Another idea needing your input - "work on your bus workshop"

[HighTechRedneck]

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?

[Singing Land Cruiser]

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

[cody]

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.

[gfcgfc1]

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

[Busted Knuckle]

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!   BK 

[buswarrior]

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

[HighTechRedneck]

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 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

[Busted Knuckle]

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! LOL!)
  BK 

[HighTechRedneck]

... since we give him the credit, you guys get the cash! LOL!)
  BK 

[MattC]

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

[cody]

lol

[John316]

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

[luvrbus]

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

[HighTechRedneck]

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.

[HighTechRedneck]

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.