, and we are already working on the Concorso Italiano in August. I would love to go home from my day job, sit down in the evening, and have nothing to do other than work on the magazine. But that is not the case, on a normal evening I have to put in about 4 hours on club business, plus moderate the forums. Then, if I feel like staying up past mid-night I work on the magazine. Did you enjoy your weekend? Most of my weekend was spent taking care of club business, the magazine and moderating these forums.

We need the membership money to continue to operate, because the club operates 52 weeks per year, it has monthly bills to pay. If we reduce your membership fees, we are reducing our operating budget. However, please keep in mind that Pantera International mails it's membership renewals with the magazines. If we don't mail you a magazine, we don't mail you a membership renewal either. We haven't mailed renewals in 3/4 of a year. Club revenues at this time are sourced from sales in the club store and new memberships. I'm paying office staff from my own pocket so there's enough money in the bank to pay the bills. I'm not making one cent doing this. I'm doing this for the car and for you guys.

The magazine is late, very late, but this will not be a perpetual problem. Club staffing and magazine production are problems that I am addressing and shall be resolved eventually.

I am very thankful for the supportive members who renewed their memberships last year and who patiently await their next magazine.

George

Keep up the GREAT work George,
Are membership fees due on a specific date of the year or every 12 months from the date of initial sign up?
Doug M

P.I. as well at the other web pages, registries etc. are labors of love. I for one am grateful that they exist to support my love for these vehicles and I cannot express my gratitude enough. I have not only gained a wealth of knowledge through these entities but have made life long friendships which I treasure as much as my cars. As Charlie says, if you don't stick by these organizations, you will be the only loser. I still buy and go through my old issues as tech issues are almost never outdated. To George and the others who contribute to the Detomaso community, Big "Mahalo" (thank you) for all of your hard work!

I hope no one takes this as a personal attack on George. I have inquired about delivery on the magazine because I enjoy them so much.
I will continue to pay my membership as to the other benefits that George stated.
I probably do not get as much of the benefits being in Ohio & not in S. California.
I'm not sure that stories on events are timeless as they are discussed along with photos on the bulletin board.
In this internet age do we need 4 issue a year or would 2 suffice?
I don't know about endless inquiries about when the magazine is going out. The only post I saw was my inquiry 5 weeks ago. And when you give a vague answer like "soon" your bound to to get asked again about it, especially when it was stated that you hoped to have to the printers before Christmas.
Tom

George it ain't your fault, it is mine. I promised you I would write an article for the magazine but then I never did. I always thought it was because I was too busy with work, but now I am not working and I still don't find the time to do it. Maybe I am just a talentless hack and am afraid that if I do write an article everyone would know it for sure?? Better to remain silent if you are a fool, than to open your mouth and relieve all doubt.

George god bless you man ... I come home from work and I;m so mentally burn out I cant even think of typing a responce to this forum ... no less publish a magazine ? Kepp trying and I will continue to support PI ... send out the renewals and I will pay the membership fee.

Ron

Mark D. you have a point about the event stories, to serve as an advertisement, the event stories need to be more timely. However, my point is this, if I give a member a 10 year old back issue, he reads it with the same enthusiams and enjoyment as if it were the latest issue. That's my definition of timeless.

Tom C, my reply was not aimed at you, I do not consider your question a personal attack, so please, nobody else should either.

Tom E., I'm a good editor, you send me a story and I'll make it read like TS Elliot wrote it.

Doug M, memberships are due every 12 months from the day you join, but we don't expect members to keep track of that, its up to us to bill you. This is a good incentive for us to get the magazines out on time.

I've spoken frankly about what I'm up against. Its personnel issues and time management. The transition has not gone smoothly, and we are not "settled in", we are still working out the kinks in the transition.

I shall retire from the weekday job as soon as it is financially feasible to do so. This will allow me to give more time to the club. The nation's current economic problems and the turn down in the real estate market are likely to delay this.

I am being premature here, however in a few weeks I am expecting to be able to make an announcement about a solution to the magazine production issue.

Thanks everyone for your support.

George

I think George is a great guy. I wanted to buy a set of tires from a guy in CA, but was a little leary about sending $5-600 to a stranger across the country and never seeing anything in return. George stepped up for me, went to the guy, picked them up personally and shipped them to me. Basically, he went out of his way for me, and this was long before he became director. So George, I've got your back all the way!

I am, however, disappointed (but not discouraged) in not seeing an issue in over a year. It killed me to have to wait 3 months between issues. I FEEL LIKE A JUNKIE JUST ABOUT READY TO DO ANYTHING TO GET A FIX! I thoroughly enjoy holding a magazine and flipping through it. I like them for reference. I like the pretty pictures, they release endorphins! One day, I hope to see my Pantera grace the cover of an issue of P.I.

We know it's tough for you, George, and we know you know it's tough for us (being an enthusiast yourself). It boils down to this: we're all jonesing hard for as much P.I. as we can get, and your our dealer. It's rough when it's dry.

Michael

Hang in there George! As for myself I would be glad to pay for my dues, magazine or not, I'm just not sure when they are due. I have fait that things will become easier after George gets this one out. I support both organizations, because I love Pantera's. I do not care how old the info or photos are, I love looking at them. I enjoy reading the old issues second and third times. POCA's magazine are enjoyable, but I really like the PI magazine. The quality is top notch, and worth the wait. Both groups offer alot for just a few dollars. Web sites, BB, magazines, great friends, great info, Pantera stuff etc.. I'm afraid that with out both groups the Pantera sources would dry up after a while. We are with you George!

This past month I've been working on 7260 to get her ready for the Las Vegas trip. I finally addressed some issues that have existed for some time. I found all the anwsers on the PI archives. Fuse problem, no problem, researched the PI archives, found the solution, problem solved. Reverse lights switch problem, researched the PI archives, found the solution, problem solved. Tail lights, brake lights, turn signal lights and back up lights problem, researched the PI archives, problem fixed. Best part of all, I fixed them myself.
This website is a great tool to communicate with other P car owners and keep our cars on the road. Keep it alive. The magazine is only icing on the cake. George, THANKS for your dedication and keep up the good work.
George, may I recommend to placate some of the members, post some pictures of Nora. Chuck

Do we need the magazine? No. Needs can be reduced to food, water & shelter. Do we want it? All I know is that I do, and that it is like Christmas around here whenever an issue arrives.

PI puts together a hell of a magazine, with incredible production values and great content. Given the small circulation, I'm amazed it can be done at all.

My hat is off to you, George, and I will happily wait for my next issue as long as it takes because I know you are killing yourself to get it to us. You care, and that is all that matters.

quote:

Originally posted by #7260:
... may I recommend to placate some of the members, post some pictures of Nora ...

Now you're talking Chuck! I don't have any recent photos,
but I've got some old ones. Nora wont mind if I share a pic
or two. Just the thing for a cold night in March.

I love her smile.

Hot dang! Keep the Nora photos coming, who needs the mag! Nice substitute to keep us "busy" while we wait.

Hey Georgie,

I know you've already gotten the world's longest Pantera story (plus amateur photos!)and if a word of it was written well, that'll be the one(s) you added!

Five suggestions, comments...

1) I love the magazine; I read the words off of each one, and have a few times. Our anxiousness is because it's a great product, highly anticipated. If it was a rotten product, this thread wouldn't have caught.

2) We all have pressures and demands that pit "want" and "must" at odds. Understood. So then... What - AS A CLUB OF EQUALLY INSANE dETOMASO-PHILES - can we do to regularly help relieve your publishing burden? (Please answer.)

By the way, I ain't talking about the 'someday' you MIGHT be able to cut your 80 hours down to a mere 60, I'm talking about REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS TO THE MAGAZINE instead of having your blood pressure redlining about deadlining. Got it? We're part of the club too, and if you add up just the mildly literate posts every month you've got 30 pages of content. Some of us can even hold a camera steady.

3) If you'll let us pitch in for contributing articles, photos, we can actually render input, such as...

weird archival input, 'stupid thing that happened to me', 'can you name this car?', 'Is Nora married', 'What the 'rrglrrglrr' noise coming from my half shaft', what's the best ZF oil, to carb or not to carb, Does Nora like Sushi, anyone have a tool kit?, has anyone seen my radiator cap, this ebay vendor is an idiot.... jeepers the list is endless. What you do is SET UP THE POST on your website, assemble the input/answers as 'private' content for the mag and go for it. Instant content ABOUNDS.

4) You need an better/faster printer? Fulfillment? Data management? Put the flipping thing out for bid, with a DO OR DIE DEADLINE. I run a rinky dink publishing concern, but I know a FRACTION of what you're up against.

5) Did I already mention that people are willing to help?

Sorry, I feel your pain, but man, you ARE this club. We're not barking at the busboy Georgie, we're saying we're behind you enough to virtually beg you not to bear the full weight of the yoke. Share it. That's what friends do. And brother, you've made friends.

Go down the list, let us know. PM me if you'd prefer; I'm available.

quote:

Originally posted by DOES 200:
... Hot dang! Keep the Nora photos coming ...

quote:

Originally posted by A Hudson:
... 'Is Nora married' ... Does Nora like Sushi ...

She's still single. Yes, she likes sushi. But the strict diet she maintains doesn't allow her to eat just anything she wants.

I just love her smile

Is it me, or George is succesfully trying to distract us with Nora's pics?

By the wayid I miss anything? Who is Nora? Family member? Club member??

Im with Charlie Mc Call...far away I mean!!!! No seriously, I enjoy the Forum as much as the Mag, so one thing for the other.

GEORGE: Its true, you have to let us know how to proceed for tech articles, and info. For example this saturday I have an "small" event parade with my local club in Spain, you might be interested in publishing some stuff like this, etc...

quote:

By the wayid I miss anything? Who is Nora? Family member? Club member??

Yes, what's the sitch? Who is da Nora? Is she free to model next to my black Hall Ultra 5S for a photo shoot & PI story down the road?

Da Nora is neither family or club member. She is a serious minded, hard working young lady making a living as a model. A kindred spirit who loves red wine (in small quantities) and hot tubs. And from her own mouth, she doesn't do cars.

cowboy from hell

Well there it is, I thought George had found the perfect woman till that last comment.

quote:

Originally posted by Rapid:
Well there it is, I thought George had found the perfect woman till that last comment.

Yea, and I thought I had my perfect car model...back to square one for me, but don't mind seeing more Nora photos regardless.

Not trying to open another can of worms, but have you considered having a professional designer do the magazine? It should help meet deadlines, but budget would become an issue.

The local Ferrari Club hadn't had a newsletter in almost 18 months when I joined. I had my designers (I own a branding/marketing firm) create an eight page color newsletter in a few days between paying jobs. It is easy to do when it is the day job, and I don't envy you trying to do it nights and weekends. Been there, done that, and I know it is murder.

Just trying to make suggestions because I have been in the unfortunate position you are in. :-(

How many pages does the magazine run when it is a standard quarterly issue?

R.

Your suggestion is a possible solution that has already been considered and is still on the table, but budget is an issue.

I've been addressing this problem for some time and I am on the brink of a solution, as long as the human factor doesn't fail me as it has in the past.

George

How many pages is a standard quarterly issue?

R.