[JONAT] Do we really need advances?

[Mark Stephenson]

I'm still not sure why SCs need advance money to print route books. Is
anyone planning a novel, a novella, or even a long short story to cover
their sector? Does anyone have any estimates of how long their route book
will be? I'm probably the most verbose of the bunch, and with a full
explanation of the landmarks along the way, I can see more than 25-30 pages
of stuff. That's a $1.50 per book (a little extra if you don't punch the
holes yourself). 

If we are encouraging fellow travelers to download the book and print it
themselves, I would expect 80% of the participants to print their own,
especially if it costs them $5.00 per book which I think is a fair price for
those who choose not to download it.

If there are advances for books, then we get into all kinds of accounting
hassles. The SCs will have to keep track of the money. They will have to
submit receipts. They will have to return the money for the copies of the
hardcopy route books sold to JONAT (since JONAT paid for them to be
printed). And we're going through all that for what? Take a worse case
scenario -- an SC has 100 cars sign up for their sector. 75% want books. The
book is 30 pages. It costs 5¢ per page to create the book. The SC would be
out of pocket $37.50 to print up the books. So we're going to complicate
accounting, have receipts and checks flying back and forth, so SCs don't
have to front $37.50?

My suggestion is that we leave it in the hands of the SC and charge $5.00
for each sector route book. If we do that and the SC sells those 25 books at
$5 each, he's pocketed $125 -- or $87.50 extra for his time and effort
planning the route and putting the book together. There's no need to advance
money, no need to track receipts, no need to request the proceeds be
returned, and the SC is rewarded in some small measure for his efforts.

Regarding other expenses, I'd suggest that if the SCs want to get fancy,
they should seek out sponsors to cover their expenses. A JONAT entry fee is
an easy source of money. Having to seek out sponsors imposes a bit of
frugality on the SCs, unless they are really good fund-raisers. In that
case, they'll have a great sector with lots of goodies. Since the sponsors
were paying to support JONAT, if there's anything left over, it should be
returned to JONAT.

Mark - AZ


>The monies are to be sent to the PO Box address on the web site and held in
>a JONAT account.  They will be doled out to each Sector as required to
cover
>(reimburse) the cost of printing up the Sector "book", Tour trophies,
>decals, etc., and/or any other expenses approved by the EC.  One thing to
>keep in mind with this proposal is the word "reimbursed".  As this is a
>voluntary organization, the repayment will have to come in a "as time
>permits" (within reason of course).  Maybe a once a month "bill
paying/check
>writing" activity.