From: William=E.=Newkirk%Pubs%GenAv.Mlb@ns14.cca.CR.rockwell.COM
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: QST, in my opinion...
Date: 14 Aug 1992 06:28:02 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

>Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ...

>habit of expiring, and taking a tree or two with them when they go.

fred - we can grow more trees.  You'd have a more sound critique of the League
and QST if you leave the enviro-wacko stuff out.  Magazines today use thinner 
paper than ever and in general the amateur mags have less pages than they did 
a decade ago.

>happy about something.  If the ARRL gets 1000 negative responses to an
>issue and 200 positive ones, the issue is declared to be "rejected by
>the membership".  Well, in an organization with more than 100,000 members,
>how can a 1% voice be considered "representative"?

it's because it is representative.  same thing with the federal government 
where only 535 people are responsible for making the rules for 250 million.  
(and sometimes as many as 4-5 billion people).  squeaky wheels do get greased.
It's also important to let folks know you think things are "just fine".

>I've never met a section manager or district chief, and don't even know
>who my local representatives are.  In todays age of instant

Usually these gals and guys are "meetable" at major hamfests in your area.  
around here, the folks with official mantles seem to be fairly active and can 
be heard *actually on the air*.

>anyway?  If the ARRL wanted a truly representative vote on what really
>matters to their constituency, then they should spend about $1 per
>member to send out Business-Reply-Mail, postage prepaid, check-the-box
>bingo cards to each of the members soliciting their votes.  Look, I'm
>sorry but in today's age, most people don't have time to call section
>managers, write letters and campaign for change in the old way.
>Checking squares on a bingo card and dropping it into the mail is a
>method which _really_ works, and is more in tune with our times.

what about the trees you'd kill for the bingo cards?  8-) Bet that the past 
efforts to solicit a wide response on a topic show extremely poor returns 
(like everyone complaining now about the digital committee's HF packet 
proposals that were based in part on returns from a survey request made in the
magazine).

>a copy.  QST is a term which is instantly recognizable by all members
>of society, one which conveys instant meaning in an intuitive fashion.
>NOT!  While the ARRL is considering changing their name, why not give
>the magazine a work over too?  How about something like "The Journal
>of the Axxx", whatever Axxx eventually turns out to be?

QST used to say in large type "devoted entirely to Amateur Radio".  This took 
up about 1/2 the cover space.  When the change to 8-1/2 x 11 came about, this 
was reduced to something like a 14 point subhead under the QST logo.  Probably
a good idea since this was the era of "wet ink" and the mags were easily 
smudged in handling.  CQ and 73 both have "Amateur Radio" at the top of their 
covers.  But this is lost in the clutter given how mags are stocked in 
book stores.

Last I checked, QST wasn't available on newsstands.  If anything, I would 
think they could cut some sort of deal with Radio Shack (maybe).  There's one 
parts store in town that will have a couple of copies for sale.  That's 
because they've "always" have had QST in the mags racks, but I don't 
think people go out looking for QST and I doubt that a serious business plan 
would say that QST would be a magazine to stock.  I don't know if you could 
get it into a Wal-Mart or K-mart since they try to stock only what moves.

CQ and 73 are stocked at the book stores and news stands.  With the single 
exception of Bookstop, CQ and 73 will either be behind the video magazines 
(typically Waldenbooks) or on the top shelf next to the Hustlers (B. Dalton) 
in their anti-peek packages and the other "adult" magazines.  Bookstop has 
the communications mags about in the middle of their magazine racks.  Again, 
the magazine racks are visually "noisy" so it's tough to have a design that 
commands attention.

>Well, that's it, my opinion of QST.  Any comments?

How was that?

bill wb9ivr
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc