OTCA Magazine

[Bidoofdude]

Hi,
I thought it would be a great idea each week or month to create an OTCA magazine containing key news and stuff from the forums. I drew up a quick sketch which can be seen on my Flickr page. Please support this as we can showcase collections each week and list good deals by members; basically a summary of events.
Here is my Flickr photostream: (also art pics and collection pics)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68801062@N05/
Also, check out my art! (lol free advertising)

[GoktimusPrime]

griffin used to print/distribute club newsletters back in the day. But that was before we had an online forum -- now all news, sales, reviews, art etc. gets posted here. Saves more trees. griffin has uploaded the old newsletters in The Ark section of the board, so you can check 'em out there.

#1 (Oct '96) | #2 (Nov '96) | #3 (Dec '96) | #4 (Jan '97) | #5 | #12 (Sep '97)

[Defcon]

But still... A printed magazine is really cool when you think about it! if only once a year to summarize the year. But, I think the online newsletter is the way to go, I think it helps alot of new people.

[Sharky]

PDF tools are great for this type of thing.. no need for trees....

[Paulbot]

Griffin does a regular e-newsletter summarising what's new and happening. But time pressure delays it sometimes but he puts a good effort into it.

It's not a bad idea but personally I'd rather keep trying to get a Ozformers Collections book done and self published via a book making service like Blurb or something similar. Again though comes down to time.

[Bidoofdude]

I could make some in pdf format, if you guys want.

[5FDP]

Just my two cents - PDF format would be the way to go. TFW produces something similar already however they have a lot more resources at their disposal. I for one would have a minimal contribution if any.

[griffin]

I only have a PDF reader, I can't afford a PDF editor... so I resort to standard HTML, which is still fine to use and read.

A regular newsletter is time-consuming though, as the weekly news emails I do/did (most of the year, but stop around BotCon... and take a few months to get back motivated again), usually take 2+ hours. And that's just a text email with links to all the interesting stuff (news, sightings, info, meets, creative, new members) during one week. The monthly printed ones I used to do took a few days to do.

I'd love to have a weekly or monthly newsletter again, if I had the time to do it, but the number of people interested in one (based on feedback and readership) just didn't make it a worthwhile venture.

Not trying to be a wet blanket over enthusiasm (like I said, I'd do it again if my circumstances change - the monthly magazine I did while at Uni, so had heaps of time), I just want to make people aware that it is a big job, and a big ongoing commitment. Which is why the concept could return in the future, just not by me at this time.

For those keen, post up an "issue" (using a recent week or month of postings here), and we'll see what you can do (and you can see how long it takes).

[Bidoofdude]

I only have a PDF reader, I can't afford a PDF editor... so I resort to standard HTML, which is still fine to use and read.

A regular newsletter is time-consuming though, as the weekly news emails I do/did (most of the year, but stop around BotCon... and take a few months to get back motivated again), usually take 2+ hours. And that's just a text email with links to all the interesting stuff (news, sightings, info, meets, creative, new members) during one week. The monthly printed ones I used to do took a few days to do.

I'd love to have a weekly or monthly newsletter again, if I had the time to do it, but the number of people interested in one (based on feedback and readership) just didn't make it a worthwhile venture.

Not trying to be a wet blanket over enthusiasm (like I said, I'd do it again if my circumstances change - the monthly magazine I did while at Uni, so had heaps of time), I just want to make people aware that it is a big job, and a big ongoing commitment. Which is why the concept could return in the future, just not by me at this time.

For those keen, post up an "issue" (using a recent week or month of postings here), and we'll see what you can do (and you can see how long it takes).

Seems like quite a time-consuming task. I might get a draft page started to see how I can go. Anyone interested can help me my replying here or pm.