NSS News needs more feature articles

[Dave Bunnell]

Fellow NSS members,

We seem to be in another slack period for feature articles submitted for the NSS News. For January, there was only one very short one so I ended up doing an emergency feature issue on New Zealand. Good stuff, but definitely more a travelougue on adventure travel to cool caves in a foreign country than our usual exploration/survey kind of features.

So, if you or your friends or their friends have been thinking of writing up their exploration project on some cave area, now is the time.

And don't forget the Conservation Issue is coming up soon, please send material to the Werkers asap (see NSS News, November, page 26).

Dave

[George Dasher]

I feel your pain.

I only have seven or eight pages for the next West Virginia Caver.

[NZcaver]

Dave,

Much as I love reading many great US caving articles in the NSS News, I could also be persuaded to read one written about New Zealand caves.

Keep up the good work!

[Sean Ryan]

#1. Has the NSS News ever run fiction? I don't think anyone would want to see it displace anything currently in there, but a fiction story now and then would be a change of pace. A few pieces from various grotto newsletters make in the Speleo Digest every year, but I'm not sure if any have appeared nationally.

#2. Virtually none of the NSS News involves local sport caving. Like it or not, that's how a large proportion of cavers participate. Having some coverage of that aspect of caving (again, not displacing anything currently in there) could bring a familiarity to the readers to counter the remote expeditions that - as fascinating as they are - 99% of readers will never get to visit.

[Cheryl Jones]

#1. Has the NSS News ever run fiction? I don't think anyone would want to see it displace anything currently in there, but a fiction story now and then would be a change of pace. A few pieces from various grotto newsletters make in the Speleo Digest every year, but I'm not sure if any have appeared nationally.

#2. Virtually none of the NSS News involves local sport caving. Like it or not, that's how a large proportion of cavers participate. Having some coverage of that aspect of caving (again, not displacing anything currently in there) could bring a familiarity to the readers to counter the remote expeditions that - as fascinating as they are - 99% of readers will never get to visit.

Great ideas -- we all need to work on cavers we know to contribute articles and stories. The NSS News is only as good as the contributions from NSS members! (Yup, the News has included fiction in the past -- stories, poems, and cartoons.)

Cheryl

[Scott McCrea]

#1. Has the NSS News ever run fiction?

Hmm, maybe that story about Ted the caver could be published. It's a great story. Here's the link:
http://www.holyshiite.com/caver/index.html

We had a verrrrry long thread about this story on the previous DB, where we tried to find out who wrote it and what cave it was. Seems like we found out the cave, but never who actually wrote it. Maybe threatening to publish it would force the real author to step forward.

[hewhocaves]

I'd be more than happy to give up a fiction story or two for the News, but I've always thought we'd have to be pretty depserate to insert fiction in there.

as an aside.. how about a cartoon or two?

John

[Scott Shaw]

I agree with this way of thinking whole heartedly. We already have the "professional journal" in the JCKS. The NSS News could be lightened up somewhat with a good mix of fiction, cartoons, sport caving articles, etc.

Do such articles get submitted but not pubished for one reason or another? My guess is no, we're seeing all there is.

We all can find little things in the News we'd like to change. IMO the Spelean Spotlight is entirely too big - takes up too much room. Although Dave probably loves it because it's filler in these times of few submissions. I'll bet he'd publish more caving articles of any type if he were to get them. Point is, we can influence it with our submissions.

Not saying we all have to send someting in each month. I'd bet after seeing a variety of articles and features beyond the high profile foreign exploration, the average caver would say to themsleves, hey I can write about something I did too.

My tenure as a grotto newsletter editor is ending after nearly 6 years. I'll dust off my pen and send something. The first of which is going to be for the Conservation issue. We also have several good TAG exploration articles from the Huntsville Grotto Newsletter that could be refined a little and submitted.

Come to think of it, why don't we all plege to send at least one article of some type this year. As Cheryl said:

The NSS News is only as good as the contributions from NSS members!

[Dan Sullivan]

You guys are making some goods points here. I'd like to add a couple of thoughts.

I'd like to see at least one feature article a month come from a local publication, be it a grotto news letter or a regional publication like Rocky Mountain caving. I realize that's what the Speleodigest is for, but the best articles should end up in the news, where all the members can read them. Very few people read the digest in comparison.

I wouldn't mind seeing more articles about cave diving and the CDS. Why don't they have their own column in the news? (If there was something in the news that pertained to them each month, they may be less likely to switch to the limited member catagory.)

Personally, I would like to see no more than one international article a month, in the news. Once again, personal preference.

I would also like to see a column that specifically addresses the relationship between the grotto's and the society. Something that helps open up the communications a little better between the society and the clubs that represent it. It could include reminders to mention joining the NSS at the meetings. Maybe include topics that the board is discussing that month. Ideas for programs, work projects, liability and insurance issues, just to name a few. This seems to be a big stumbling block that the news could help fill.

I still can't believe that there isn't a permanent add in the news promoting this discussion board. Most people don't even know it's here. IMO a once a month reminder would go a long way to increase it's participation.

I must say I really like the Spelean Spotlight. Please don't shorten it. I know some of them get kind of lengthy, but the personal history and dialog has never bored me for one minute. It's this type of local reporting that makes me want to buy a subscription. Bill does a super job putting the interviews together.

[Sean Ryan]

Reprinting a couple grotto newsletter articles would open up a huge amount of pre-written stories to a national audience. Speleo Digest is designed for that, true, but it's always a few years late. By then there's not much relevance to a particuarly well-written trip report of a cave convention three years ago. I'm not looking to foist more work on the noble souls who edit the Speleo Digests, but if they see anything that particlarly stands out in a current newsletter submission, maybe they could recommend a reprint before that year's Speleo Phone Book comes out.

[JD]

I used to occasionally contribute to the News, but after a piece I wrote was initially accepted and then later axed without any notification as to why by the editor I quit contributing. I admit the article wasn't too P.C. (it was about why cave restoration can be a threat to other cave resources) but one might think a simple note of explanation could be sent to the author.

Jim and Val talked to me about it but the editor never did.

The In the Media section should be reduced to one page maximum with a synapsis of each article. The long summaries are too much - the point is to let us know if we should track down and read the various articles ourselves. It's a tough job being concise but it would be helpful.

I like the Spelean Spotlight though it has been (until this month) full of the usual BNC suspects, not the interesting, though little known, persons doing unusual things in the speleological community. If you are a hard charging explorer/mapper, whom Mr. Steele personally knows, you might appear. Anybody else is pretty much excluded, no matter how important they may be in their cave specialty area. I mean, where is Fred Grady or Jan Simek or Horton Hobbs or Blaine Schubert? Anyone think they might be "worthy?"

The News is increasingly of less interest to me. Though the pictures are still nice.

[hewhocaves]

As far as I know, the Spelean Spotlight operates pretty much by the people who are known to the author. By that I mean if the person doing the column doesn't know the person in question, he can hardly set up an interview. Beacuse of this, people do tend to fall into the cracks.

My personal suggestion is that if you think that there is someone who is worthy of an interview either a) contact the person currently doing the spotlight or b) arrange to conduct the interview itself.

As for having articles axed, ammended, etc... I've had a couple changed and the first time I've seen it was when it was printed. Unfortunately, at the time I took it personally as well. Believe it or not, this is commonplace in journalism as I later discovered (newspaper articles, for example, are torn up routinely and reworked). On the one hand, it's best not to get too attached to what you write - sometimes things get changed for nothing other than space requirements. On the other hand, it's nice to be given a heads up too. But putting together the News in a professional fashion with only volunteers is a LOT of work, and sometimes things get lost in the cracks.

a couple of thoughts for future features:
How about a series of commercial cave reviews? It's been years since "Gurnee's guide to Commercial Caves" has been released. If we get all of them, updating that volume might be a good project for the NSS as well.

There are state surveys: how about updates from them? - or a focus on some of the caving within a particular state? I'm not talking WV, tenn or KY sort of thing, but how about places like Minnesota? Oregon? Vermont? Just a general overview about some of the caves and karst of that region. I, personally, would love a little more info about the karst in general in south dakota. I know there has to be more than just Wind and Jewel there.

history: Run down the long cave list. how many of you know the history of say: Organ Cave? Binkley's Cave? Honey Creek Cave? I'm not talking about pages and pages here, but twenty miles of cave (of which all of the above have) has to be able to fill five pages (including photos).

I know I can contribute a few things here over the next year - but all you'll hear about is NJ and WV. that's 2 states out of 50. I know every grotto has one or two people that are wellsprings of information. Get the chisel out and crack into them!!!

(not literally.)

john

[Cheryl Jones]

as an aside.. how about a cartoon or two?

YES! Back in the 70s there was a whole series, one every month! It was wonderfully weird -- cavers in a magic microbus going caving as I recall. Real 70s stuff.

We've had individual cartoons over the years, but I think we need more. They would round out the magazine, and give us something else to look forward to.

You're a cartoonist, hewho -- Go for it! Send some in, maybe talk to Dave about creating a series.

Cheryl

[Cheryl Jones]

Do such articles get submitted but not pubished for one reason or another? My guess is no, we're seeing all there is.

You got it. As I understand, Dave rarely rejects reasonable articles, although he may send them back for editing or polishing before publishing. Writing for a national audience and for the standard Dave has established for the News is generally different than writing for a grotto newsletter.

I'll bet he'd publish more caving articles of any type if he were to get them. Point is, we can influence it with our submissions.

Exactly. Dave too would like more US caving articles, and more variety.

the average caver would say to themsleves, hey I can write about something I did too.

Right! Cavers may now think that the caving they are doing is not worth writing about, or not worth being published in the
News. Seeing more articles about "normal caving" and exploration could encourage more folks to contribute.

Cheryl

[Cheryl Jones]

If you are a hard charging explorer/mapper, whom Mr. Steele personally knows, you might appear. Anybody else is pretty much excluded, no matter how important they may be in their cave specialty area. I mean, where is Fred Grady or Jan Simek or Horton Hobbs or Blaine Schubert? Anyone think they might be "worthy?"

Send Bill Steel your suggestions! I'm sure he'd appreciate the help.

Cheryl