ANSTHRLD - Gazette (LONG)

Darin K. Herndon Obelisk at utulsa.edu
Fri Feb 26 18:41:10 PST 1999


Greetings to the heralds of Ansteorra!

Considering the Gazette topic from earlier this week, some of you may have
wondered about my silence since I do have electronic capabilities (shocking
personality or some such I'm sure).  My company had me out of state for
training for all of last week and my "Obelisk at utulsa.edu" mail was
inaccessible to me during that time (including Anst. Heralds, Northern
Region, etc.).  Please note that I have returned safely and I have examined
everyones' comments on the February Gazette.  I have excerpted some of
those comments below and have a few answers/comments/questions for those
who are on this list.

It all started with Manfred (well not really, it actually started with
Modar but Manfred voiced it here first).

Manfred wrote:  Has anyone else besides Baroness Hillary and myself had a
problem with this month's Gazette?

Manfred, you are not alone.  The February issue of the Gazette was 11
double-sided pages.  For those who are curious, at 6 pages (double-sided)
is the weight dividing line between one ounce or less.  At 12 pages, I have
to pay for a third ounce on postage.  This is the largest Gazette I have
published since taking this office.  If any Gazette was going to have a
problem, it would be this one.  Prior to reading the comments on the list,
I had six Gazettes to remail due to postal dismemberment.  Baroness
Curstaidh, I will send you another since I now know about you.  Manfred, I
am assuming that both yourself and Baroness Hillary have gotten your copies
now (please e-mail me privately if that is incorrect).

I occasionally get a call, letter, or e-mail from someone that has a
Gazette delivery problem.  In all cases, if someone will contact me when
they have a problem then I can usually send another out within 24 hours.  I
do publish my work phone number in the roster.  I prefer to not get
personal calls but anyone is welcome to call me at work (and leave a
message if I am away) for Gazette delivery problems.  I copy and mail from
work so there is a faster response from there.  For those without a roster
in hand, my contact info is:

Seigneur Etienne de St. Amaranth, Obelisk Herald
mka Darin K. Herndon
1314 South Atlanta Place
Tulsa, OK  74104-4313
(918) 584-3019 - home
(918) 295-4109 - work
Obelisk at utulsa.edu (checked at home in the evenings)
darin_herndon at bswintl.com (work, please use "Obelisk" unless you need a
response during that workday)

Mari (Bordure) wrote:  Does this mean the post office wants to learn heraldry?

Since there is very little on the outside cover to direct heraldic
questions to the interior of the newsletter, I prefer the "new urban myth"
that any mail from a "weird" named group must be a rabid pack of Y2K
survivalists and any mail from such a group must be examined for new
survival tips.  In actuality, I know the postal service tries but their
machines are the problem.  Anything with a staple or a loose tape edge
could get caught and "involuntarily opened".  Please read ideas below for
my questions.

Aryanhwy however wrote:  Mine made it all the way to the Midrealm in one
piece, and in fairly good condition, too.  Could hardly get the tape off
that was holding it shut.

This could be because I apply 21 extra kilopascals of pressure to the tape
on out of kingdom mail and an additional 21 to commenters.  And 42 is the
ultimate answer to life, the universe, and postal problems.  Actually, I
have a theory that certain post offices are worse on mail than others.
Tulsa seems to have no problem sending out but I consistently have problems
with certain groups post offices on the receiving end.  However, I cannot
see the whole pattern unless people let me know when they have a problem;
so please contact me and let me know (even if you get a copy from someone
else).

Wolfger von Sibenb¸rgen wrote:  I never recieved one. But that is my own
fault. I moved and did not get Obelisk a new address promptly. I guess the
Post Office did not forward it to my new address.

I got January returned on you Wolfger.  I didn't mail February since I
didn't have an address that would work.  (Administrative note:  If an
address is returned by the post office, I stop mailing there and contact
the regional herald for that area.  I start mailing again when I get new
contact info.  This administrative note has been brought to you by the
remnants of the Inman Paperwork Reduction Act.)  I now have an address for
you Wolfger and your February will probably mail tomorrow.

Daniel "Ook." de Lincolia wrote about several things, among them was:  I
believe that AGs got/get mangled on a fairly regular basis.  You might
prefer to e-mail Obelisk directly, at obelisk at utulsa.edu .  You might, for
example, arrange for him to e-mail you directly with the AG in MicroSoft
Word or Word Perfect or some other format you can print directly.

Well...  "on a fairly regular basis" is perhaps the truth.  Though it is
rarely the same person two months in a row.  (Tempio is an exception.  Two
"remailings" in a row got mangeled in addition to the original one month
and I had to resort to using an envelope to get that one through.  Oddly
enough, after the envelope Tempio had no problems until the February
issue.)  The above statement is, of course, based on the reports I have
received.  Please see my questions below for more on this.

Now, about electronic copies...  I tried for about three months last year
posting an electronic copy of the Gazette in Portable Document Format
(.pdf) for people to try and work with.  I know several people printed
copies and Aryanhwy actually started commenting from those online copies.
After that test, I gathered the commentary and intended to sit down with
the new Star and discuss electronic publication options.  Coronation's
meeting was too short (and I forgot over dinner that evening) and I was at
Northern Regional Tribute before leaving town for the aforementioned
training so Westgate didn't happen for me.  Francois, I'll try to schedule
a time to call you about this after I catch up on work this week.  If I do
any electronic copies however, they will be PDF files.  I do the Gazette in
Adobe PageMaker and translating to Word or WordPerfect is not an option.
If anyone reading this is not familiar with PDF please e-mail me privately
and I will explain it.  It's free and cross platform (even UNIX can read
the same file).

Maridonna, your copy will remail tomorrow (probably) too.

Now, my questions to you.  A summary of your answers will be used in my
discussion with Francois about electronic publishing.  (Also, I just got
home and I am going to eat supper before reading the rest of my mail so I
have not looked at Star's further clarification yet.  I reserve the right
to retract comments if I am out of line with Star's directives.)

I would like to publish the Gazette electronically.  This would not replace
paper copies.  But it could replace copies for those who can download and
print their own Gazette (saving postage and under another Obelisk saving
copying costs).  My preference would be to place the Gazette on the
Ansteorran WebPage under the heraldry section (along with the commentary
and the ILoAR).  So I am calling again for any commentary that anyone has
on that topic.  If you have submitted commentary on this topic before but
are not sure if I got it, please send it again.

Crandall gave me a wonderful thought quite awhile ago.  He recommended
using a heavier weight paper for the outside cover of the Gazette.  I like
this idea.  This would add to the costs of my office.  It would also
guarantee that there would be no $.33 Gazettes.  How many of you like this
idea?  How many of you are receiving the Gazette for free and might be
willing to pay a subscription (still not required) if you got a better
cover?  Money really is a factor here but that is a topic for another
e-mail.

Baroness Hillary recommended that I buy some adhesive tabs rather than
using tape.  I also like this idea.  Any other suggestions on helping to
hold the paper Gazette together in transit?

Sincerely,
Etienne, Obelisk
(I really am back and reading my e-mail now.)
(Really.)


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