Re: Amano and TAG

[Neil Frank <nfrank@mindspring.com>]

David,

Thanks for taking the bull by the horns and presented a good first draft
for the next steps regarding the AGA journal including a proposal to Amano.
I just got back, and did not see any discussion. [Let me know if I am still
missing some incoming emails.] 
I would like to offer a few changes/amendments to your proposal below and
to invite others to comment on a few issues for which I do not yet have a
definite position but can benefit from a little discussion.

AGA    will upgrade TAG to having
>at least some color pages, with an issue every 3    months religiously 
>Every 3 months Amano    will send AGA a number of articles, with pictures
>(the number to be determined    with Amano). 

Our proposed number of color pages should match the number of pages and
photos we request from Amano and must be at a cost that we can afford. It
makes sense for the publication committee described below to figure this
out, but I think it needs to be part of our proposal. Do we have $$ numbers
for our current number of copies?  With the right person in charge of
production, I bet we can do TAG at a lower per issue price than what Mary
or even I was doing. [I have a particular person in mind and believe he
will be happy to do it]  If we are willing to up our dues by $5 per year,
then we can even offer extra color pages per issue. I think a goal should
be 4-6 TAG pages per issue (current size) with the expectation that
membership will go up and our price per issue will go down.
  
  AGA    will have the
>articles professionally translated into English and it will be    included
>in each issue of TAG as a special “News from Japan” or
>“Amano Corner”    section   In    exchange for the articles
>every issue AGA will give Amano 2 pages of    advertising for Aqua Design
>Amano and its products and services.  

Good.
Unless we specify b/w pages, however, this will cost us big printing
dollars. So, we need to be clear on the # and type of pages and what we can
afford.

 AGA    will offer Amano products for
>sale – starting with the smaller ones that can    be handled and
>shipped easily like planting tool kits, additives, CO2 bubble    counters
>and the like. We need to work out the fine details of what the goods   
>would cost AGA landed, and what we could sell them for.   

I like this. Besides providing a service to the members, it can help offset
printing costs.

  We    should enlist the
>services of a new editor, and we should pay the editor. The    editor will
>be the head of the Publications committee   Consider paying a small   
>amount for articles ($25 or $50     -- paying ridiculous amounts was part
>of the downfall of PAM) we could    have a contest, with cash prizes, for
>the best article and the best photo.  

I dont think that paying nominal amounts is going to change the quality of
the editor or the number of people submitting articles. Also, "Editor" can
mean multiple jobs, ideally involving multiple people. The jobs include
*getting/selecting  articles (including ones with good illustratations) 
  - what Dave calls "cowboy"
*layout - AGA has some helpers here, but can probably do better
*copy and technical editing
*production/printing
*Managing editor to oversee the entire process

One of the other downfalls of PAM was one person doing too many jobs. It
also burned me out after a number of years. 


Runner up prizes could be free
>attendance for the next convention, free    membership etc.


I like the above prizes, but would rather award them to people on the basis
of pages/photos printed or other contributions. Maybe a point system can be
develped - like green stamps. The editorial staff would also get points.

>  Try    and
>get some folks to write regular columns for TAG – say, for example, a
>   Beginner’s Column (perhaps written by Mike Hellweg, Tom Barr, ???)
>  Solicit advertising –    perhaps have a subcommittee of the
>publications committee that deals with    soliciting advertising, etc.  


All good ideas.  


>Consider the idea of    having a plant sale arrangement (put together
>orders from FAN once a quarter    or so), which was talked about a few
>years ago. Only available to AGA members    through TAG. 

This should definitely be pursued.

 Neil
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