This is just what the Cleveland Grotto does with its CLEVE-O-GROTTO NEWS publication…offer a discount for those who take a digital copy. It works for us, but barely. If the goal of the NSS is to save money, it is a reasonable proposition. If the goal of the NSS is to stay in touch with its members, create good will, and give a feeling of community, the idea stinks.
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.
Consider: This is an active caving forum. How many people (as a percent of the NSS) actually are active on a monthly basis? There are a few frequent posters. A few, like me, who are occasional. And there is an entire ocean of cavers who never even peek in. Restricting the NEWS in return for a few bucks is a sure way to lose touch with even more members and make the NSS less relevant in many cavers’ lives. It's a bad idea.
