Creating a magazine is like building a model ...
View From HQ by Dave Mathewson, AMA Executive Director
There has certainly been much going on lately with the FAA regarding its registration mandate. Things evolved so quickly—sometimes from hour to hour—that frankly we faced some challenges in keeping our members updated with the most current information. It wasn’t from lack of effort.
AMA uses several methods to communicate with our members. Emails, blogs, our website, social media, the bimonthly newsletter AMA Today, and Model Aviation magazine are some examples. All of those resources, except for the magazine, provide nearly instant access to our members, so when immediate communication is essential, those are our distribution channels of choice.
We have been criticized by some members who feel that the information they read in Model Aviation is less than current. Unfortunately, by the very nature of how print publications are produced, that will always be the case. To help members maybe better understand, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about what goes into publishing Model Aviation.
Producing a magazine is much like building a model airplane, except with a magazine, you start by drawing your own plans. Our editors begin by deciding what they want the magazine to contain for a given month, and build a plan to do that. Then the fun begins. Creating a magazine is like building a model with a bunch of your buddies. Each gets to build a part. Associate editors write columns, AMA officers submit their material, and then those parts are supplemented with product reviews and features—similar to building separate parts for your airplane.
For the most timely information, members should regularly visit our website, our blogs, social media, read AMA Today, and keep an eye out for emails from AMA.
After all of the individual parts are completed, they are sent back to the editors to begin to piece everything together. Along the way, individual parts might need a little adjusting to fit. If it was a model, it would be a little sanding here or there, and of course the proofreading process begins.
While all of that is taking place, our production (graphics) department is working on esthetics and cover art—much like a modeler deciding how he or she is going to cover his or her work of art. Picture a model on your workbench, bare bones, with most of the parts taped in place so you can see the aircraft taking shape. That’s roughly where we are with the magazine at this point.
After all of this has been accomplished, the magazine (model) comes apart, is fine-tuned, and then put back together to prepare for final assembly. The covering is placed (cover art and other graphic elements are added), and final touches are included while concurrently working on the next issue.
At this point, your model would be complete, but this is not quite so for our magazine. The publication is sent to the printer where it is reproduced roughly 150,000 times and then shipped to our members.
The timeline for the entire process is six or seven weeks. So when you ask about the currency of material in Model Aviation magazine, I think you can see that information might not be as timely as some expect, but it is as good as it can be.
By the way, while you’re heading out to the field to fly your new model, our publications staff is clearing the workbench and starting on the next issue.
The real message here is that AMA distributes tons of information to our members. For the most timely information, members should regularly visit our website, our blogs, social media, read AMA Today, and keep an eye out for emails from AMA.
The AMA Expo was again a huge success. I want to thank everyone who attended and supported the show, including all of our vendors.
The annual Westchester Radio AeroModelers (WRAM) Show in Secaucus, New Jersey, is February 26-28, and The Toledo Show: R/C Model Expo is scheduled for April 1-3 in Toledo, Ohio. These are both great venues to see new products, perhaps get a deal or two, and catch up with old friends.
There will be an AMA District II meeting at the WRAM Show and a combined District III and District VII meeting at the Toledo event. These will be great opportunities to hear the latest information from your elected representatives. Plan to attend.
See you next time.
