January 2000 - American Bonanza Society

President'sCommentsTILDEN D. RICHARDSWith the dawning of a new year,the lime is right for change.1t's been quite a few yearssince the ABS Magazine was the subjectof a cosmetic revamp, and many membershave noted their desire for an updateto the "look of the book." Thi s issuedebuts our response to that input.For starters, we focused on the cover,size and three-hole punch. Additionalchanges will be introduced to the interiorof the magazi ne in future issues.About the coverAlmost uni versally, the publication isreferred to as the ABS Magazil/e-obviouslyless of a mouthful than the AmericanBonanza Society Magazine. So itwas a natural progression to make thename the one that everyone uses. Simplechange.Al so, although we always ha ve beenand always will be the Alllerican BonanzaSociety, we are in fact an internationalorganiza tion. There's been no di-rect indication that the name bothers ourinternational members, but staff broughtan interesting phenomenon to my attention:U.S. members typically referto "our"magazine, while intemational members farmore often say "your" magazine.Maybe we read more into that than isintended. But if changing to the abbreviationin the magazine title helps evenone international member fee l more ownershipin the Society. it's worth it.We hope you agree that the overallappearance is improved with the changein masthead. As you can see, the colorscheme of the letters is no longer the standardred, white and blue used since May1994. In fact, the color of the letters willnow complement the colors of the featuredpicture.About the sizeThis change may be transparent tomost of you, since the size of the magazinehas been reduced only slightly. Thiswas purely an economic decision, pertainingto the fact that the ABS Magazinepreviously has been over-sized comparedto most comparable publicationsand so used nonstandard-size paper.By trimming a mere quarter inch fromthe height and three-eighth s inch inwidth, we will experience a saving ofseveral thousand dollars each year. Themain source of the savings is the abilityto use paper the pri nter buys in muchlarger quantities for other publications.Thi s is a hi gh-q uality publicationfrom a production perspecti ve, with anannual cost of approximately half a milliondollars. So any economies here freefunds for other Society programs andactivities.About the three holesThe elimination of the three holes coincideswith the reduction in paper size.The fact is though , that even in themagazine's larger [annat, the holes createdchallenges in layout--especially forarticles, pictorials and advertisementsthat spread across two pages.Something we did not want was forthe size reduction to allow less space forarticles or force us to use smaller typesize. 1 don't know about you, but I don 'tlike having to squint when J read. Leavingthe holes would have necessitated oneor the other of those unattrac tive options.Now, before you jump to the conclusionthat we've made it impossible tosave back issues in three-ring binders, weoffer a simple solution: ABS now hasbinders available with easy-to-insertwires that you place in the center of themagazine and pop into the binder. Thebinders are much sturdier and morestable, making them less likely to fa llover than the plastic ones now do. Seethe Company Store ad on page 6048GGto order your new binders.About the contentThese cosmetic changes have in noway distracted us from our primary focuson the content. We defi nitely believein "substance over fonn /' and will continueto strive to offer articles of value toyou. But we're also aware of the importanceof making the magazine attractiveand a source of pride to you as members.[ encourage you to submit articles ofinterest to your fellow members, and tosuggest topics and writers for our followup.Each of us is an important source ofideas and information to be shared. AfteraU, this is ollr magaz ine.SAVE YOUR BACK ISSUESOF THE ABS MAGAZINEIn sturdy, attracti\:e binders inburgundy or navy. $9.00 throughthe Company Store, page 60~8CC.ABS January 2000Page 6031