[MR] Re: acorn

[Cassandra]

The policy you just quoted was for local newsletters (Cantons, Baronies,
etc.) in Atlantia - not our Kingdom newsletter.  SCA Policy states that the
Kingdom newsletter need to be mailed by the 20th of the preceding month (as
I've stated before).  It doesn't necessarily negate or change your point but
I wanted to be clear on what you were quoting.

I could push my deadline up a week earlier as Andras suggested but it
wouldn't change anything since I generally get the mailing labels from
Corporate right around the 10th of the month.  I did actually request them
earlier once and was told that I would have to wait.

As far as the outsourcing issue that Fin mentions, I know for a fact what
day The Acorn reaches the post office.  Because I'm not bringing the issues
in myself I deposit money ahead of time into my postal account.  When the
issues are mailed, the money is taken out immediately.  The post office also
prints out receipts for me that show how many issues were mailed first class
vs. bulk non-profit and what days those mailings went out.  Granted, there
is more room for delay with other parties involved but if I state that an
issue went out on the 20th of the month then it did indeed go out on the
20th of the month (leaving any delays from that point solely with the postal
system).

As with most things in corporate life now, I suspect the outsourcing issue
to go even further.  This spring there is supposed to be the first known
world kingdom chronicler's symposium.  Among all the other issues I expect
to be discussed, it was mentioned that there will be a tour of a printer in
TN.  Apparently several kingdoms already send their issues electronically
out of kingdom for printing and mailing to this particular printer.  At
least all The Acorn current transactions are occurring in the same town as
me (for now).

I really hope this answers some more questions and can put this to rest for
a while.  If people have more specific questions, please feel free to
contact me privately.

Cassandra



-----Original Message-----
From: atlantia-bounces at atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:atlantia-bounces at atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Tom Rettie & Heather
Bryden
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 7:02 AM
To: merry rose
Subject: Re: [MR] Re: acorn


On Jan 4, 2005, at 11:47 PM, david wendelken wrote:

> I went back and checked the SCA membership form just to be sure, and
> the SCA sells a "newsletter" with it's membership - not a "club 
> magazine".  As such, it should contain "news" not "history".
>
> If we **know when we sell it** that a purchased membership AS IT IS
> SOLD BY THE SCA is unlikely to receive "news" rather than "historical 
> data" in the "newsletter", then I would argue that the SCA is at 
> fault.  The SCA set up the deadlines and the process that we use with 
> 3rd class mail, not the post office.  The post office offers a service 
> and we have chosen to use it wrong.

Andras raises a valid point. Kingdom policy reads:

"6.11.5   Mailing Requirements

Newsletters should be mailed by the 25th of the preceding month so that 
they reach the populace by the first of the month that the newsletter 
covers (i.e. - the 25th of December for the January issue). This 
deadline may be pushed back a week for those groups that hold their 
business meeting the last week of the month."

It would seem that the intention of this policy was that members (not 
just first class subscribers) would receive their newsletters in a 
timely fashion. If that's not happening, the SCA (or at least our 
kingdom) needs to reexamine the policy, our business processes, and the 
effect they have to determine if changes are needed.

The newsletter publication process changed from our traditional model 
when we outsourced production and mailing. We now have what the 
business wonks would call a "multi-threaded supply chain" that involves 
at least five parties (the kingdom, SCA Inc., the printer, the mailing 
house, and USPS). Any time you outsource services, there is a potential 
for unintended outcomes, especially if you don't have a lot of 
visibility into the vendors' processes, and vendors will rarely if ever 
admit they aren't doing what they're supposed to.

This is not about finding fault with individuals, it's about fixing 
business processes that don't work as intended.

With respect,

Fin


-------------------------------------------
Tom Rettie      tom at his.com


========================
                   The Merry Rose Tavern at Cheapside
    List Info: http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
  Submissions: Atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Subscriptions: http://seahorse.atlantia.sca.org/mailman/listinfo/atlantia