[DMVR] Drifting by email or download

Fri, 16 May 2003 07:54:29 -0500

To those that read the below message as being that you are 'forced' to take
Drifting electronically, that is not at all the intent.  The below was a
request in an attempt to save the club money, and to quit wasting
paper/trees.  Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks.  Have a good one.

kt

Karl Thacker
http://www.geocities.com/kt_50320

"It's just a shadow of the people we should be."
    Stuart Adamson, Big Country

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	dmvr-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:dmvr-admin@autox.team.net]  On
Behalf Of karl.thacker@earthlink.net
Sent:	Sunday, May 11, 2003 11:58 AM
To:	dmvr@autox.team.net
Subject:	[DMVR] Drifting by email or download
Importance:	High

While I realize I am speaking to a still growing audience, I need to present
the following:

Drifting by email or download

As DMVR members know each month the club sends-out Drifting, our newsletter.
At present we are limited to a maximum of 12 pages per month by postage and
printing costs.  This fact means that most months myself and Monica Shaw are
forced to choose what items do NOT make it into drifting.  Be it event
photos, event stories, technical articles, or what have you.  We simply do
not have the space each month.  And recent expectations and requests by some
members in what they expect Drifting to contain each month will soon have to
be deflated and met with reality; we do not have space to run pictures and
details of what every participant did in every event each month.  We do not
even have the space for national or divisional SCCA information and updates.

This is where my request comes to be.  Receiving Drifting by email or by
downloading it from the club web-site.

There are several points to consider:

o Printing costs will only continue to go up.  We are lucky in that we do
presently receive a discount rate, but that may not always be.
o Postage costs will only continue to go up.  We do not have the volume to
obtain Bulk Rate discounts.
o If you have the ability to read this email there is no reason you can't
obtain Drifting electronically.  Then if you NEED to print it you can do so.
o If we are able to narrow the postal mailing of Drifting to those who truly
need it, we will reduce costs to the club.
o If we are able to narrow the postal mailing of Drifting to those who truly
need it, we may consider enlarging the size of Drifting each month.
o If we are able to expand an electronic Drifting we will be able to include
more member information, event details, tech articles, news articles, event
photos, etc.
o The electronic version of Drifting is done so in Adobe PDF format which is
read using Adobe Acrobat, A FREE SOFTWARE PROGRAM.
o The money saved on reducing the publishing costs of Drifting can be better
spent elsewhere in the club.  Awards, events, promotions, etc.
o The problems experienced with the previous electronic Drifting have been
resolved.  Unless you are using a Commodore64 you should have no problems.
o You will have a saved copy of Drifting that will not age, mildew or turn
yellow.  And unless you have serious problems, will not be stained by
coffee......
o I will continue to hound you until you do sign-up for electronic Drifting.

o This one is the most important:  In this day and age there is no reason or
justification for us wasting/using paper when we do not need to.

These are just SOME of the arguments for an electronic Drifting that I can
come-up with off the top of my head on a Sunday morning.  Personally, I have
not heard a single substantiated argument for not receiving Drifting
electronically.  The most common I've heard is "I want to sit-down and read
it on paper"; well my response to that is a quite blunt 'Then print it out'.
I'd rather have 20 members who have to print it out themselves than have a
single copy that is thrown to the trash and the paper is wasted.

Now for the bottom-line.  This is where you need to send me an email telling
me one of two things:   (no, you do not need to tell me 'where to go')

* Remove your mailing label and sign-you-up for my emailed Drifting each
month
* Remove your mailing label as someone who will download Drifting from the
club web-site.

Thank you.

Karl Thacker
Drifting publisher

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