Bow of the Month change

[osage outlaw]

Hard copy $35 for a 1 year subscription
E-mag $25 for a 1 year subscription

That is a small price to pay for such a great source of information and access to all the experienced bowyers that are on this forum.   

[---GUTSHOT--->]

I pay to play. Never won but I feel that if you want to have your bow voted on and published in the magazine if you win then absolutely you need to be a membership holder of the PA magazine or the E-Mag. That's just my 2 cents worth.

[Emennis]

I pay to not play, and just look at pretty bows and absorb as much information as possible. As a new person to the archery world I found it beneficial to subscribe. Though there seems a lot more unfortunate drama than I expected, which I didn't notice till after I subscribed. Can't we all just get along while looking at, and making, pretty and cool things. 

[Stringman]

Believe it or not, this is still one of the least drama filled sites on the net. But occasionally feathers get ruffled. Stick around, Tom, it will pass.

[Marc St Louis]

At one time it was discussed that non subscribers be allowed to enter their bow but not have it printed in the mag if they won, didn't seem practical and that idea was canned. 

I know that some people have used their winning BOM as a selling point when they want to sell that bow

[PEARL DRUMS]

Emennis, not sure this is drama? I think its more about making sure all parties involved are happy. That includes the magazine, forum users, subscribers and non-subscribers alike. I clearly remember BOM being handled both ways. That's why I thought it a good idea to at least discuss it. 

Marc, no doubt it has been used as a selling point for some folks. Be it the winning bow or just the fact a person won BOM.

[bjrogg]

BOM is just one good reason to subscribe. There are many others. As far as I'm concerned this forum is PA greatest asset and they share it with us for free. Of course we do make this forum what it's is with its content. It's what do they call that a "symbolic relationship". PA Magazine also has some really good authors. I very much enjoy reading Ryan, Marc, Scott, Billy, Patrick and others. I am trying to help this magazine any way I can. I even wrote some articles myself and I believe many others on this site have their own stories to tell.
    I got on this bus a bit later than a lot of you riders. I'm not always sure the bus is going the right direction but I sure do like the passengers. I really hope PA can keep this bus going and we can enjoy our riders and pick up some more. I understand there are some problems under the hood but so far I don't think it's anything that can't be fixed.
Bjrogg

[PEARL DRUMS]

That's a perfect analogy, BJ.

[Emennis]

I was being more general, seemed at the beginning of this topic, as well as when I look at letter to the editor in the magazine, and the emails I got repeatedly this weekend about the BOM, were charged with emotions.
I like the magazine and the forum and even though I'm also late to get on the "bus" I too hope it will continue for a long while.

[bjrogg]

Thanks Pearl, I truly understand your concerns.
Emennis, I'm really glad you got on board.
Bjrogg

[Stickhead]

Okay, here's my 2 cents.

Personally, the only way I'm likely to get a BOM hat is to fly to Germany and go to one of Simson's yard sales.  But that doesn't stop me from sharing my bows and occasionally entering.  I love to get good feedback and suggestions from experts.

To my way of thinking, this site is the best knowledge-sharing tool ever available to this community.  We can all access a plethora of information and feedback free of charge.  Without PA magazine, who must profit to survive, it goes away.  This is why I'm willing to donate my time to moderate the BOM contest -- to do what I can to help keep it alive. 

I think that BOM is a great perk for those who help keep things going financially by paying for a subscription.  If it helps to bring in a few more subscribers, great.  And hey, we're talking about a whopping 6 cents a day, for Pete's sake.

If new subscribers don't like the magazine, they can always discontinue.  But I suspect that most will become hooked like  me, and look forward to every issue.

...Tom

[gfugal]

Didn't realize i would ruffle so many feathers. Like was said, i find that i get most of the benefit from the forums and I'm more than happy with how lucky we have it to be able to participate for free, heck even just being able to read. I was simply just trying to get a clarification, while also putting in my two cents on magazines in general. I've noticed BOM declining as well and was wondering if the magazine subscription wasn't the thing holding it back, i doubt its the fault of anyone supervising it as the issue is people submitting the bow. I get the play to pay principle. And if a subscription is required to enter i might just subscribe down the road for that reason alone. But i also think its wise, like pearl said, to have an open mind. Times are changing, the newspaper is practically going extinct, and i can see magazines following soon after as the younger generations get older. I did not know about the e-mag, so that sounds like a step in the right direction. I'm not offended, but please don't take offense here either.

[Calendargirl]

We do require the subscription to enter BOM.  But we do have the eMag that is less expensive option.  We run "flash sales" or specials on the eMag a couple of time a year.  The most recent was just after Father's day.  Well it was during Father's day on Facebook but I didn't send a message to all the message board members so I did a special for the message boards.
 
I have thought about doing a BOM special on the eMag for the next entry.  I don't want to overburden people with messages in their inbox we don't send out a ton of "buy this or that" here on the message boards and PA has given the moderators pretty much free reign to handle things and not control too much. 

We don't do a lot of flashy ads and try not to barrage the members.  We have a sponsor for the arrows section and welcome more sponsors for the other sections but we are careful to not have an ad that interrupts your participation like other sites.

 We welcome creative suggestions and solutions.  If you all think a 3 day sale on the eMag for those that want to participate, enter, or even share with friends would be beneficial then I will ask Stickhead when the right time would be for the next set of entries and we can do one.  I need the feed back on that though and we don't want to flood people with promotions.  So feel free to let Stickhead or me know if it is worth it and if it will help those that can't afford a print subscription to participate. 
We do appreciate our members and of course our moderators. 

[gfugal]

Since i don't want to be one to complain without offoring ideas for solutions i thought i would take a stab at it. Although, i'm no business man and i don't know the full technicalities of running this site so i know these need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Metephorically speaking... if the lure isn't getting the bites, then maybe we should employ other bait. Albeit i don't know how successful the magazine is with new subscriptions so it's not my call to say whether it isn't "biting" or not. But regardless, there other options for revenue.

Going along the lines of bow of the month, what if the site hosted a biannual or even quartly auction where members can donate a bow to primitive archer then have them auctioned off the bows? The highest bidded bow could be considered the "winner" and all proceeds from all bows could go to PA as "appreciative payment" for providing such an excellent platform. I mean even if a bow goes for $100 how many years of subscriptions is that? Another idea is possibly including a section on this site for bowyers to sell their bows with a chunck of the proceeds going to PA for being the venue and advertisement. Obviously you would have to keep the forums clean of personal advertisement, but i still think it could be an option. With all the trading and gift giving that already goes on i'm more than sure a few would be willing to participate. But then again i'm no expert and i don't know what's been tried in the past, and in no way am i trying to tell anyone how to do things. Just offering ideas since i was the one to bring up this issue in the first place.

[gfugal]

And yes, sales and promotions are wonderful, but don't feel like you have to bend over backwards for the few stubborn heads like me. I also have noticed how "clean" the site is from annoying advertisements and don't find the ones we do have to be interfeering with the experiance. You are all doing great! Just offering feedback is all. Thank you.