Here is another idea we would like to get your feedback on. Does it sound interesting? Is it something you would travel to and pay for?
What if we put together one or more one week workshop events that you would bring your bus conversion in progress to, with materials and your tools. At this event we would have expert instructors that would give hands on instruction and guidance on the specific project(s) you came to accomplish. And as you progressed they would be around to:
- guide you and answer questions
- help troubleshoot issues as needed
- inspect your work and give feedback on it
Fellow participants would also be able to help each other in those moments when more hands are needed to accomplish a task.
To achieve maximum benefit, attendance to each event would be restricted to keep from spreading the instructor(s) too thin and to fit the facilities used. In most cases, it would probably be restricted to 10-15 buses.
It costs money to bring in experts and make it worth their time. So the admission fee would reflect that depending on the specialty(ies) being covered at the specific event.
It would also be necessary to recognize beforehand what is feasible to accomplish in a solid week and what isn't. For that reason, the registration process may involve a telephone interview between the registrant and the instructor pertinent to their project. That would also help in identifying the the materials the participant would need to bring with them.
Lunch would be provided on site. Low key, early evening group social activities may be available, but I think it is fair to say that after working hard at your conversion all day, a good meal, rest and sleep is a priority for most.
What do you think about the idea y'all?
Hello Mike, I love the idea of a working rally. Would like to know where they would be held. All over the US I hope. Sounds like it would be a little less $$$ then the Training camp. M&C ;D
Gee, mike, I thought all our buses were already finished lol, thats a great idea tho, I suggested that a couple of years ago but didn't get overwhelmed with the response, but it's still a great idea.
Hello ,I think it is an excellent idea. I would be interested in participating. Thank you . I may subscribe t the mag if I was more confident I'd recieve the monthly issues,I have heard of many complaints. Can you reassure me on the sub. issue? Thank you GFC
Quote from: gfcgfc1 on August 29, 2009, 11:59:34 AM
I may subscribe t the mag if I was more confident I'd recieve the monthly issues,I have heard of many complaints. Can you reassure me on the sub. issue? Thank you GFC
I can assure you that Mike is working very hard to overcome the bad reputation that had become normal before the new ownership!
Since the change of hands and since I renewed I have gotten all the issues due to me. Also Mike is quick to follow up on emails and calls personally! I think if we could all put the actions of the past in the past and give Mike our current trust and support he can make a very nice turn around out of it.
That said he can not run the magazine and improve it with out $ and support from those who will benefit from it. As he told me recently in a conversation he doesn't expect to see a profit out of it anytime soon, but it would be nice to see it support itself!
FWIW- JMHO! ;D BK ;D
FWIW, I too had bad history with the previous owner/publisher with reliable delivery.
However, I have given the new guys a chance, putting my big money down for a Canadian subscription, and I got my first magazine last month, wrapped nicely in plastic, and before many of the folks got theirs in the USA.
That is a far, far, distance from what used to happen... back sometime years ago, I got 3 dog-eared arrivals, weeks and weeks late, out of a year's subscription and just gave up on it as a bad purchase.
You can be sure if these new guys falter on their promised high level of service to, and open communication with, their subscribers, you'll hear about it very quickly right here on their own BBS, and elsewhere, if necessary!!!
I think with real busnuts in charge, your subscription money might just be safe.
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Thanks for the votes of confidence Bryce and BW! While I am the guy on the customer service edge of the new BCM and therefore the most recognized to you guys and gals, all three of us (Chad, Phil and myself) are working very hard to make a difference. As Bryce noted, right now none of us are making money off of it. But we are driven and motivated by the desire to see it once again be a proud publication of bus nuts for bus nuts.
We are seeing encouraging trends that we hope to see become some profit in the future. We don't expect to make a fortune from it, but some income in exchange for hard work will be welcome when it happens. And we sincerely thank each of you that takes that step of faith to support our efforts through subscriptions or advertising. We also know that faith in an endeavor such as this only goes so far and that we must also earn your trust and support. I assure you we are striving to do that.
We have had unexpected challenges in the two months since the change over, the most severe of which was the late mailing of July and August issues. We finally have that coming into line. The September issue will be going to the Post Office the middle of this coming week. And as promised, it has 25% more pages and will incrementally grow its way back up to 72 in the coming months.
One thing to note about delivery timing: The USPS tells me that Standard Class does not have a guaranteed service timeline, but that most addresses are delivered within 2-3 weeks. Also, we now mail from the Chattanooga, TN area rather than the Los Angeles area. So it kind of flips the country around as to what areas get theirs first and last.
On the subject of delivery reliability, in my judgment there are two major ingredients to that problem. One was that after the magazine thinned down, it greatly resembled (in size, texture and weight), some of the catalogs and mass mailings. I believe it got treated as such by the average Postal worker. Not to say that they intentionally mishandled it, just didn't give as much attention to it and perhaps subconsciously felt it wasn't as pertinent which house it went to since most of those things are mass mailed. We now mail them in plastic. That helps get them to you in better condition and in my opinion it raises awareness in the hands of mail carriers that it is not just a mass mailed ad. Also with the size coming back up, I believe it will appear more significant to them.
Another major factor was the quality of the addresses on the mailing list. In the past, the mailing of the magazine has been handled entirely by mailing services. The address list was sent to them and from there it was up to them. After some issues with the July issue, I personally ran the address list through a service that checks and formats the addresses to the approved Postal service version and adds the full 9 digit zip code. It also calls to attention the addresses that it is unable to match to postal records.
Almost all of the addresses needed some reformatting beyond just the 9 digit zip. That is normal and I doubt most of them played a role in non-delivery. But about 10% of the addresses had significant changes required that could cause issues with the USPS. Most of the time postal workers probably went the extra steps and delivered them. But during heavy load periods, or when short handed, they may not have and somebody didn't get their magazine. The address "cleaner" service we used was able to fix those 10%.
It gets worse though. About 3% of the addresses were so far out of sync with the USPS recognized address that the "cleaner" service wasn't able to fix those via their automation. I spent days working through those addresses using Google Maps and the USPS zip code site to find the correct ones (part of what delayed August mailing). Out of those, there were a few that were so different from the Postal version that I would be hard pressed to imagine they ever got a magazine.
I believe I got all but one pinned down. Jay Howard of Parker, ID if you read this, please give me a call. 863-303-4008.
I can understand how addresses get so bad. The bulk of it is terminology. For example if someone lives at 123 W County Road 23 and the mail is addressed to 123 Route 23. If it is 1st Class Mail, they will put more effort into getting it there. So most of the mail the person gets is fine and they are unaware of the problem. But that address doesn't work as well in the heavily automated and lower priority "Standard Class" (formerly known as 3rd Class) mail.
One tip I would offer to everyone that lives in the U.S. - take a moment to go to http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp (http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp) and plug in your address as you know it. You may be somewhat surprised.
Another issue that can result in a bad address on the list is when placing a new subscription via telephone. Sometimes the connection isn't so good or sometimes a regional accent is strong. So when you are on the phone with me, please be patient as I may ask you to spell out your name, street address and/or city name slowly (I am a southern redneck, so slowly is important ;) ). I am just trying to make sure that we get it right.
We are excited to work on bringing Bus Conversions Magazine back up to your expectations, and to take it beyond them. There are many great things coming as we get it all put together. We are also planning for the new BCM to be more heavily involved in bus nut rallies and activities and to host new bus conversion related educational opportunities and materials.
So for those who have subscriptions and/or advertising, thank you. For those who don't have a subscription yet, I encourage you to join us. If you have a product or service that is especially useful to bus nuts, call me and let's talk about advertising it.
My thanks to all of you,
Mike Sullivan
863-303-4008
Mike thanks for pointing out that Phil & Chad are in this with you!
I already knew that, but forgot to mention it!
And by no means did I mean to slight them of any credit for what they do for the magazine!
I mainly just mentioned you as you are the one I know personally and speak directly to from time to time!
PHIL & CHAD keep up the good work even if we do give Mike all the credit for it! (since we give him the credit, you guys get the cash! ;D LOL!)
;D BK ;D
Quote from: Busted Knuckle on August 29, 2009, 05:26:25 PM
... since we give him the credit, you guys get the cash! ;D LOL!)
;D BK ;D
:o :o :o :o :o
;D
Mike,
Heck yes! That sounds like a great idea to this boy. I could see some very experienced cabinet maker helping me plot the destruction of some perfectly good Birch! (hint-hint)
I would be very interested in several areas as well.
BTW, had you given thought to reviving the BCM Busnut Badge fer our critters?
Thanks!
Matt
lol
gfcgfc1,
I think that you should give the magazine a try. Mike, and the others, have their hands full sorting through a broken, busted business that the Kadletz fellow left. Mike has done a great job so far. The magazine is looking better, the content is doing better (Mike, if I ever have time, I will have a series of articles on our conversion for you.). The Kadletz fellow burned a LOT of people. He destroyed the magazine, and slaughtered the customer service. No doubt this is who you remember.
However, since Mike, and the others, have taken over, everything has turned completely around. The customer service is great. Why, I sent Mike a PM late last Sunday asking if I could "borrow" a E copy of the magazine, so I could read Jim Shepard's article on coolant. Well, lo and behold, I received it YET THAT NIGHT. You talk about customer service! Also, check out the length of Mike's post. That is incredible! He wasn't even asked any real questions. He was simply explaining things. That Kadletz fellow (if he knew how to type) would have never done something so shocking as to respond to questions (we even tried calling at all hours of the day and night....usually we got no answer).
So the customer service is great, but the magazine is even better. They have improved it already, and I can't wait to see more issues. So far, the new ownership is doing great!
Kudos to them!!!
The long and short of it is You need to subscribe!!! (really you need to subscribe for five years).
God bless,
John
Guys, Mike K did do a lot for the conversion process for the DIY group when he first started.
I never approved of his business practices and told him so but I supported him for years never missing a rally even attending one that did not happen but good came from that also I meet Richard Bowers there and a few more so we found a campground and had our own rally.
I subscribed to all 3 of his publications BCM, Bus World and the best publication he ever published the Arriving Magazine which I see Mike has adopted the Sterling Classified Adds from so don't be too hard on him leave that to me LOL
good luck
There is no doubt mistakes were made and the magazine suffered. But a lot of good things were done too that greatly benefited bus nuts.
So with that, we choose to say thank you for what was built, and learn from the past (both the good things and the bad); but put our focus, plans and efforts on the future. And a great future it will be.
Quote from: MattC on August 29, 2009, 07:00:58 PM
BTW, had you given thought to reviving the BCM Busnut Badge fer our critters?
That is on my list, we just haven't gotten to it yet. There is a thread here on the forum I intend to look up on that topic to refresh us on the ideas presented there.
What a great place!
John
Sorry...wrong place
The TDI forum calls them GTG or G2G for get together.
Personnally, I love BCM and I love this board. Without either, I would not be a bus owner right now. I love having a bus. And yes, If I knew I had the help of an experienced busnut, I would order a few sliding windows for mine so I could enjoy some fresh air. Also, I need to remove a perfectly good booth and do some minor remodeling, but that's a project I don't have the knowhow to do on my own. The workshop sounds good to me.
Dennis
I hold no hard feelings against Mike K, I feel that possibly the various businesses that he is involved in created a change in the direction of his focus and the magazine took a hit over it, that happens in all areas of industry from time to time, a door was opened that many of us willingly and gladly stepped thru and I won't look back and feel slighted in the least, Mike S and Phil and Chad are at the helm now and devoting a great deal of time, energy and personal money towards something that may or may not prove profitable at any time in the foreseeable future, the main thing is that they are doing their best and deserve our complete support. my subscription went out last january and will next january as it did 2 years earlier, I enjoy the magazine and yes it has had problems finding me but I've teamed up the magazine with my light bill, hopefully they'll both enjoy their journey thru the unknown regions and arrive late or maybe not at all. lol. We'll see what happens but at the very minimum it'll be fun.
Well put Cody.
I agree. These guys have, so far, done a great job.
God bless,
John
Come to think of it, I have noticed a big change on this board.Probably cause every one is busy reading the new issue of BCM(that finally arrives on time LOL),Ok I'm ready to subscribe :) And am liking the direction you have taken very much,thank you a bunch! ;)
Hey Mike, here is an idea...something mechanical...like brakes! Seems to be a lot of talking about brakes lately and maybe someone (Bryce?) could have a little dog and pony show or some real under your bus time with owners to get them in touch with their stopping power?
Someone told me when I was a kid building a car that if it quits running you'll just coast to a stop, but if the brake fail it could be real bad...the moral of that story is be sure your brake system is sound before you upgrade that engine package!
Hello to all , OkOkOk I'll subscribe! Naturally I did not hae any free time to call and talk on the phone to get my sub started and get a few free months but no worries..... I do appreciate all your feedback / input .I do really enjoy this board and the other one so I will put m money where my interests are to help support. THANK YOU,GFC
Hi Folks,
I have another idea that would take this one step farther. Mike's idea would still stand... But, think of Habitat for humanity.......
Where the homeowner to be, must clock up so many volunteered hours before their home gets built.. think about it!
We establish a pool of probable candidates, then the candidates would have to spend 1 weekend a month donating their time to
another bus nuts project near them. Let's say time spent after 4 weekends of helping others, will get you a weekend of help at
your place/on your bus... And you would still have to pay to have an expert attend your weekend.. This way, there is minimal out
of pocket money for everyone.
My mind won't lay rest....HELP! :D
Nick-
This is a topic that I've brought up many times in the past, I'm so glad to see it getting a proper review, we've got everyone right here on the bus board that would be very little reason to go outside the bus community to get the work done that we want to do, we've got electrical guru's, mecahnical wizards, body men, painters and even a sawdust guy or two. Most of us don't have the deep pockets that a few do, we could earn the work by doing what we do anyway and everyone would benefit.
Nick, we called it paying it forward lol, for several years now we've piled sawdust in exchange for a cup of coffee, sometimes 2 lol, I'll bet you can't remember how many old people that you went on a service call over the years and tweaked their furnace or a/c unit and then wished them luck and wrote off the call cause they were either just nice people or maybe couldn't afford it? Same thing here, I couldn't count how many storm windows I've made for elderly people that just need their homes tightened up a little to shave a couple of bucks off a heating bill, probably in the hundreds over the past 30 years, do you remember getting a phone call from a neighbor of an elderly widow that has a furnace that needs a relay or something, I'll bet you found an extra relay and accidently stopped by there on your way home from work some night, just to make sure the storm that is due on monday won't worry her, you sleep at night cause what you do is the right thing, it's the same all over the board, each one here has a lot of stories to tell of the same kind, it's just what you do because of who you are, blame our parents I guess.
Cody,you hit the nail right on the head. so who needs what done,I'm in! ;)
Quote from: cody on September 01, 2009, 09:08:39 PM
Nick, we called it paying it forward lol, for several years now we've piled sawdust in exchange for a cup of coffee, sometimes 2 lol, I'll bet you can't remember how many old people that you went on a service call over the years and tweaked their furnace or a/c unit and then wished them luck and wrote off the call cause they were either just nice people or maybe couldn't afford it? Same thing here, I couldn't count how many storm windows I've made for elderly people that just need their homes tightened up a little to shave a couple of bucks off a heating bill, probably in the hundreds over the past 30 years, do you remember getting a phone call from a neighbor of an elderly widow that has a furnace that needs a relay or something, I'll bet you found an extra relay and accidently stopped by there on your way home from work some night, just to make sure the storm that is due on monday won't worry her, you sleep at night cause what you do is the right thing, it's the same all over the board, each one here has a lot of stories to tell of the same kind, it's just what you do because of who you are, blame our parents I guess.
Lots of times Cody...
Here, someone would keep track of hours donated with some sorta tracking system just to keep it fair for everyone.
Nick-
I will attest to what Cody and Nick said. However, it's not only hands-on, many guys, Dallas, Cody, BOTN, BW, etc. etc. have spent untold hours on line, in emails, or in PM answering my zillion questions about bus'n. If it weren't for BCM board and the generosity of so many members and more experienced Bus Nuts, I'd be driving a Winnebago.
I think that "In kind" sounds like a great idea, and maybe a way some not so experienced bus nut (me) could pay down some of this type of debt. =)
This very type of exchange is what would make me proud to stick a "bus-nut" badge on my bus.
Matt