ON Magazine

I'm probably posting this in the wrong place but it was the closest to my topic so here goes my hopefully respectful rant:

I'm getting pretty disappointed with the ON magazine after now receiving it for most of this year. I've just read through the most recent copy and can't help but come away from the experience feeling like I was invited to watch someone's slide show of their vacation ad nauseum. I'm sure it's a wonderful thing to see your photo with friends at a rally in the magazine but for me it's a useless waste of space in the publication that could otherwise be used for technical reviews of products and gear, ride reports of places I might want to go, and coverage of what was presented or displayed at these major events. Why would anyone care to see photos of people they don't know enjoying their time with people they don't know? Again, I'm sure these people are avid fans and great people and I'm sure Sedalia was an awesome event but with all due respect and humility, I don't care to pay to subscribe to a publication full of this month after month. I'm sad to say that if it continues I will probably not renew when my membership comes due.

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I see the rally stories and photos and I smile because it shows a healthy organization and a group of people socializing and having a good time, and that's good for the organization as a whole. It's not all about me or you, it's about the entire membership. So what if one issue a year is mostly devoted to a rally I didn't attend. I'll get to one sometime soon, I hope. I've seen how the magazine has grown and certainly improved from it's earlier years, and feel there's always something for everyone. It's OK if you don't feel like all 179 pages are an absolute must read.

With all due respect, it is not a magazine, it is your news letter! You get out of it what you put in.

turn the page...

With respect, the magazine depends on contributions from members. Write an article and submit it for publication. I'm sure it would be appreciated.

As for rally coverage, I eagerly await delivery of mine so I can see some of the many people and events that I missed because I was volunteering my time and enjoying other parts of the rally. It's a recap of a howlin' good time. My suggestion is to get more involved, meet many of the fine people who belong to the MOA, and read the magazine looking for pictures of and comments from your many new friends.

Are you just being sarcastic, curmudgeonly, or what? Why wouldn't you put pictures of club events in the club magazine, month after month?

Sarcastic, Curmudgeonly and What. I think that's a law firm in Boston.

I generally find ON to have a good mix of stuff. Something for everyone - or maybe not. I just wish I received the issues a bit sooner. Like the September issue which arrived in September, but on the 28th. Close enough?

For comparison, find a copy of "The Concourier", the magazine of the Concours Owners Group. Four issues a year, a couple of tech articles, some travel stories, rally reports, minimal advertising, usually late arriving, too. Of course it is produced entirely by volunteers.

pete

Well, if I were to point out a negative [which I'm not] it would be the foreign travel reports. But just because I'm too chicken-**** to get on an airplane, doesn't mean others are. And just might enjoy reading someone else experience.

I wish the mag, would cover every place I wish to go, and any product I may buy. However since Kreskin is not the editor,...I don't see it happening

I look through it, if nothing catches my eye?...I look forward to next month.

I do however hope to make next years rally,....and if my ugly mug winds up in the next month magazine ?....then you'll have something to cry about..

The magazine is by design limited to coverage of BMW-centric products and activities. It isn't available to the general public, it's ours. The content is spot on.

When I first joined I read the ON cover to cover every month. Nowdays I rarely look threw a copy. The same goes for the other mags that I recieve. I just seem to have lost interest in reading. There is no waste though, as my wife reads them all. But... I'm on this Forum every day

Great mag

I enjoy every issue. Of course there are things that do not interest me; but I read them anyway because I invariably find something interesting or useful.

kgadley01 said:

When I first joined I read the ON cover to cover every month. Nowdays I rarely look threw a copy. The same goes for the other mags that I recieve. I just seem to have lost interest in reading.

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Same for me.

tommcgee said:

Are you just being sarcastic, curmudgeonly, or what? Why wouldn't you put pictures of club events in the club magazine, month after month?

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It was not my intention to be at all sarcastic. Curmudgeonly, definitely. And "or what" would be the main point - helpful. If I was in charge I'd want critical feedback before the numbers started shrinking on membership and circulation. It's my honest, and apparently initially unpopular feedback. It wasn't just one issue, it's been a couple now on just Sedalia and before that it's still a lot of pictures of people I don't know posing with other people I don't know. Now, if they were doing something fun together like bashing through a forest on a GSA or on a romp around some West Virginia twisties and it was in connection with some roads I'd like to visit or using some gear I might be thinking about then that's entirely interesting. And, there's some of that in there that I enjoyed. But just standing there posing for a photo is not interesting and elicits my "family vacation slide show" vib. I guess if there are sufficient numbers of readers that like to see that month after month I'll just stew in my curmudgeon-ness and live with it, or not. I do get some occasional benefit from the forums. I'm new around here so maybe I haven't been around enough to "get it." That's entirely possible..

Fair enough, but it is a club publication and reports on club events. Personally, I don't read much of it anymore, but I do appreciate the pictures of events. It's the thousand words thing.

PittsDriver said:

It was not my intention to be at all sarcastic. Curmudgeonly, definitely. And "or what" would be the main point - helpful. If I was in charge I'd want critical feedback before the numbers started shrinking on membership and circulation. It's my honest, and apparently initially unpopular feedback. It wasn't just one issue, it's been a couple now on just Sedalia and before that it's still a lot of pictures of people I don't know posing with other people I don't know. Now, if they were doing something fun together like bashing through a forest on a GSA or on a romp around some West Virginia twisties and it was in connection with some roads I'd like to visit or using some gear I might be thinking about then that's entirely interesting. And, there's some of that in there that I enjoyed. But just standing there posing for a photo is not interesting and elicits my "family vacation slide show" vib. I guess if there are sufficient numbers of readers that like to see that month after month I'll just stew in my curmudgeon-ness and live with it, or not. I do get some occasional benefit from the forums. I'm new around here so maybe I haven't been around enough to "get it." That's entirely possible..

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tommcgee said:

..., but it is a club publication...

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There is the conundrum that was being addressed in in the OP. He is a member and one of the primary reasons to join does not have great value to him.

Before anyone gets their undies in a bundle; it is not for the lack of the editorial staff trying to expand the range of articles offered. They have and continue to solicit articles other than travelogues.

The bylaws make ON the official means of communication for the association; therefore it is hard to avoid a bunch of clubbie articles.

The charter clubs are symbiotic partners of the national organization so is it a surprise that ON reflects that in many ways?

At the same time there has been a segment of undefined size that has no allegiances to local clubs. They aren't rally rats for one reason or another. Yet they pay their dues and expect to find some enjoyment out of the association perks.

If you want an association that continues to be vibrant in the 21st century figuring out how to meet the interest in some share is necessary to stop deteriorating membership roles.

Mika said:

There is the conundrum that was being addressed in in the OP. He is a member and one of the primary reasons to join does not have great value to him.

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My interest is the forum, don't care much for the rest, but that's just me. The ON doesn't have a lot of value to me either, but I still appreciate getting it. It's the connection with other riders I value.

I'd also appreciate the Anonymous Book as an App, but since the BoD have no interest in doing club buzz on the forum and I have no interest in club politics or rallies, I have no idea how to suggest this.

The forum is what I value. The anonymous book is great but I have never used it. The magazine has had infrequent value when I owned my first airhead in the 80s but not so much after I sold it. Members can blow off or argue in defense of any part of what is offered. It is not a question of what is wrong but how do you improve what your association has to offer.

Mika said:

There is the conundrum that was being addressed in in the OP. He is a member and one of the primary reasons to join does not have great value to him.

Before anyone gets their undies in a bundle; it is not for the lack of the editorial staff trying to expand the range of articles offered. They have and continue to solicit articles other than travelogues.

The bylaws make ON the official means of communication for the association; therefore it is hard to avoid a bunch of clubbie articles.

The charter clubs are symbiotic partners of the national organization so is it a surprise that ON reflects that in many ways?

At the same time there has been a segment of undefined size that has no allegiances to local clubs. They aren't rally rats for one reason or another. Yet they pay their dues and expect to find some enjoyment out of the association perks.

If you want an association that continues to be vibrant in the 21st century figuring out how to meet the interest in some share is necessary to stop deteriorating membership roles.

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Well said. We , MOA, have great opportunities ahead as we find ways to maintain current members while attracting new members as well.

tommcgee said:

My interest is the forum, don't care much for the rest, but that's just me. The ON doesn't have a lot of value to me either, but I still appreciate getting it. It's the connection with other riders I value.

I'd also appreciate the Anonymous Book as an App, but since the BoD have no interest in doing club buzz on the forum and I have no interest in club politics or rallies, I have no idea how to suggest this.

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I guess you didn't read the minutes of the Board meeting, on Page 20 of the October ON. Marc and Vince indicated that apps for ON and the Anonymous are expected out this year. These topics have long been in discussion and it's taken time to work out the details so it is beginning to happen.

Mika said:

There is the conundrum that was being addressed in in the OP. He is a member and one of the primary reasons to join does not have great value to him.

Before anyone gets their undies in a bundle; it is not for the lack of the editorial staff trying to expand the range of articles offered. They have and continue to solicit articles other than travelogues.

The bylaws make ON the official means of communication for the association; therefore it is hard to avoid a bunch of clubbie articles.

The charter clubs are symbiotic partners of the national organization so is it a surprise that ON reflects that in many ways?

At the same time there has been a segment of undefined size that has no allegiances to local clubs. They aren't rally rats for one reason or another. Yet they pay their dues and expect to find some enjoyment out of the association perks.

If you want an association that continues to be vibrant in the 21st century figuring out how to meet the interest in some share is necessary to stop deteriorating membership roles.

Click to expand...

Well put.

I understand the OP's concerns and comments. Maybe he's not a club or rally person. I know that I'm not, and frankly there are often articles in the ON that don't interest me, so like someone else said, I turn the page.

My participating on these online forums comes and goes, depending on what's being posted, and what I'm looking for at the time. I've received a LOT of good information from these forums, and hopefully, maybe given some as well.

The national or international rally really IS a big deal for the BMW MOA. That's why there are so many pages dedicated to it. Yeah, sometimes I think it gets to be a bit much, especially since we know that the October issue contains the full review with pics of the rally. Some of the pics of the people are folks that have known each other and have been involved with the BMW MOA for many years. Some people like to see these pics, even if it's just a group of people posing in a group.

The thing is, as a member, you CAN contribute to the magazine. This is a very good thing. It allows members to add content that interests them, and hopefully, other members of the MOA. If you're someone who thinks the magazine could be better, and have some ideas, then my advice is to go for it. Come up with some articles, product reviews, riding stories, etc. If it interests you, chances are there are others that will appreciate it as well.