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curt@curtharler.com wrote:I think it is a bad idea for several reasons:
1- The print copy of the NEWS is the one regular, constant way the NSS touches every member. It shows up in your mailbox regularly, whether you are thinking about it or not. It shows caving is alive and active. With pretty front and back covers, it is almost impossible to ignore…to open. Inside, it inspires us to get out and get underground. It keeps us up to date on events and friends.
2- A digital copy, even of our Grotto NEWS, is too big to email to many members - their service will not handle it. NSS NEWS would be a bigger challenge. So we send a link. However the e-version comes through, the potential reader has to respond to a URL and go out and get the NEWS. Not a big deal to many – but it’s a lot easier to click “delete” and move on to something else than it is to download it. Even if it is downloaded, a second action is required to open the file and start to look – a lot of work on the reader.
3- Email addresses, even for the 60+ members of the Cleveland Grotto change constantly. I can’t imagine how many members’ addresses will be lost and the enormity of the challenge of finding them again. Just this month’s Grotto meeting, 3 members complained of not getting their Grotto emails. That’s over five percent per month who are suddenly out of the loop!
4- It is a mistake to see the NSS NEWS as a cost. It is an investment in the members and the membership. If we have money for a Taj Mahal office, we have money to print and mail the NEWS. Taken on an elementary level, the present proposal is akin to a parent telling the kids to give up good food every day because funds are tight since they must support a couple of distant relatives who live in a mansion.
wyandottecaver wrote: Of course, the other possibility is that it will drive many people to get life memberships (who get a print version). Then when the budget gets worse, they can shaft the Life members since they already have their money and are using it for the HQ.....
Extremeophile wrote:curt@curtharler.com wrote:2- A digital copy, even of our Grotto NEWS, is too big to email to many members - their service will not handle it. NSS NEWS would be a bigger challenge. So we send a link. However the e-version comes through, the potential reader has to respond to a URL and go out and get the NEWS. Not a big deal to many – but it’s a lot easier to click “delete” and move on to something else than it is to download it. Even if it is downloaded, a second action is required to open the file and start to look – a lot of work on the reader.
All those mouse clicks do sound daunting. With print copies you have to get dressed, go outside, and risk tornadoes, lightning, and mountain lion attacks. Electronic distribution is far safer.
curt@curtharler.com wrote:Digital's time may come...it is not yet here.
by taking my real, physical copy of the NEWS out of my mailbox is proof that NSS is still willing to reach out and touch me
Being asked to go fetch an e-copy of the NEWS from somewhere in cyberspace is like being told of a digital photo of a pretty cave formation or a lovely woman...if I bother to follow the link, it may be nice, but it is not as good as the real thing.
in this case, reaching out and keeping the NSS membership "sticky."
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