[DeTomaso] Electronic Delivery of newsletters / Profiles

Sat Nov 7 00:32:47 EST 2015

May I suggest, when indexing, the "main areas" should following the numbering system of the ford service book so they become a supplement.  Eventually having a POCA service manual that would detail each component and provide instructions.

Joe/NC  

-----Original Message-----
From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Detrich
Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2015 0:10 AM
To: arkoch at earthlink.net
Cc: DeTomaso Mail List
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Electronic Delivery of newsletters / Profiles

Specs for Tech Arts Cont 3 (last ones)

On Fri, Nov 6, 2015 at 11:06 PM, Jeff Detrich <jjdetrich at gmail.com> wrote:

> Specs for Tech Arts Continued
>
> On Fri, Nov 6, 2015 at 10:59 PM, Jeff Detrich <jjdetrich at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> These are great comments and remember, we're talking about the 
>> Newsletter, not Profiles. An electronic version of the Newsletter was 
>> planned to be included in a new but failed website development 
>> project that your Board of Directors somehow screwed up again this 
>> year. (Another reason they don't want you to know what goes on at 
>> Board meetings! I would suggest that the Board publish the minutes 
>> for every meeting and all other actions taken so members really know 
>> what's going on; but ,hey, you already know my position on the 
>> Board's effectiveness.) The important part of the electronic version 
>> is that the graphics are so much better, pictures and diagrams would be in color, more content could be included, etc. etc.
>>
>> Under the web site specs, *Members would have an option of receiving 
>> a hard copy version, no questions asked, *but the copy would be the 
>> crude black and white version sent out now. Paying extra for it would 
>> be a good option since it's expensive; POCA spends about $25,000 per 
>> year on the Newsletter That's about 50+% of your net dues after chapter rebates.
>>
>> The second reason and more important reason to do it from the website 
>> was Dick's 2nd point; All the institutional knowledge from all the 
>> old copies of the Newsletter could be maintained on-line as well. The 
>> key to this feature is the indexing, not a google search but a true 
>> metadata index of the reason for the article, key words, parts used, 
>> even the effectiveness of the suggested changes. It could also 
>> include user grading of the content. (Like Yelp!) Now that would 
>> truly be a major new source of value to the DeTomaso Community, 
>> something that non-members might find appealing enough to join POCA.
>>
>> It would, however, require that some qualified people would have to 
>> review the articles and index the contents. Once all the key words 
>> were indexed, Members could query the keyword database and it would 
>> return all the qualified articles. Or Members could just browse old 
>> versions. We've actually had the old Newsletters in digital form for 
>> some time now but your Board just can't seem to understand how to 
>> actually build a website and disregards counsel from those that do. 
>> Too bad, I've gone thru the old Newsletters and they are really 
>> interesting. It's one of the most valuable assets that the club has.
>>
>> And we could do the same thing with archiving old versions of 
>> Profiles Magazine. I wouldn't suggest receiving Profiles 
>> electronically but, once again, there is an incredible amount of 
>> historical and useful information that could be made available in the 
>> old versions. Interesting enough, we could also index and archive all 
>> the old Pantera information that Dick has collected over the years. 
>> In fact, the index could even direct your to non-POCA sites like the 
>> Registry and Pantera Place. Even the historical emails from the POCA 
>> email forum rather than the crude google search used currently. Now we add real value to being a member!
>>
>> Since the Board can't seem to get a website going, it was suggested 
>> that we deliver the Newsletter by email. Not as optimal but it still 
>> provides a better copy  and it saves the club a ton of money, money 
>> that could be used to reduce your dues. It's better than nothing and 
>> it gets you the better quality. Once again, you could opt out and get 
>> your beloved hard copies if you wanted to do so.
>>
>> Attached in some following emails (I can only send 1500 mbs at a 
>> time) are some of the proposed pages for the web site regarding the 
>> Tech Articles from the Newsletters. These were working copies of the 
>> specs but they do give you an idea of what could and should be done.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 6, 2015 at 3:11 PM, Dick Koch <arkoch at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Judy, I really don't understand the problem with providing the 
>>> newsletters electronically.
>>>
>>> POCA doesn't need to send anything to anybody.  The publication 
>>> should be made available on the POCA website, with member only 
>>> access if limited access is desired.  If a member wanted to have a 
>>> printed copy, then they could do so.  If a member didn't have access 
>>> to the internet (I find it hard to believe that anyone that has a 
>>> Pantera or an interest in one and is a member doesn't have access to 
>>> the internet) and wanted a hard copy then they would have to pay for 
>>> that delivery service.  Most all organizations, for profit or 
>>> otherwise, are going this route, both to reduce cost and provide more timely service to its customers.
>>>
>>> An archive of all the Newsletters could be maintained, with an index 
>>> by year and topic, with free access granted to those that were 
>>> members at the time of the newsletters, Plus for new members that 
>>> wanted to have access to old newsletters and certain topics, POCA could charge a fee for that access.
>>>
>>> POCA reduces substantially the cost to mail the newsletters, 
>>> provides an additional asset to produce income, drives members to 
>>> the POCA website, provides a way to reduce the membership fees, and 
>>> generates a great sales incentive for members to sign up.
>>>
>>> Dick Koch - Atlanta
>>>
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>>
>>
>