I agree with Peter and AJ. So, what do we do about it? Steve Dodder President, Saguaro Astronomy Club Director, Stone Haven Observatory fester00@xxxxxxxxxxx http://www.stargazing.net/Astroman > From: acrayon@xxxxxxx > To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [sac-board] Re: SACnews > Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:18:15 -0700 > > I tend to agree with the tenor of this discussion. If we are supplying > complimentary copies of our newsletter it seems, to me, that we should be > making decision on how it will be delivered. Since there is a significant > cost involved for the printing, and they aren't paying for said printing, it > seems we should take a more proactive role in deciding on delivery > mechanism. That delivery mechanisms first choice should be via e-mail. > > AJ Crayon > Phoenix, AZ > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "SAC Webmaster" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 5:59 PM > Subject: [sac-board] Re: SACnews > > > Given the relatively large expense it presents to the club, why are we > letting the recipients determine this? It is a complimentary copy - the > benefit being provided is that they are able to receive the current issue of > the newsletter a full 3 months before it would generally be available to > them. Asking them to bear the burden of printing it, if that is their > desire, doesn't seem too much to ask. > > Just my opinion. How do others feel? > > Peter > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Rick Tejera" <saguaroastro@xxxxxxx> > To: <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 5:48 PM > Subject: [sac-board] Re: SACnews > > > Ah, Missed that point. I ran a straw poll of the comps a few year's back to > let them know & encourage electronic delivery. Quite a few took that up. > Several did not, the most common reason given was that they display then > issue at their meetings for their members to peruse. I presume they didn't > want to incur the time & cost of printing it themselves. > > Maybe it's time again to poll the comps. > > Clear Skies > > Rick Tejera > > Editor SACnews > > Saguaro Astronomy Club > > Phoenix, Arizona > > www.saguaroastro.org > > saguaroastro@xxxxxxx > > > -----Original Message----- > From: sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] > On Behalf Of SAC Webmaster > Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 16:53 > To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [sac-board] Re: SACnews > > My comment wasn't regarding mailed newsletters to members. I was > specifically referring to the complimentary copies. > > Peter > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Rick Tejera" <saguaroastro@xxxxxxx> > To: <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 4:37 PM > Subject: [sac-board] Re: SACnews > > > Peter, > > There are still several members who don't have email or a slow connection. > And there are those who for whatever reason prefer to have a printed copy > mailed. > > Clear Skies > > Rick Tejera > > Editor SACnews > > Saguaro Astronomy Club > > Phoenix, Arizona > > www.saguaroastro.org > > saguaroastro@xxxxxxx > > -----Original Message----- > From: sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] > On Behalf Of SAC Webmaster > Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 16:34 > To: SAC Board > Subject: [sac-board] SACnews > > I just had the April issue of SACnews printed this afternoon and it will go > out in tomorrow's mail. Using the latest database from Charlie, we print a > total of 33 copies each month. Of the total, 22 are complimantary and 11 are > mailed to paying members. > The postage costs for the member's newsletters: $4.51 monthly; $54.12 > annually. > > The postage costs for the complimentary copies: $9.02 monthly; $108.24 > annually. > > The printing costs are donated, but represent an expense of about $20 > annually per copy. > This translates to an expense of $220 annually for members and $440 annually > for the complimentary issues. > > Add in the postage and it's about $275 annually for the member's newsletters > and $550 for the comps. Assuming we have a membership totaling 100, this > represents roughly 9% and 19% of our annual income respectively - more than > a quarter of the budget. > > My question here is why we print and mail any complimentary copies. Wouldn't > emailing the link to the current issue be sufficient? I can think of better > uses for this money. > > Any comments? > > Peter > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ Pack up or back up?use SkyDrive to transfer files or keep extra copies. Learn how. http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_packup_042008