[Ansteorra-announce] New publications policy (announced in the June Black Star)

[Michael Tucker]

Unto the fair populace of Ansteorra
Come greetings from Michael Silverhands, your Kingdom Chronicler:

The following announcement was published in the June Black Star. As a service to
the officers and membership, I am repeating it on these message boards.

---------- begin quote from the Black Star ----------

Last month I gave thanks for the funds being raised through the William Blackfox
Memorial silent auctions. However, we must remember that the long-term problem -
the shortfall between the stipend and what it costs to produce our newsletter -
is not solved. The only lasting solution to it will be continued diligence on
our part. We must make these fundraisers a part of our regular Kingdom tradition.

We must also seek other solutions. At the recent Red Tape meeting, we discussed
in open forum what to do about this shortfall. I also called for suggestions on
the email lists within this Kingdom. Some of you wrote to me with your thoughts,
and you have my thanks. Many ideas were put forth, and all were carefully
considered. In the end, it seems that we must make some changes to the Black
Star rate schedule. Therefore, I am announcing a new publications policy:

Each hosting group is entitled to two free pages of event advertisement in the
Black Star PER YEAR (not per event, as it has been in the past). Events having
multiple official sponsors (multi-group or "regional" events) will not get any
free pages, nor will events sponsored by the kingdom, unless a hosting group
wants to use their free pages to promote the event. (This would make good sense
if this was the only event hosted by that group that year.)

An exception to this policy is the Crown's Round Table (formerly known as Red
Tape), which usually charges no site fee and generates no revenue. This event
may have one page 'pro bono', either the month of or the month before the event,
in order to publish a map and directions to the site. Similar events may be
handled similarly at the discretion of the Kingdom Chronicler.

This policy is effective immediately. Groups that have already used their free
pages this year must pay for any subsequent pages, beginning with the August
2001 issue of the Black Star. The next year begins with the January issue.

Of all the changes considered, this seemed the least radical and the most fair.
It should keep the unpaid pages in any given month to a reasonable number. It
will affect small groups (who might only host one event each year) the least.
The larger groups that sponsor many events will still get a break, but not as
much as they have been getting.

Hopefully this small change will do enough good, together with the silent
auctions, that no other changes in the rate schedule will be necessary for a
while. In the mean time, I encourage you all to continue to find other ways to
fund our kingdom's activities at the level of quality to which we've become
accustomed - not just the Black Star, although obviously that's the part I'm
closest to right now.

---------- end quote from the Black Star ----------

Please write to me, either on- or off-list, if you have any questions concerning
the new policy.

Yours in service,
Michael