I have been receiving the Busconversions mag for years. Whats going on?

[VanTare]

any photos in that issue ?   

David

[Len Silva]

That the magazine has continued this long is pretty amazing.  This is a very limited hobby and there is little new you can say after fifteen years without a lot of repetition.  It must be quite a challenge to keep it fresh and interesting after all this time.

I can't imagine what they could do to make it better.  There are only so many floor plans and engine changes you can do.

Len

[belfert]

MAK has said that many advertisers are no longer advertising, thus the smaller magazine.  The entire media market is shrinking due to the recession and lack of advertising.

If you live in a major metro area I expect your local newspaper has quite a few less pages, probably fewer sections, and most likely smaller page size too.  I work at a major metro newspaper and we've reduced the page count, number of sections, and size of the paper itself.  In 2007 we used around 50% less newsprint by weight than in 2001.  This is in part due to lower circulation, but mostly due to fewer and smaller pages along with slightly thinner paper.

[cody]

If a person places any weight on any of the economic predictions then it looks like this economic downturn is only beginning and we may be in for a long hard road ahead of us.  I think we'll be finding a lot of companies getting leaner in order to survive. 

[NJT 5573]

Mike came on here not long ago and asked for our support and I think everyone who can afford to should subscribe to support our hobby. That is all he asked and I think the Mag will continue to improve as time passes just like the Redskins or whoever have some bad years its impossible to stay on top all the time.

 Life throws all of us alot of curves and we don't know what wars Mike fights besides the magazine. If subscribing will help lets get it done.

[Hi yo silver]

About ten years ago, a long time friend of mine got his first bus, a 4106, and shared one of his first issues of the mag with me.  I decided to get my own subscription, thinking it was a cheap fantasy...but, that's another story. LOL!

Anyhow, now I'm a bus owner, too.  If I hadn't been a subscriber, I would not have known about this BB, and I don't even want to think about owning a bus without the help I find here.  That subscription has been one of the best investments I could have made.  Besides, it's still fun to read it.  I would rather cancel the local daily rag if I need to save a few bucks somewhere.
Just my opinion.
Dennis     

[gus]

I missed the shrink and nudist colony part! Probably because I stopped reading her articles after about the third one because she was so self absorbed and the articles were pretty silly.

As for the economy, I think the worst is yet to come - my guess is that the bottom will be mid year or slightly later. I've often been wrong before but I think this one is going to go so deep that my guess may be optimistic!

[JimC]

I have also seen a difference in the magazine, I still think it is OK, its a little smaller due to less advertisers just like any other magazine or newspaper. You have to remember that when Bus Conversions Magazine came out it was the bible for the home converter. The internet was in its infancy, and most of the people that were doing conversions were no where near a computer.

In December the real estate company that I work for notified the local paper that they were no longer going to be placing ads in the paper, that was OVER a million dollar contract. When we pulled out, several other Realtors followed. We used the newspaper money to buy billboards, radio, and TV ads, directing people to our web site. Just like the real estate ads, most of us are now getting the information we need to build our buses from the internet (just like this board) instead of printed material.

Like it or not, it is a sign of the times.
Jim

[Barn Owl]

If the magazine gets a little smaller to survive I completely support that. I do get a chuckle when I see some get defensive over even the slightest perception of criticism of the magazine. Those who publish want to know what their reader’s thoughts are. The feedback is useful and can actually be used to make the magazine better. There is no way we will get everything we want tailored to our needs, we know that it will have to maintain a broad enough spectrum to wet us all. Just for the record, I didn’t do the wimpy one year subscription, I did the three year and I have no problem giving feedback, what I like and what I don’t. As a paying subscriber they work for me, right? Publishers learn quickly that those who are satisfied are not heard from in near the numbers that the unsatisfied crowds are. Publishing is not an easy job and they know that. If they are even slightly seasoned, they don’t take it personally.
 
So pay attention BCM: I own a GM, I don’t run with the ritz crowd, I like the retro DIY articles, I would like to see some older conversions even if they are not perfect, half finished, and have some age on them. I don’t expect them to make the centerfold. I like to hear what people like and dislike about their conversions. I am willing to contribute and embarrass myself by submitting my bus after I take my western trip.

That’s what floats my boat and I campaign for what I like, how else would you know?

[jackhartjr]

I missed the nude shrink...when did those articles run?
Jack

[Len Silva]

If you have a chance to look at Issue 1, Volume 1, it was little more than a newsletter.  Not a lot of advertising, and not all that well written.  Yet, we gobbled it up and couldn't get enough.  It was the only source out there and very quickly connected a lot of bus nuts who would have never gotten to know each other and share information.

The magazine got better and better with every issue until it kind of stalled out after about 10 years.  There simply were no new sources of information that hadn't been done already and a lot of content seemed to come from press releases.

Now we have these boards and a genuine community that just didn't exist back then except for some FMCA chapters.

I think Mike has done a fabulous job with the magazine and this board. The reality though is that after a few years, there is not a lot new, especially for the budget minded who aren't spending money on the latest gadgets or trying to emulate the big time pros.

So, in MHO, the reasons to subscribe now are 1: For the newbies to get a great education and 2: To simply support Mike because we appreciate all he has done for the community.

Len

[NJT 5573]

I hate to say this but I think Mike could charge a yearly membership for this forum and raise more capital than he ever did with the Magazine. Maybe he could just charge $50 a year for the web membership and throw in a copy of the magazine.

There are some damn good lifetime mechanics that help out on this board. Its hard to estimate how much this forum is worth to a bus owner when he/she needs help but most of this information is basically unavailable anywhere at any price and the alternative is to get hosed at a shop, sometimes repeatedly for the same problem. At least if you use this site and end up in the shop, you can carry on a very educated conversation with the mechanics about your repairs, as well as have some idea of what you really need. Alot of money is spent fixing the wrong thing and fixing things that are not broke.

It looks like the web site has surpassed the magazine in value to us. There is so much info available here that the magazine actually seems redundent. The ability to research archives here for additional information is invaluable also and $50 a year if you are not a total jack of all trades as well as a diesel and Allison expert seems cheap. Some may not pay until they need help, but I think this is now the dominant forum for all of us.

Len stated Issue 1 Volume 1 was "little more than a newsletter", well, that's pretty much what we are doing here, so it's like times have changed and this is what has been born from the old magazine as well as what most of us now use for our primary information source. Maybe $50 is too much, but buses ain't cheap to begin with and knowledge is never cheap, and we have been getting it here for free. Thanks Mike!

[gus]

I could have written Barn Owl's second paragraph since it pretty much sums up my situation.

I also agree with njt about the value of the forum vs the magazine. I doubt that I could have purchased and maintained my 4104 without this forum. However, I've gotten very little useful information from the mag. Most conversions have been so far out of my price range that they are more fantasy than anything. I really don't want a monster bus anyway.

My favorite part of the mag was the ads but they are pretty much gone now.

My only gripe is that my email about a really obsolete engine ad was never answered and the ad continued for a long time afterward. At the time I sent the email the engine in the ad had been sold for over a year and the ad itself wasn't even sent to the magazine. The owner of the engine didn't even know the ad was in the mag??  Weird!!

[Barn Owl]

From someone who spends way to much time on the net and on various boards, nothing would kill one faster than to try and charge for it. As soon as you instate a fee on it someone else will start one up that’s free to replace it and everyone flocks to it or to one that’s already free, or one that’s good and very well established i.e. BNO. Who has a thriving board in existence that charges for it? I’m not saying there isn’t one, but it would certainly be a different niche from the small quirky hobby we have. There is no question that there is a tremendous amount of value here, but it is what it is, a BBS. Those are my thoughts.

[HighTechRedneck]

From someone who spends way to much time on the net and on various boards, nothing would kill one faster than to try and charge for it. As soon as you instate a fee on it someone else will start one up that's free to replace it and everyone flocks to it or to one that's already free, or one that's good and very well established i.e. BNO. Who has a thriving board in existence that charges for it? I'm not saying there isn't one, but it would certainly be a different niche from the small quirky hobby we have. There is no question that there is a tremendous amount of value here, but it is what it is, a BBS. Those are my thoughts.

As someone else who also has spent way too many hours online over the last few years, I agree completely.  I have seen several try to make that model work and failed.

Another aspect I think many folks don't realize: The forum has about 2000 members and that is really good for a niche such as ours.  But the magazine has a circulation of over 10,000.  There are a lot of busnuts out there that haven't joined the online age.