Summer 2009 'Old Blue'

[kerrensimmonds]

John.. I have come across a suggestion which you might put to the CHA Board?
This is that all Old Blues on the e mail Newsletter mailing list might be invited to say whether or not they wish to receive the Old Blue by pdf as e mail attachment. If not, then they would be sent hard copy provided they paid the cost of the postage. Clearly there are factors to be considered :
a) the administration (and maintenance) of who does and who does not want to receive by pdf, and the collection and recording of the postage payments
b) the per copy cost of the numbers of printed copies could plummet as a result - I am aware that the greater number of printed copies which are produced, the lower the per copy cost
c) those Old Blues who are not on e mail should not be excluded. They should clearly get a hard copy - but is it fair to ask them to pay for postage?

Anyway, just a thought for your consideration! And let's hope that whatever is agreed can be kept within the parameters of the monies left behind by the CH Club for this purpose.

Kerren

[Fjgrogan]

A stray thought on Kerren's suggestion - those who are not accessible on the internet tend to be the more elderly and therefore less affluent OBs. Is it fair that they should be financially penalised for not using a computer? And what about the fact that many OGs originally paid upfront a life membership fee which was supposed to cover all this sort of thing for life, not just until the rules were changed! Just a thought! Personally I would have no objection to receiving mine in PDF form, if only I could be sure that my limited proficiency with a computer would not result sooner or later in the whole lot getting lost! I suppose I could play safe by printing it out, which would be at my own expense rather than the Club's, but it would do little to help with the problems of global warming!

[kerrensimmonds]

As I suggested.... the CHA Board might need to consider whether or not it might be right to e.g. charge postage for the OId Blue for those members (whether male from the old CH Club or female from the old CH Old Girls Association) who cannot (because they have no computer/email or internet access) receive the magazine electronically.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I am afraid that I nearly blew a fuse, on reading the suggestion that I pay postage for my "Old Blue"
Yes, I can afford to do so --- but I would rather be paying a subscription to a Club, as we used to, or to the Association.

I fear that this is an extension of the current Ethos of the School, which has been regretted on other "Topics" by many of the "Older" OBs of which I am proud to be one.

The School is NOT poor, nor do I believe is the Association, and if it is pleading poverty, what happened to the Club Funds ?
If they have disappeared, then let us subscribe --- with free membership for say, five years after Leaving.

GRRRRR and again GRRRRR !

[jhopgood]

I have been delinquent in this respect as reading through the closing minutes etc of the CH Club, I did say that once the magazine was set up, we would look at asking people who wanted a paper copy and who, an electronic version.
There is continual indigestion and navel gazing about the Blue/Old Blue cost/benefit relationship and I have it on my agenda to revisit the area.
One of the promises made by the CH Club to it's members was that the magazine would be provided free of charge. However, the income from the remnant CH Club funds is subject to the vagaries of market conditions and we don't want to be a burden on the Foundation.
Looking at the CHA website, where the pdf's are available, they have been split into 3 to make them manageable downloads, since the total is about 10.7MB. Many servers, including the CH server, bounce large e-mail attachments, so this could be a problem.
It is possible that we will look at a combination of 3 solutions, one, the printed magazine, which is the most costly, the second, the PDF's available for download from the CHA web site, and the third, a magazine that can be opened on the website like a book. I believe there is software for this since I have received an electronic leaflet from a Dixon-like store, where the pages can be turned etc.
If the electronic versions were very popular, the number wanting the printed version would decrease making the unit cost uneconomic, but this study is still some way away.
Part of the problem is that despite being asked about preferences, only a very small percentage of Old Blues reply, and those who do, tend to be the older generation. Nevertheless, we will do what we can to keep the majority of Old Blues happy and stay within budget.

[Richard Ruck]

The School is NOT poor, nor do I believe is the Association, and if it is pleading poverty, what happened to the Club Funds ?

The School (or Foundation) is most certainly not "poor" in terms of its assets, BUT..... there was, certainly a year or two ago, an income shortfall of some £1.5 million per annum. I do not suppose that this has has got much better recently, but others will be better placed to comment.

As for the Club Funds, as far as I am aware these have been 'ring-fenced' in order to fund the continued production of The Old Blue.

However, as John points out, it is the income from these funds which pays for the magazine, and this income is unavoidably subject to market fluctuations.

Having been closely involved in the organisation of Old Blues Day a couple of years ago, I can assure you that the CHA is not rolling in cash, and has to ensure that its activities, as far as humanly possible, are self-funding.

[mvgrogan]

It is possible that we will look at a combination of 3 solutions, one, the printed magazine, which is the most costly, the second, the PDF's available for download from the CHA web site, and the third, a magazine that can be opened on the website like a book. I believe there is software for this since I have received an electronic leaflet from a Dixon-like store, where the pages can be turned etc.

The Olympic Magazine can be read online in this manner.....

http://view.digipage.net/?userpath=0000 ... /00045695/

..and my hard copy of the Old Blue arrived today - thank you.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I am afraid that I am unconvinced.
The idea of the Old Blue being produced electronically, fills me with horror.

Yes, I am an "Ancient Old Blue"--- and I realise that Organisations move with the times --- however, more and more of we "Stick-in the-muds" find the on-going drive for efficiency, in all aspects of our lives, irritating.

Yes, we are behind the times and we can be the subject of mockery, but we have one "Weapon" which remains to us ----
don't join in !

Should it be decided that the Old Blue change it's form of publication, then I for one, will not take it any more, and I will gain the information I need from the CHA office by letter, and expect a reply in the same form.

Neill P. Evans BaB 35 --- 1940-1946

[jhopgood]

I am afraid that I am unconvinced.
The idea of the Old Blue being produced electronically, fills me with horror.

Yes, I am an "Ancient Old Blue"--- and I realise that Organisations move with the times --- however, more and more of we "Stick-in the-muds" find the on-going drive for efficiency, in all aspects of our lives, irritating.

Yes, we are behind the times and we can be the subject of mockery, but we have one "Weapon" which remains to us ----
don't join in !

Should it be decided that the Old Blue change it's form of publication, then I for one, will not take it any more, and I will gain the information I need from the CHA office by letter, and expect a reply in the same form.

Neill P. Evans BaB 35 --- 1940-1946

At the moment there is no move to change, but I did write "Combination", which I believe encompasses all three.

[midget]

Names to faces! Page 8-Eastern Canadian OBs.
Front row, 4th from top Audrey Fraser (nee Wright) 3s, 1945-1949
Just above Audrey is Valerie Burns ?4s, and younger than Audrey and I.
Below Audrey Rosemary Potts 6s and a couple of years older- her sister Olwen was in the same year as us.

[matthew]

Looking at the CHA website, where the pdf's are available, they have been split into 3 to make them manageable downloads, since the total is about 10.7MB. Many servers, including the CH server, bounce large e-mail attachments, so this could be a problem.

The PDFs can be made smaller, at the expense of some image quality. That may be a good trade-off for people reading on a computer screen.

As a quick test, I used Acrobat's Optimize feature on the PDF of pages 1 to 21. The original file was 4.5MB, and I was able to shrink it to between 800kB and 1.2MB. The images are a little ropey at the smallest size, but the text is unaffected.

Even 1MB or so is a little large to send by email unannounced. Some people are still on dialup or slow mobile connections. It's better to send out a link.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Personal Message for J. Hopgood --- although the Blessed Anne believes I should make it public. -----

Anne says that my recent remarks, regarding the Old Blue, might be regarded as a criticsm of it, as a Publication.

THIS IS NOT SO !!!

I believe it is well produced and I look forward to receiving it and reading it from cover to cover. I would hesitate to make any suggestions as to the content, the articles, or the photos.

My only "Gripe" has been the suggestion that I might receive it "Electronically", which would make it difficult to sit down accompianied by a Single Malt and a warm fire, to indulge in re-reading the best bits.
(My Computer is in my Study --- which is a Tip !)

JH. I apologise, if I have given any impression that I do not appreciate your important Production and I will endeavour, in future to moderate my Moans.

SO THERE !

[jhopgood]

Personal Message for J. Hopgood --- although the Blessed Anne believes I should make it public. -----

Anne says that my recent remarks, regarding the Old Blue, might be regarded as a criticism of it, as a Publication.

THIS IS NOT SO !!!

I believe it is well produced and I look forward to receiving it and reading it from cover to cover. I would hesitate to make any suggestions as to the content, the articles, or the photos.

My only "Gripe" has been the suggestion that I might receive it "Electronically", which would make it difficult to sit down accompanied by a Single Malt and a warm fire, to indulge in re-reading the best bits.
(My Computer is in my Study --- which is a Tip !)



JH. I apologise, if I have given any impression that I do not appreciate your important Production and I will endeavour, in future to moderate my Moans.

SO THERE !

Neill

We met at tea on OBD, (you were sitting next to a lovely lady whom I assume was TBA).
There is absolutely no intention, at least by me, to stop producing the printed version, as long as there are funds available. I know that readers browse printed papers in many different places and circumstances, and long may it continue.
(I was always amused by the prediction that the advent of the computer and ability to read things on a screen, would reduce the amount of paper used, when in fact the reverse has happened).
I also have difficulty with the concept of electronic books and book readers, although on many occasions I have carried around documents in electronic format and then just displayed them on a screen when needed. I do read blogs, articles and short stories at screen level, but they are normally things I am unlikely to read again.
I have to accept that other methods of reading magazines exist and we should cater for them, especially if we can reduce the overall cost of the magazine.
All I am doing is flagging that we are aware of the technology available and will use where appropriate.

My reply was based on the feeling that you thought I was going to drop the printed version, which is not the case.

As to your moans, please continue. There is nothing worse than receiving no negative feedback, as then you have no idea where improvements can be made. And believe me, your comments are not nearly as sharp as some I receive.

BTW, the magazine would not appear if it weren't for all the contributors and the help of Jo, Matthew and Margaret.

[Foureyes]

Richard Ruck said:

"The School is NOT poor, nor do I believe is the Association, and if it is pleading poverty, what happened to the Club Funds ?"

I was involved with the Club Committee at the time of the Club's demise. At that time, the Club had some 4,900 members who happily paid £15 a year. For that money the Club employed Wendy, paid for the production and postage of The Blue, ran itself without any cost to the School, funded at least one presentee, had an annual operating profit - and had £320,000 in the bank. It was democratically run, had a committee elected by members, and held an annual general meeting. Somebody, somewhere deemed this to be unsatisfactory, disbanded the Club and formed the CHA which has no funds of its own, no subscriptions, and is a significant charge on the Foundation. The CHA is run by a Board which nominates and elects its own members, and is in no way answerable to the CHA members as a whole. About the only concession made to Old Blues at the time of the demise of the Club was that the £320K would be ring-fenced and the income used to produce The Old Blue. That was a firm promise, made in writing.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

WOW !!!