What happened to 928 Forum Magazine?
01-03-2008, 02:27 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
What happened to 928 Forum Magazine?
I finally had time to go through some of the magazines that my PO had given me when i purchased my 928. A couple 928 Forum issues are included:
Volume ll Issue l and Volume l Issue 4. These magazines have some great articles in them, Do they still publish this magazine? The magazines were addressed to Mark Williams, anyone know him?
Volume ll Issue l and Volume l Issue 4. These magazines have some great articles in them, Do they still publish this magazine? The magazines were addressed to Mark Williams, anyone know him?
01-03-2008, 04:30 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
Hi All,
I think I can definitely give some insight into 928 Forum Magazine.
It was created by a group of 928 owners here in the Pac NW. At first it was an enthusiastic and large group. The pool of talent seemed sufficient to sustain the project. We had a person who could do layout, a couple folks that knew IT, others that could take pictures, a few that could write. And best of all, the labor was cheap (read: FREE).
From the outset, the idea was to create a paper magazine, not an E-zine. And not some cheapy newsletter, or a black and white mag with a few color pics on the feature article, but a full blown, heavy paper, delivered to your door step color mag. Because of this, the magazine was expensive to produce. It was my hope to carry the costs based on the subscription fees, rather than turn it into a catalogue for herbal supplements, viagra, escort ads, and pop up tent clearing houses with a couple of 928 articles inbetween. In fact, only advertisers that sold 928 products were solicited for the magazine.
We started out decent out of the gate, but never met our mark to keep the mag afloat, although maybe with time we may have. The problem was that we had lots of people subscribe, but not everyone paid. A lot of folks didn't pay. That's a problem because when you publish a mag, you are commited to a certain volume, whether or not you sell each issue. We were at the minimum volume, so it didn't really matter what we did with the magazines since we had paid for them. So, since the cost of the individual magazine per each issue was a sunk cost, I sent out the mags and relied on people paying after the fact. I could have held them and said pay on your subscription request before I send this out, but frankly, I didn't have time to micromanage the subscription list, I was already out the money, and truly thought the people would pay once they got the mag. Some did, a lot didn't, but since the mags were already paid for I kept sending them out and occasionally following up with people asking for payment. When the second Volume (year 2) started, I was still committed, and shipped it out to everyone on the previous year's subscriber list with the hope that they would re-up. Most didn't.
I probably would have hung in there to develop it more, even though it was taking money out of my pocket. I didn't mind supporting it, so many 928 owners are out there developing products and technology that is costing them money, and they do because they love it, because they are enthusiasts. I felt the same way.
But internally the mag staff just withered away. People were going through a lot in their personal lives, and just didn't have the time to commit to the magazine. When the layout person dropped off, that was the end of the line for 928 Forum being produced by volunteers.
I wasn't totally ready to throw in the towel. I found an investor that owned a publishing/printing company, and was interested in helping out, and even Mark Anderson stepped in and graciously offered some assistance that was totally above and beyond, but in the end the investor's demands couldn't be met. (Let me emphasize that Mark was not involved in this aspect of matters at all, and the investor's demands had nothing to do with him).
Obviously I'm very disappointed in how it all turned out. I am very thankful to those who were on the Mag staff that stuck it out to the extent that they did, and to all the folks that contributed. If anyone has any questions at all regarding the Magazine, I invite you to email me directly at
atb928@comcast.net
With regard to posting the magazines here on Rennlist, I've got no issues with that. If there is interest in back issue hardcopies, I think I still have some in storage (except for Issue I Volume 1 of which there are none left). I haven't looked at my copies in a long time, I may just have to bring them out again and re-read them (with all of Nicole's editorial comments ringing in the background )
-Adam Birnbaum
Former Editor
928 Forum Magazine
I think I can definitely give some insight into 928 Forum Magazine.
It was created by a group of 928 owners here in the Pac NW. At first it was an enthusiastic and large group. The pool of talent seemed sufficient to sustain the project. We had a person who could do layout, a couple folks that knew IT, others that could take pictures, a few that could write. And best of all, the labor was cheap (read: FREE).
From the outset, the idea was to create a paper magazine, not an E-zine. And not some cheapy newsletter, or a black and white mag with a few color pics on the feature article, but a full blown, heavy paper, delivered to your door step color mag. Because of this, the magazine was expensive to produce. It was my hope to carry the costs based on the subscription fees, rather than turn it into a catalogue for herbal supplements, viagra, escort ads, and pop up tent clearing houses with a couple of 928 articles inbetween. In fact, only advertisers that sold 928 products were solicited for the magazine.
We started out decent out of the gate, but never met our mark to keep the mag afloat, although maybe with time we may have. The problem was that we had lots of people subscribe, but not everyone paid. A lot of folks didn't pay. That's a problem because when you publish a mag, you are commited to a certain volume, whether or not you sell each issue. We were at the minimum volume, so it didn't really matter what we did with the magazines since we had paid for them. So, since the cost of the individual magazine per each issue was a sunk cost, I sent out the mags and relied on people paying after the fact. I could have held them and said pay on your subscription request before I send this out, but frankly, I didn't have time to micromanage the subscription list, I was already out the money, and truly thought the people would pay once they got the mag. Some did, a lot didn't, but since the mags were already paid for I kept sending them out and occasionally following up with people asking for payment. When the second Volume (year 2) started, I was still committed, and shipped it out to everyone on the previous year's subscriber list with the hope that they would re-up. Most didn't.
I probably would have hung in there to develop it more, even though it was taking money out of my pocket. I didn't mind supporting it, so many 928 owners are out there developing products and technology that is costing them money, and they do because they love it, because they are enthusiasts. I felt the same way.
But internally the mag staff just withered away. People were going through a lot in their personal lives, and just didn't have the time to commit to the magazine. When the layout person dropped off, that was the end of the line for 928 Forum being produced by volunteers.
I wasn't totally ready to throw in the towel. I found an investor that owned a publishing/printing company, and was interested in helping out, and even Mark Anderson stepped in and graciously offered some assistance that was totally above and beyond, but in the end the investor's demands couldn't be met. (Let me emphasize that Mark was not involved in this aspect of matters at all, and the investor's demands had nothing to do with him).
Obviously I'm very disappointed in how it all turned out. I am very thankful to those who were on the Mag staff that stuck it out to the extent that they did, and to all the folks that contributed. If anyone has any questions at all regarding the Magazine, I invite you to email me directly at
atb928@comcast.net
With regard to posting the magazines here on Rennlist, I've got no issues with that. If there is interest in back issue hardcopies, I think I still have some in storage (except for Issue I Volume 1 of which there are none left). I haven't looked at my copies in a long time, I may just have to bring them out again and re-read them (with all of Nicole's editorial comments ringing in the background
)-Adam Birnbaum
Former Editor
928 Forum Magazine
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01-03-2008, 05:59 PM
#13
Drifting
Thread Starter
I too would like to buy the rest of the issues to complete my mini collection.
01-03-2008, 07:22 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
It's never been about the money, so I wouldn't be selling them, except maybe charging for actual postage. I honestly don't think there are too many leftovers, I really tried to get the copies out in the public to generate interest so even if I charged for the leftovers I don't think it would amount to much. Then again, maybe we could put a minimal charge and apply it toward a 928 worthy project.
Anyway, I think the mag started in '02? Needless to say, as production went on it took longer and longer to put an issue together. We were like gear set with no lube slowly grinding to a halt through the entire time we were in production.
It is hard to believe that what was considered break-through material only 4-5 years ago can be taken for granted today. One of our cover features involved the total re-doing of an S4 interior in leather. No big deal today, but back then it was huge. Definitely going down memory lane here.
Anyway, I think the mag started in '02? Needless to say, as production went on it took longer and longer to put an issue together. We were like gear set with no lube slowly grinding to a halt through the entire time we were in production.
It is hard to believe that what was considered break-through material only 4-5 years ago can be taken for granted today. One of our cover features involved the total re-doing of an S4 interior in leather. No big deal today, but back then it was huge. Definitely going down memory lane here.