John and Allan produced a great magazine. I'm sure there will be many more to follow. The only limitation on the number of pages should be the availability of quality content. If many articles are submitted, many should be published.

Regarding ad rates, I agree that they are low. When I first took office as Treasurer I did a study of our revenue from advertising. The ad rates per page barely cover our cost per page. At the same time, the number of ads per issue (and consequently the revenue per issue) was declining. There were also complaints regarding the quality of some of the ads and pictures/photos from advertisers. The Board decided to leave the rates as is until the quality problems could be resolved.

John and Allan bring a great knowledge and experience to the job. They understand the technology and are able to use it to publish a high quality magazine. Advertising rates will be increased in the future and I predict that the number of ads will also increase. Members will want to advertise in our high quality publication, that reaches their targeted audience. Casinos and others who profit from our membership will also be solicited for ads.

I have not yet received the invoice for this issue. While the bigger magazine costs more to produce, our editors, through technology, were able to reduce certain costs of production. In the past we have had many issues over 100 pages with at least 2 issues of 112 pages, so this issue is not that much bigger than some others.

I firmly believe that in the future, we can publish a magazine of 128+++ pages with increased ad revenue at less net cost to the club. My biggest concern is that our volunteer editors, John and Allan will not have enough free time to spend on the magazine. We all have to understand that it is a tremendous undertaking to publish our magazine. Past editors, Archie and Kregg can certainly attest to that.

Regarding postage costs, as I understand the rates, we can send any weight magazine for the Priority Mail cost of $3.20. This is covered by the additional payment of $12.00 per year by those who opt for 1st class mailings. There may be additional costs for mailing the other magazines due to weight. We are investigating alternatives that can save on mailing costs. Some of these involve technological changes to our membership database.

I feel strongly that we need to keep improving our magazine by increasing content from all collecting interest groups, striving for better quality, increasing ads and ad revenue and controlling costs by utilizing technology and alternative mailing solutions.

Nate Pincus