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ON Magazine

motodan

Active member
If these remarks are in the wrong area please move accordingly. I'm no publisher or editor however I have a suggestion toward one goal mentioned on page 21 of January's edition of ON. Mr. Winkel provided data regarding management of ON including the need to produce a "tighter" magazine including production cost for paper, print, shipping/mailing and page count. All well and good I'm sure. However, these ideas were typed on a page with an empty 2 1/2 inch top border. In fact, pages 19, 22, 24, 25 and several others throughout had rather extra large top border. I realize any magazine flows better with organized "breaks" however, this seems like quite a bit of "empty" space.

Don't get me wrong, I think the magazine is worth paying for and reading. However, in staying with Vince's primary message, perhaps better utilization of the space available would save on production cost. Just off the top, seems like more "page-wide" ads would contribute to less page usage. Page-wide ads varying in depth from 3/4 to 3 inches could certainly convey most vendor messages and help fill those overly large border areas....saving "empty" page totals...and costs?
 
Drop a line to Vince! I believe he's said in one or more places, if you have some comments/input/suggestions, he's willing to listen. He doesn't have the time to monitor the forum, so it's likely he won't see this.

It's "our" club!!
 
Excellent Points!

If these remarks are in the wrong area please move accordingly. I'm no publisher or editor however I have a suggestion toward one goal mentioned on page 21 of January's edition of ON. Mr. Winkel provided data regarding management of ON including the need to produce a "tighter" magazine including production cost for paper, print, shipping/mailing and page count. All well and good I'm sure. However, these ideas were typed on a page with an empty 2 1/2 inch top border. In fact, pages 19, 22, 24, 25 and several others throughout had rather extra large top border. I realize any magazine flows better with organized "breaks" however, this seems like quite a bit of "empty" space.

Don't get me wrong, I think the magazine is worth paying for and reading. However, in staying with Vince's primary message, perhaps better utilization of the space available would save on production cost. Just off the top, seems like more "page-wide" ads would contribute to less page usage. Page-wide ads varying in depth from 3/4 to 3 inches could certainly convey most vendor messages and help fill those overly large border areas....saving "empty" page totals...and costs?

Thanks for the feedback. I'll sit down with the art director this week, and discuss this.

Thanks,
Vince
 
Thanks Vince....

for the fine product you've provided us for so long now. If your resume "refresh" is as nice as the ON... expect to "move up" with a pay raise
attached! You deserve it pal....good luck Vince. .:bow

"travel'n" john
 
I found the mag quite professional. I have no "horse in this race" of the replacement of the magazine editor. That is up to them. All I have to say is that I thought the mag was very nice and looked classy.

I read every one from cover to cover, word for word, and even the advertisements, but to be honest only about 10% (depended upon issue) was interesting to me. I have no interest in trips to Peru or the Swiss alps. Those articles seemed more (to me) like national geographic than motorcycling.

Again, though, overall, the publication was in my estimation excellent. I know a while back someone got upset at some mistake in there, but in that type of a pub, with its size, there will be mistakes.

If I would have a say in what I would do to improve it?....

I would reduce its size, by limiting the number of articles - especially those that are mere recounting the events of a trip - especially those out of the country. Secondly, I would maybe put a section in each month designed specifically for each type of BMW, i.e. "Vintage," Airheads, Oilheads, GS's and the sport bikes. If I have left any significant category out, I apologize.

I personally like the repairing and maintenance articles, so I would try to include more of them. I can't think of the names of all (apologize again) but the articles by Paul Graves and others were especially good, even when they were about other model bikes than I have. For example, Paul's article about rebuilding the forks on both his and his wife's bikes I found very interesting as he alluded to practices and procedures that help all of us in various situations. He also alluded to dangers and mistakes one could make - these also apply in other models and situations. I think these help all of us. Other categories could be done that wouldn't necessarily be model specific, but beneficial to all models. For example, upper-end rebuilding (obviously would still inform about model-specific issues), Pistons & rings replacements, transmissions (this one could be a series of 3 or 4 articles over a few months of mags. and so on.

One of the appeals to me about BMW (other than the quality/reputation/classiness of the older ones, let's say 20 or more years) is that it seems to me to be one of the only brands that has a crew of people who actually encourage the owners to do his/her own maintenance, thus saving them hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. I know for me this is the case. If it weren't for that, I could never own a BMW of any kind because I simply don't have the money to shell out for an expensive bike and then have extensive costs to maintain it. Others might, but not me. Other brands simply say, "go to the nearest dealer. Here in the MOA, articles help the rider to anticipate problems and then be able to "fix" them right on the road or trail.

I also like the mag's sometimes "theme" approach. I am just getting into camping, and I was probably prompted to think about it because of one of the issues last year. I have no one to go with me, so in the next spring and summer, I will take up solo camping along the way on short (500 miles or so) trips to see my kids and their families.

I certainly don't claim to know about the demographics, but from my experience, articles that could actually be done/used by the normal riders (percentage-wise, few are up to 10,000 mile trips around the country) and I would guess most of us do weekend or shorter 3-4 day trips.

I am not so much into going to rallies (though once in a while I may) because they seem to be the same over and over - guys telling the same stories with different names and numbers! So...the mag covering various rallies to me isn't that interesting.

I wish others would input here. Perhaps a different perspective would also help in producing a better mag. I know that there has to be "looming" out there the notion of a 100% electronic version which would certainly reduce costs and save a bunch of trees!
 
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