JohnD Posted August 2, 2015 Report Posted August 2, 2015 I know! I keep going on about this, but I think publishing the Courier online is a important matter that the Club should consider. I bring it up again, because my e-friend and American Correspondent, Mike Bulfer, send me the "TRiumph TRumpeter" The Official Newsletter of the Desert Centre - Triumph Register of America. Mike must bear no blame for prompting me to nag on - I'm just impressed again by online magazines. You can read it at: http://www.dctra.org/News/Aug2015.pdf And what cracking local group newsletter it is! Think of the Courier, presented to you in this way, at no extra cost and at no cost to our overseas members for whom postage is much greater. The Club says that it gains tax advantages by publishing in hard copy and posting it. I have to say (again) that those advantages must be as big as Tescos if the print and postage cost outweigh them, and anyway, what are accountants for?! Anyway, enjoy the pictures of Triumph fun in the desert sun! John
Sue Franklin Posted October 24, 2015 Report Posted October 24, 2015 All about tax I believe as you have already said John. With my very slow internet speeds - download 0.5 on a good day - I'd still be downloading come Christmas! Reading the mag is a good break from being glued to a screen for me.
rlubikey Posted October 24, 2015 Report Posted October 24, 2015 Surely John's point is that members can opt out if they wish and "country bumpkins" (and those in certain parts of London and other urban areas) with slow internet speeds, and those who simply prefer the parchment (sorry) paper copy can continue to receive their mag by post. Richard
JohnD Posted October 25, 2015 Author Report Posted October 25, 2015 I am amazed, Sue! I didn't know that broadband speeds in Devon were as low as that! I post at the beginning of August, and you can't see it and reply until the middle of October! This must be an enormous handicap to your being a Board Moderator. To have only twenty three posts to your name shows how hard it must be for you to do your job. You poor thing; you have my sympathy. Chin up! JOhn
Pete Lewis Posted October 25, 2015 Report Posted October 25, 2015 the worst is if all went online is the Courier mag does offset vat at the club being valued at £3 thats 0.60p per copy x around 5k members thats £3000 that would need to be saved or higher membership fee's required from somewhere , Pete
dougbgt6 Posted October 25, 2015 Report Posted October 25, 2015 But surely you can have a paper copy and online, then there's no loss of VAT, isn't this what Club Triumph do? The only expense would be setting it up and copying the monthly courier to on line. Or have I missed something?
JohnD Posted October 25, 2015 Author Report Posted October 25, 2015 Or, to put it another way, those who cannot/will not receive online are relying the subscriptions of the rest of us. But I know that in rural parts of the UK, broadband doesn't exist as such. A small village just up the Lune Valley from us had that problem, and solved it in 2012 with the help of B4RN (BroadBand for the Rural North) http://b4rn.org.uk/ Similar schemes exist all over the country, so there's really no excuse, or won't be soon. Sue, have you pointed out to the Club the handicap under which you have to run your Area Group, let alone act as a moderator to this board? John
Pete Lewis Posted October 25, 2015 Report Posted October 25, 2015 books are vat free so the cost saving is absorbed as a saving elsewhere in the balance sheet. something like that it means you can remove eg 5000x£3 or £15k from the vat burden so you need to have a magazine offered to reduce overall running costs, Pete
JohnD Posted October 25, 2015 Author Report Posted October 25, 2015 Or "something like that" Yes, I'm not an accountant either. But that is what accountants are there for. If the Club's accountant has no new ideas that can accommodate, say, an online magazine, then we need a new accountant. And anyway, who is talking of doing away with the printed Courier? Online publication is for peanuts in comparison with print, so let it run for those who want another yard of previous issues on the shelf. The VAT(or whatever it is) argument is irrelevant. I refer the Honourable Member (that's you, Pete, and Sue) to my original post. Have you read the excellent online "TRiumph TRumpeter"? What do you think of it? JOhn
dougbgt6 Posted October 25, 2015 Report Posted October 25, 2015 Yes, the VAT argument is a red herring, it's not one or the other, paper courier OR online courier, keep the paper courier AND have it online. Then I don't need piles of old mags, cluttering the place up, they're all there, online. Loved the trumpeter! I think Pete should invest in a pool then we could all go for barbies at his house. Although, Pete in his budgie smugglers? Perhaps not!
Cookie Posted October 26, 2015 Report Posted October 26, 2015 Agree totally, Club Triumph don't have an option not to receive a printed copy of their mag but just also post a soft copy on line on their website in an area only accessible to members. This allows all to access as soon as it's published, very important for entries to oversubscribed events like the RBRR and 10CR and essential for foreign members. Useful as it contains archived old magazines as well. Must be minimal cost apart from the web hosting storage space which nowadays is peanuts, I'm sure the actual content is produced soft copy anyway to send to the printers.
Pete Lewis Posted October 27, 2015 Report Posted October 27, 2015 I dont dislike the online its clear and informative right enough , not as many pages as the courier content if thats any limitation. the file is sent electronically to the publishers . but my own preference is a comfy chair and a magazine , no pipe and no slippers .....or hot tub and for old hat members courier is available on dvd to avoid storage. this is for the club to decide where to go with this idea its been well vented over the past few years , Im sure Bern is well aware of the thoughts if you feel strongly you should follow the official route and write to the Ben the General Secretary, its never been any use bleating on forums the Com dont use it and wont respond on here. then you get an official reply. nothing to do with me anymore Pete
Colin Lindsay Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 Or, to put it another way, those who cannot/will not receive online are relying the subscriptions of the rest of us. Never knew that.
dougbgt6 Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 Hum, I'm not sure I understand it! I think it says "Those who can't or won't receive online are depending on the subscriptions of the rest of us". So is John saying he wants to opt out of a paper copy and get a reduced subscription? I don't think there would be many takers for that. I want it on line but I still want a paper copy. I'm with Pete, in the hot tub!
dougbgt6 Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 My hot tub, not Pete's hot tub, obviously.
Clive Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 If producing a paper magazine greatly helps the club finances (reclaim vat on the notional magazine cost or something). So I guess if you opt out you would have to pay a higher annual subscription. So the idea of a paper magazine and an online one published the day after the magazine is sent out seems the simple answer. Very simple. Saying that, I wouldn't use it. Somehow (for me at least) a magazine is for holding, taking when you will have some dead time or whatever. Much friendlier than a glaring screen.
rlubikey Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 Yes, a parchment magazine does have a certain tactile value. Mind you, I was just able to look up something from Club Triumph's archive and find what I wanted in a few seconds rather than working my way through the magazine box in the loft - *and* getting diverted by several other articles on the way! Which reminds me; it would be really great to have a searchable complete index of The Courier on-line so I could locate the particular magazine I wanted *quickly*. In the magazine box for recent editions and on the DVDs (or parchment magazine) pre-2010. In a public part of the web site, it would also get Google hits and show non-members what a great magazine it is. You could also correct mistakes & omissions on the DVD index like John Thomason's "Economy Spitfire" article which took me absolutely ages to track down. Cheers, Richard
KevinR Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 Which reminds me; it would be really great to have a searchable complete index of The Courier on-line so I could locate the particular magazine I wanted *quickly*. In the magazine box for recent editions and on the DVDs (or parchment magazine) pre-2010. In a public part of the web site, it would also get Google hits and show non-members what a great magazine it is. The index is already online. http://forum.tssc.org.uk/index.php?/forum/29-technical-directory-car-model-specs/
rlubikey Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 Well, yes. But it's the same as my DVD index, so nothing after 2009. And I still can't find John Thomason's "Economy Spitfire" article. Can you? I'll give you a clue, it's Courier number 216. Another clue? June '98. Page 8. In fact everything in June '98 seems to have fallen through the net. As has the following month. And indeed, now that I look, December 2005 onwards. Of course these can't be corrected on the DVD. But they could be on-line! What a great resource that would be - the whole Courier index on-line, right up to the present day, with corrections that idiots like me have found. Peace and love, peace & love, Richard
dougbgt6 Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 Richard, I've been meaning to ask, what is that picture in your profile? It doesn't look much like you.
rlubikey Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 Hi Doug, it's the Spitfire "shelf" you chop out to move the engine back. I sometimes take it to shows so people can see what's missing! Cheers, Richard
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