[skypupnut]

The waiting is over mine came in today along with my copy of october FLY RC
now go flying the day is great

[ronnieo]

Mine's in too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Morison]

Originally Posted by Propworn

... One example is our Constitution states the notice of the date of the AGM and usually the agenda are to be given to the members two months prior to the actual AGM.

Dennis, consider yourself in fine company - the last person who made me double check the constitution and by-laws was Kenair!

The by-laws call for the notice of meeting to be provided to all members at least two months in advance ... which is why the December issue carries the first notice for the AGM!

Further, the by-laws state that the agenda is to be made available to any member who requests it at least 14 days prior to the meeting ...

[Guest]

Keith went back and looked. your right there is a small announcement in the December issue of the AGM but it still doesn't change the fact the magazine is delivered 2 to 3 weeks after the start of the month it’s published for. I guess from your way of justifying things that’s acceptable in your mind and we will just have to live with it for the next 4 years. Almost like post dating a cheque. Does Morrison Productions have this cavalier attitude with their other clients in regard to publishing dates? I doubt other clients would be so understanding. So far you've given no concrete explanation why a first of the month deadline cannot be made you've only offered excuses and cute little quips like "I can put any date I want on the cover".

I will ask the question as simple as possible. Why is it not possible to have our bi monthly issue just before the beginning of the month rather than half way into the published month????? In my case maybe 3 still waiting.

Dennis Pratt

[BrianDallas]

So Dennis.......... - if Keith put August 2004 on the mag and mailed it out 2 months early in June same as RCM does, then that would be ok ??

Getting the whole magazine put together, published, and mailed out within a month or 6 weeks of the submission deadline of July 1st is pretty good in my opinion. And bulk mail..........keeps the costs down, but as someone said it is the lowest priority. Often the slowdown is at the destination post office anyway.

[ronnieo]

[/quote]Keith.....

Dennis, consider yourself in fine company - the last person who made me double check the constitution and by-laws was Kenair! [/quote]

whooooooo.............that's not good company...that's an un-invited guest.

[Guest]

Brian think about what you just said. If that were the only reason it were late why not simply move the deadline for submissions back a few weeks then it would be on time. Not to long ago we became the sole client for Morrison Productions we still may be to this day. I would have thought without other commitments more time could have been spent on making sure the magazine would be published in a timelier manner. I never noticed an improvement in delivery times. Again this year at the AGM there was a significant increase in the cost of the magazine to the organization.

Dennis Pratt

[Morison]

Dennis,

As I have said, we are in the process of working to improve the delivery time of the magazine, and with this issue we generally lopped a week off of the delivery times.
Please try to understand that ALL of the magazines are delivered to the post office on the same day, and the spread in delivery dates is completely out of my control. That said, we are trying to tighten up our production schedules.
BUT, with contributors who don't make deadline and advertisers holding off till the last minute it can be tough to push through the production.

As for price increases ... there actually hasn't been an increase in the contract price this year. At the AGM it was reported that the line was increased due to a COLA clause, which isn't true at all. The observed increas has more to do with actual costs for issues bought, my rates didn't move at all, but postage did increase. (In fact, out of my own pocket I add 16 pages an issue as a rule!)

As it stands, I could move the deadlines back, but I would probably still get material when I get it now, and you'd not have the latest information. Problems with missing events and out of date information would be worse than they are now!!

MAAC is certainly not the only client for my company (Morison Communications)

Brian, thanks for trying ...

[BrianDallas]

In my business I do a bulk mailout every 2 months, 99% of it in my own City. There are many of my clients who receive their envelope 5 - 10 days later than others - we're talking a city no more than 10 miles from one end to the other. Bulk mail is inexpensive - for that you get your mail delivered only when there is room/ time after the regular mail. So where were my client letters sitting all this time - on the same floor of the same post office, in the same spot where I delivered them 10 days earlier. On the other hand I got my MAAC Mag yesterday, and I'm a lot further from Winnipeg than many fellows who have yet to receive theirs.

I still believe our MAAC Mag and the timliness of information beats all - check it out, there are June 2004 happenings in the current issue. Check out RCM - the March 2004 Issue feature story is the IMAA Rally of the Giants held as stated by the author " this year June 19-22, 2003" - thats 9 months after the event. Many of the other model mags have the same lead times for articles, and the stories are as stale when they're published.

For me, whether it says July, August, September or no date on the front, how fresh the info inside is what counts.

[Guest]

Keith at one time you had said that MAAC was the only source of income I am happy for you that things have improved, continued growth is a good thing and everyone deserves their piece of the pie. One thing about these late submissions or waiting till the very last minute and your worry that backing up the dead line will cause greater problems. I believe it may cause a few problems initially but after a few issues I think you would find everyone on board. Give an advertiser, zone director, chairperson etc who ever submits on a regular basis a time in the future that the submission dates will be rolled back and encourage them for the sake of continuity to take this time to adjust to the new time frame. Keep reminding them and if they fail to make the submission on the date of implementation their add or article does not get printed. I imagine that a retailer in this competitive market who was left out of the magazine after several issues of reminding them of the new deadline might not let it happen again. A zone director and other column submissions would most likely miss it only once. Make a point in your editorial then stick by your guns. It’s up to you to make it happen. If left to their own devices most certainly the trend is to let everything go till the last moment. You’re the editor, the captain of this ship; you are the only one who has control over this. Not I or MAAC or the advertisers or people who submit articles.

I have noticed an improvement in the content of the magazine over the last few years but none in the delivery time. You claim to be working on improving that, great but as of yet I don’t see any difference. Until I see a noticeable improvement in those delivery times you cannot convince me that I should accept the way things have been and are to this date.

Dennis Pratt