Review of the current arrangements
and options for Safety Fast! and the contract with Octane Media
A report of the review has been prepared which sets out the essential
facts and options together with an assessment of those options and
a recommended course of action in the form of a motion for debate
at the next Council meeting. The report is being circulated to each
Centre, Register and Branch in the Club ("CRB") so that
it can be considered and discussed by CRB committees ahead of the
forthcoming Club Council meeting on Saturday 14th October 2006 at
Gaydon in Warwickshire. (24.9.06)
As part of the current Executive Committee's new policy of achieving
a step change in communications and consultation with Club members,
all Club members are encouraged to discuss this important issue
with their CRB committee members and contact the Club Chairman with
any views or concerns they have regarding the present arrangements
for publishing Safety Fast! Views are also sought on the present
publishing deal with Octane Media whereby it provides a service
of producing the monthly Club magazine and supplying it to our members
along with a copy of their commercial magazine MG Enthusiast.
Whilst the report is not available on the Club's website because
of sensitive commercial content, V8 members are invited to discuss
the matter with Al Barnett (V8 Chairman) or Victor Smith (Club Director
and V8 Committee member) - their contacts are available using the
link in the box above.
The key facts are the cost of the new publishing arrangements
with Octane Media is considerably greater than the previous costs
when Safety Fast! was published as an in-house magazine at Club
Office. That increased cost is a major factor in the current adverse
financial performance of the Club reported in the interim statement
issued recently by the Club Treasurer, John Dutton. The contract
with Octane Media was a commitment made by the previous Board without
consultation with the Council. The terms of that agreement provide
an earliest opportunity to terminate in June 2007 for which notice
would have to be issued by the Club in December 2006.
The present Executive Committee of the Club wants to seek members'
views through the CRBs, the representative bodies for Club members,
so they can be included in the decisions taken over the next few
months by the Club regarding Safety Fast! and the Octane Media contract.
Summary of the report now released
Summary of the report of the subcommittee's review of the of
the current arrangements and options for Safety Fast! and the contract
with Octane Media has been released. See the copy in the
next column.
Criticisms of the V8 Online Survey
See the latest comments on the survey
Critical
comments on the V8 Online Survey
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Summary of the report on Safety Fast! and the
current production deal with Octane Media?
The following summary has been prepared by Malcolm Eades to provide
members with a briefing on the subcommittee's 19 page report.
Safety
Fast and MG Enthusiast
A report on Safety Fast! and the commercial link with the
publisher of MG Enthusiast is being tabled for consideration
at the Club's Council meeting. The report has been prepared
by an Executive Committee subcommittee comprising John Dutton
(Hon Treasurer) and Malcolm Eades (Vice Chairman), and reviews
the first twelve months during which members have received
a modified Safety Fast! together with a copy of MG Enthusiast
in place of the traditional "all-in-one" Club magazine.
It considers whether the arrangement has been successful both
from a financial point of view and generally as a solution
to the need for a top quality magazine for Club members. There
is a recommendation, for consideration by Council, that the
Club should renegotiate aspects of the contract. This will
deal with financial imperatives whilst allowing the Club time
to seek the opinions of members as to whether the two magazines
are jointly satisfying their needs.
On the financial front, the arrangement is proving quite a
bit more costly than Safety Fast! used to be, though some
benefit is being received from the deal by which all MGE subscribers
become members of the Club. Sales of MG Enthusiast on news-stands
have not yet met expectations and this also adversely affects
the Club's costs. On the other hand, via the magazine subscription,
the Club is recruiting more overseas members than before,
suggesting that it is more attractive to them than simple
Club membership. The publishers, Octane Media, have been more
successful than anticipated in recruiting advertisers and
the magazine production costs are less than expected. However,
these savings only make up for the loss of news-stand sales.
Some indications of readers' views have been gleaned from
a survey organised by the publishers. Views seem to be fairly
evenly split between the pros and the cons but as this was
an informal survey for the publishers rather than formal market
research for the Club, it is not safe to take this as a valid
indication of the views of the whole readership.
The
report also recommends that Safety Fast! articles of enduring
value should be made available on the Club's website and that
in order to improve and maintain the quantity and quality
of editorial material in the Club's magazine, however published,
an internal Editorial Committee should be established.
Any
member that wishes to contribute views and opinions on these
issues to Council may do so by contacting his or her Centre,
Register or Branch Chairman. See the Club's website for contact
details. |
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