[DeTomaso] NPC - Mike Drew

[Bill Lewis]

Way back in Jr. High school, a teacher asked our class a question sorta like: was there anything wrong with Readers Digest magazine, and I replied, it has too many articles about people in it.  Thus, started my journey in life of making dumb-a$$ statements.  She quickly told us that No, that was why it was so popular.  And, that is why "people-oriented" magazines and TV shows, and Facebook are so popular:  people want to read about people.  So, I enjoy Profiles - it does a killer job for such a small audience, with not much amunition.  Newsletter for tech/mecho article; Profiles about the person behind the machine.  I think there should be a person profiled in each issue, other than the one profiled with their "finished" car.  Hey, I've been dying to ask (oh man, it's not politically correct - never mind).  It's a "man bites dog" thing!     ----Bill


> From: MikeLDrew at aol.com
> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:34:54 -0400
> To: pantdino at aol.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC - Mike Drew
> 
> 
> In a message dated 9/30/12 11 18 32, pantdino at aol.com writes:
> 
> 
> > Maybe there just isn't enough to report in the Pantera world to require 
> > 12 monthly and 4 quarterly publications.
> > Mike, what do you think of 2 Profiles per year rather than 4?
> > 
> 
> >>>An interesting question.
> 
> I think there is MORE than enough to fill all our publications.   The 
> problem is finding people to take the time to actually do it.
> 
> The job of the editors is supposed to be just that:   to edit.   That is, 
> to take inputs from *other* people, clean them up and package them nicely and 
> then present them in an enjoyable format.   But that isn't how it's been 
> working out.
> 
> Jack, for instance, does an ENORMOUS amount of work, arguably far more than 
> he should have to, to put a newsletter out every month.   If you go back 
> through the last few years, and subtract out everything he has contributed to 
> the newsletter himself, you'll find there's barely enough material left to 
> fill a single newsletter, much less dozens.   That just isn't right.
> 
> Profiles is supposed to be about events reporting, i.e. features, as well 
> as in-depth reports on individual cars (restoration stories, mostly).   Lots 
> of events get reported on (particularly those in Europe--those guys have an 
> admirable willingness to share), but many others come and go with no 
> mention, other than a squeak on the forum afterwards.
> 
> I think the internet has helped us as Pantera owners immeasurably, but it's 
> also had a negative effect.   I think people in the past were more willing 
> to take the time to share information the old-fashioned way, whereas now 
> people will throw something on their blog or post a bunch of photos on their 
> Photobucket site, and that's it.   On the one hand you get instant 
> gratification, but you lose a lot too.
> 
> I actually had three issues of Profiles under construction in 
> parallel--each one held up waiting for a specific contribution (or three) which were 
> endlessly promised and never delivered.   Finally the POCA Board decided the 
> smart move was to combine all the information into a single, super-issue, which 
> will be a POCA Annual instead of a quarterly.   I should have that finished 
> in the next few weeks.   It will be huge--well over 100 pages, by the looks 
> of it.
> 
> I do feel compelled to do some travelling while I still can (I'm losing my 
> free airline benefits at the end of November), so tomorrow I'm flying to 
> Modena to meet with the De Tomaso family and get the scoop on the current state 
> of affairs out there--I'll just be there for two days, then right back in 
> the editor saddle....
> 
> Mike
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