[TheForge] ABANA

[Demon Buddha]

Dave Brown wrote:

> I'm also gonna disagree with Ralph, but for a different reason ... namely
> the "...that was not broke" portion.  If I remember correctly the Ring (and
> possibly the Blow) was coming out later and later.  For a quarterly
> publication we were getting the Winter issue in late Spring and it seemed
> that each issue was getting later and later.  There sure was enough
> grumbling on this list at that time for that very reason.  This may not be
> "broke", but the gears and bearings were certainly grinding.

	I never even noticed this, but if that was the case, then
	I agree there is some cause for reevaluation.

> Couple that with a potential for savings and pretty you have a good reason
> for pursuing competition.  Besides, good job or not, the Board would be
> remiss if it didn't periodically investigate other publishers.  After all,
> competition is a good thing.  This is a normal and healthy business practice.

	ABANA isn't a business, or at least it is not supposed to be one,
	and it should not be run like one.  There is nothing wrong with
	being as efficient as possible and making sure that the membership
	is getting good bang for the buck, but there is a fine line between
	that and the world of running in for profit mode.  In this case
	the premier consideration is satisfying the charter to the greatest
	degree possible.  All that really matters is that there is enough
	cashola to do so.  We can argue about being more efficient so
	that the association can offer more to the membership.  Nothing
	wrong with that in principle, just as long as the basics are being
	properly met.  When profit motive thinking comes into play, those
	basics are often jeopardized.  I'm not claiming they have been here,
	just that it is a common enough threat and that people should be wary
	of it.