Gill wrote, >........... I'm only trying to get .... The CAVER > back to being a useful publication.
Didn't Gill once appear as a centerfold in the TC back when it was a useful publication?? or was that some other caving magazine? What is really funny about Gil's speech, is I heard him give a similar speech the day I first met him in 1985 at the New Braunfels TCR. Has the popularity of caving dwindled across the country as it has in Texas? If so, I suppose this is because potential cavers are pre-occupied with things like snow-boarding and nintendo and surfing the web, and other activities that they find more exciting. I see the publication problem from the perspective of a caver who lives far from the caving activities going on in Texas. I enjoy getting a Texas Caver in the mail. It is very difficult for me to get away from Houston these days, so I doubt the TSA could do anything differently that would make me want to jump in the car and drive to the hill country or west Texas. If the Texas Caver is available on the web, that will be fine. I have a good printer, so I can print it out. In summary, I support Gil and his proposal. David Locklear caver in Houston > > The fact that the TSA membership (and the resultant TEXAS CAVER > subscribers) has dwindled to the point where we can barely maintain our > bulk mailing permit needs to be made obvious to everybody. There is an > underlying reason for that--nay, there is an overwhelmingly blatant reason > for that: very few Texas cavers are interested in the TSA or The TEXAS > CAVER. To those few die-hard Texas cavers still committed to the cause who > continue to maintain their TSA allegiance and membership despite years of > abuse and ineffective goals, I offer my personal sincere thanks and > acknowledgement. You are truly dedicated. To the rest of you I offer my > deepest understanding. Neither the TSA nor The TEXAS CAVER have lived up > to > even a small portion of their commitment to Texas caving that most of us > think they should have. As both past TSA Chairman and TEXAS CAVER editor, > I > will accept responsibility for some of that lack. But that was then; this > is now. > > I will reiterate, for what must be the 2nd or 3rd time in 10 years, that > neither the TSA nor The TEXAS CAVER are providing much service to the > majority of Texas cavers. As originally conceived, The TEXAS CAVER should > be serving as a central information dispersal vehicle for Texas cavers. It > isn't doing that. As currently managed, it cannot, mostly because we can't > afford it, but also because of time constraints on editors and production > assistants. Printing and mailing are BIG hassles--but they are hassles > that > can be nearly completely dispensed with. > > If it is felt, in fact, that the TSA ought to get on with its business of > providing a useful point around which the cavers of Texas can gather for > both their personal and the common good, then we ought to get our heads > out > of our collective butts and use them to find a workable solution to > serving > all those Texas cavers out there. We will each, individually and > collectively, benefit from such an effort, as will the TSA as an > organization and The TEXAS CAVER as a publication, both in usefulness and > in quality--and, I'll be willing to bet, quantity. > > For some reason--call it tradition if you will--there seems to be a stogy > adherence to maintaining production of The TEXAS CAVER more or less along > the lines of the past. It doesn't take an overly bright dolt to see that > that system has failed--time and time again. In the mean time, newer, > easier, and more effective production methods have become available and > passed us by--or been repeatedly ignored by those committed to an ungainly > but traditional and outdated system. I'm suggesting that the time has > come--nay, it is far passed--to move into the modern world with The TEXAS > CAVER--make it quick; make it easy; make it timely; make it effective; and > make it available, free of charge to EVERY Texas caver. And all that, > simply by putting it on the inter-net. How easy does it get? > > But "what about the TSA?" you ask. Yeah, what about it? All of a sudden it > can be in contact with every Texas caver on a monthly basis--at least > every > caver who wants to know what's going on, something which is not even > remotely available now (except as the TSA ANL is being revived). At the > same time nearly all of the hassles and expenses of printing and mailing > will be eliminated--in a flash. The TSA, on the other hand, will then have > monthly access to literally several hundred more Texas cavers than it does > now--by their personal choice--who can, for, say 5 or 10 bucks, become TSA > members, both supporting that organization and personally benefiting from > it. Instead of eking by economically, the TSA will be rather more flush > with the resources to fund other projects. Both T > > he CAVER and the Spring Convention will have a greater base to draw from > for writers and speakers and the membership will swell because they are > finally getting something for their time and money. It's a > one-hand-washing-the-other sorta really simple solution. Few changes or > activities are without some pain, so let me now offer a short list of the > pros and cons of this all too obvious fix. > > PROS > 1. Printing and mailing costs are almost eliminated (their will be a few > exceptions, see below) > 2. The TEXAS CAVER will become available free of any charge (except for > their paper and ink costs) to any and all cavers in Texas who will > undoubtedly benefit personally in their caving pursuits and many will > reward the TSA by becoming members and supporters at a reasonable rate--to > everyone's eventual advantage. (Even out-of-state cavers and non-cavers > can > access it if they know where to look, creating more interest in Texas > caving and from an enlightened and caver-directed point of view.) > 3. Color can be used throughout the publication for photos and textual > highlighting, the final quality determined by the paper and quality of the > print and printer that the caver chooses to use. > 4. More pages can be included in The CAVER at no additional production > cost. More pages means more information and more interest by the cavers > that the publication is intended for. Now we're talking about quality and > quantity of service to our members. > 5. With a timely and quality publication in their hands, cavers will be > inspired to write and submit articles to appear in The CAVER and > ultimately > rewarded to see them there--and in a quality format. > 6. The TSA, as an organization, will become > > > > > more effective and respected among Texas cavers. That in itself should be > sufficient reason to proceed with this proposal. And by becoming more > effective, the TSA will be returning to its roots of being a central core > around which the cavers of Texas can gather--for fun, knowledge, and > problem solving--as was originally intended by cavers with similar needs > over 50 years ago. > > CONS > 1. There are, still, within our numbers cavers who have slow or even no > inter-net access. Expect that they, though few in numbers, will raise a > major hue-and-cry regarding such a modern change. There are ways to deal > with them. Most of those affected have friends or neighbors in the caving > community who are not so handicapped technologically. I'm willing to bet > that they could request their friend to print them out a copy--and even > with that delay they would have a full-color inkjet copy of The TEXAS > CAVER > in their grubby paws well before they would have a mere slick > black-and-white offset copy of the same delivered to their doorsteps by > the > USPS--several weeks sooner by nearly anyone's reconing. For those who > absolutely want a hard copy printed and delivered by the TSA, an inkjet > copy could be printed and mailed in a plain envelop for whatever the cost > of that service might be. That would probably constitute the limited > hassles alluded to above. > 2. As opposed to a publication which has been quality offset printed on > large, coated stock press sheets, folded, spine stitched, and knife > trimmed, a home or office printed inkjet copy of The TEXAS CAVER on 8-1/2 > x > 11 paper, stapled on the left face may be less appealing to some purists. > Still, I would point out that an overall better quality publication will > result in spite of a few shortcomings in the binding. I think most folks > don't care about that anyway. And before the cry is raised that double > sided copies cannot be made, dispel them--they can and will be. Just > manipulate your printer. For those more interested in content than in > quality, a quick, > > low quality print should satisfy their needs. > 3. Some time and effort will be required by the individual caver to > download, print, and assemble their otherwise free, quality publication. > Yes, that is a sacrifice which will have to be made. Some may choose to > not > go to the effort and for the loss of those cavers we should be sorry. > > EDITORS > Thirty or more years ago the editor (or a designated representative) had > to > type the entire issue twice (at least) on a standard typewriter (some of > you have seen them in museums), develop film and prints in darkrooms, cut > and paste copy using real paper (scissors, glue, whiteout, blue pencils, > etc) and then deliver all that to a printer, return a few days later, > collate all the pages into a publication by walking around a table > sticking > in one page at a time, staple, fold, label, stamp, and sort by ZIP code > all > the copies (something like 400 at one time), and then deliver them to the > central PO and wait around to get processed and mailed. They did it every > month--12 times a year. > > Today we have computer programs that make fancy layouts > > , insert color pictures downloaded within minutes of being taken, add text > blocks and side bars, colored text and blotches here and there, emailed > text in damned near real time that can be cut and pasted to one's heart's > content, all in just several hours' time. Yet we can't seem to get the > issues out. One further advantage to an electronic TEXAS CAVER is that a > crew of editors and assistants can be working on several issues at one > time. If all works even marginally as planned, cavers will submit trip > reports, articles, photos, and other items of interest to the editors > directly and in near real time by email. An editor can plug along all > month > long, 5 or 10 or 20 minutes at a time, laying out or adding to his issue > as > his time permits. Assistant editors can be laying out their assigned pages > as well--say News & Notes, Trip Reports, Photo Gallery, or > whatever--independently of whatever the editor is doing. Then all can be > combined on publication day and the damned thing uploaded to the TSA > website ready to be downloaded by the anxious cavers. The cycle is > complete. > > All in all we get a whole lot better publication for a whole lot less > effort and money--and hopefully a doggone way ahead of time. And we will > reach a whole lot more Texas cavers in the doing of it. I can't find a > stinking thing that's wrong with that. If anybody can I welcome them to > present a better way of doing it--remembering that the present method > hasn't and still won't work. > > I suggest a couple of test issues to see how the system works, remembering > that we won't yet have the attention of the entire herd of Texas > cavers--it'll take a while to spread the word. Grotto officers take note > and poke up your people to get their copies printed. > > > I remain, > --Ediger > > > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list > Texascavers@texascavers.com > http://texascavers.com/mailman/listinfo/texascavers_texascavers.com > > _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list Texascavers@texascavers.com http://texascavers.com/mailman/listinfo/texascavers_texascavers.com
