Hi
To follow on from the recent CoM meeting, I suggest that the Desmo production meeting should be the 17th January, 2009 - my diary is begining to fill, and the 10th is out already! This meeting will be only to discuss Desmo production / costs etc. Please can all relevant CoM members let me know if they are planning to attend? (I will also send this message by email.)
In the meantime, I will draft out the schedule for Desmo production 2009 which should be beneficial to those who have any specific dates ie rallies, shows, AGM, etc.
ciao,
Jilly
17th is fine for me. Where’s the proposed venue?
Proposed venue is my place as I only envisage 4 or 5 people attending the Desmo production meeting. Laura and Bob H have confirmed, so, with you also attending, we have the key people already 
- is this a ‘first’??? 
Season’s greetings to all! Hope you all had a really good Christmas, and looking forward to the New Year.
Whilst I have a few ‘quiet’ moments, I thought I’d outline a few points for you to think about re Desmo production - and if anyone is thinking of coming along, please can you let me know asap? Thank you
The figures that I have for A4 Desmo - somewhere! - are from much earlier this year. Basically, it would be an extra £500+ for the set-up fee (change of size) then much would depend on the number of pages. Even if it was the same content over the A4 (i.e. less pages) it’s extra, plus the postage would also be higher - regardless of weight as the postage now goes by size. Paper has also gone up during the year, so I will ask for further quotes.
Clear wrap - are we interested in using this? If it’s environmentally friendly, I say ‘yes’.
Advertising needs to be discussed before going to A4, as we need to establish the rates for the A4 size - or do we use the same artwork and costs for A5??? We can’t suddenly drop the advertisers into a scenario where they will have to pay more without advising them first. Really, it’s all stuff that I wanted discussed months / years ago …
If we are to attract more advertisers to an A4 mag, I would suggest that we look at the content of Desmo. Only two CoM members currently contribute to the mag - check out other club mags and see how many Committee members contribute - the secretary, Chairman, membership and branches for a start! We are lucky enough to have professional journalists and photographers who contribute and help pad out the mag. This is NOT at the expense to the club, either financially or from contributions from members - there’s very few members who actually contribute. (Incidentally, most of those who do contribute are very articulate, there’s only a few who need their articles correcting / re-writing.) There’s very few branch reports - check out Gambalunga for their branch reports etc! We need technical contributions, especially with hints and tips for the ‘older’ bikes.
Again, looking at other club mags that have gone to A4, when they have had few articles submitted, the white space is quite noticable - do we want that? To my way of thinking, that’s a waste of money. However, magazines are not made up of 1 page, but blocks of 8 so we will need to be sure of filling the pages.
I really want Desmo to got to A4, but everyone needs to be aware of the costs and pitfalls …
Your thoughts, please …
“Again, looking at other club mags that have gone to A4, when they have had few articles submitted, the white space is quite noticable - do we want that? To my way of thinking, that’s a waste of money. However, magazines are not made up of 1 page, but blocks of 8 so we will need to be sure of filling the pages.”
To me, that’s the main thing. Maybe going to A4 is something to be done when the current format is bursting past its confines. I’ve always associated the current format with club mags (I get BMW and VMCC, for example) to be honest. Is A4 easier to work with?
Bob
Thanks for your reply, Bob. A4 would mean that upgrading my current set-up on the pc … it’s not cheap either (just under 1k for the package)
A5 is much easier, and I can work on that quite easily on other pcs.
I have just emailed all CoM / relevant people re the proposed schedule for Desmo in 2009. I would be grateful if everyone could take a few moments to check the dates etc as I want to confirm the dates with the printers at the end of this week.
ciao,
Jilly
Dates seem fine, I have saved them, I also will try to contribute more but membership takes lots of time and I do do other stuff. If it costs so much more, especially for the software then it needs more consideration as it is not worth the extra expense and as you say Bob it need to be bursting with more articles. I will do a few this week end.
Desmo schedule update - this has now been approved by TPW, so the schedule is now in place. Please remember this when submitting details re events. I have posted the schedule to Ducati UK and Ducati Bologna in the vague hope that any events organised by them will be included in Desmo …
Martyn and Frank - please could you advise me asap the current quantity of Desmos being printed and mailed out so that I can obtain quotes? (I understand that it’s less than the quantity quoted last year.) Thank you
Martyn and Frank - I really need those details asap in order to get quotes by the 17th January
Anyone else attending? I have Laura, Bob and Graham confirmed, and it would be good if Spaggy was also there to discuss ad rates for the website and Desmo. Thanks.
Just to confirm I’ll be there. What time are we kicking off?
11am, should be finished by 1pm (or earlier!)
okay dokay
I haven’t heard from Spaggy, would be good if he was at the meeting too …
Looks like I can do it.
What is the venue please?
Can you email me too in case I miss this. Mega busy with all sorts of stuff at present so I’m missing a bit…
Meeting is at my place, 11am. Will also email you …
Sorry not to be able to make meeting, what was the out come/
farmer.
Laura kindly took notes at the Meeting - basically Desmo will remain A5, ad costs to be increased and deal worked out wih website ads, more ad space in Desmo, and space re-allocated when that happens (ie link to membership page on website, rather than have it in the mag). Mag content was also looked into and generally agreed that there should be more input from CoM about various matters, including club news. Two CoM members have ‘promised’ to send in regular articles …
Didn’t get the quantities from Martyn and Frank, so all quotes were based on 1000 and 1250 copies. We should be having clear wrap mailouts with logo and return address printed on them.
Think that was about it …
Feel free to ask any questions, I’ll try to answer them.
Look forward to seeing the reasons for the Desmo staying A5 size, either at the next CoM meeting or on here.
Colin.
Costs were the main reason! Current membership not as high as it has been so funds are down. However, we should have clear wraps for mailing, this saves some money …