[AUUG-Talk]: Printed AUUGN: Value or not?

[David McDonald]

David,

I must say, I really prefer reading a printed page to a page on-screen,
but I will not say that I'm about to terminate my membership.

Would it be possible to offer members a choice: Membership with virtual
AUUGN for a budget price versus Membership with hard copy AUUGN for
additional cost?

I can put AUUG in contact people who can produce low-volume print runs.
They would probably be very happy to mail the printed copies for you
too.

Regards,

Dave McDonald

> -----Original Message-----
> From: 
> talk-bounces+david.mcdonald=securitymail.com.au at auug.org.au 
> [mailto:talk-bounces+david.mcdonald=securitymail.com.au at auug.o
> rg.au] On Behalf Of David Newall
> Sent: Monday, 6 December 2004 3:32 pm
> To: talk at auug.org.au
> Subject: [AUUG-Talk]: Printed AUUGN: Value or not?
> 
> I recently explained to some colleagues that AUUGN will no 
> longer be printed in hard copy because, "it's a budget issue; 
> AUUGN costs too much for what it represents, and there are 
> better ways for members to obtain
> that value."   Their responses surprised me.  One said:
> 
>           "I think you're missing the difference between actual value
>         and perceived value.  People like to get things like 
> AUUGN, even
>         if they can get the equivalent online, as it represents
>         something tangible for their membership.  Without it, 
> there's a
>         risk that people would perceive their membership as not much
>         more than a license to have a warm fuzzy."
> 
> Another said:
> 
>           "Personally? I like it. I realise that the majority of
>         articles are lifted (with permission) from elsewhere, 
> but it was
>         good for helping me to keep up-to-date with the world 
> of AUUG. I
>         often miss meetings due to other commitments. It also 
> had a few
>         cool technical articles.
>           ...
>           "I'm no longer an individual member of AUUG - Martin offered
>         to organise my membership and I can't afford to maintain my
>         membership given that AUUGN was the only benefit that 
> I see. I'm
>         not often able to attend the AUUG conferences ... and rarely
>         make it to meetings (which I gather are just social gatherings
>         these days). This may be a similar situation to the AUUGN
>         advocates I mentioned in my last mail."
> 
> I have argued for AUUGN to go 'soft' for a couple of years, 
> as regular readers of this list will recall, so of course I 
> agree with the decision; yet these comments worry me.  I 
> would hate us to lose members and our identity over what is, 
> after all, a rather small amount in AUUG budget.
> 
> I have a question: Would any of you, or do you know of 
> anybody, who would fail to renew membership because AUUGN was 
> no longer printed?
> 
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